It’s 4:30 a.m. inside the players’ dining room at the US Open, and executive chef Billy Strynkowski is preparing his staff of 30 cooks from across the country for the start of the tournament.
He chats with staff, checks on the food, reviews orders and otherwise does everything he can to help the athletes bring their best for the day.
“The players are here to play tennis and make money. They eat to win, and they eat very well,” said Strynkowski, who has worked the US Open for the past 25 years.
The first week of qualifying matches, which began Monday, is always the busiest time, with players marching in for early morning breakfasts and then lunch. There’s a slight lull before dinner.
The competitors come via a private area on the second floor of Arthur Ashe Stadium to feast in a space with capacity for 300, and the public is none the wiser. Each player has a food budget provided by the tournament, which pays for fare for them and their entourages – which can number as big as around 15.
“The public doesn’t even know we are here. It was built that way,” Strynkowski told Side Dish.
The food is fresh and local and showcases the best of New York — from Big Apple bagels to fresh fluke from Montauk.
“Nothing is from far away,” Strynkowski said. “We want to make sure that we represent New York. We have the best bagels possible. We don’t fool around with that.”
The first meal of the day features “every single thing in the world of breakfast,” the chef said.
There’s a fruit bar, shakes (minus protein powder, which actually isn’t popular among the players), eggs, bacon and vegetables.
Strynkowski also makes sure special requests get addressed, like ordering coconut, dairy-free yogurt for a particular player.
While he declined to reveal top players’ diets, he said they mainly eat fish, lean meats like steak, fruits and vegetables, lots of sweet potatoes, nuts and some chicken. Only a few plays go vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free.
After breakfast, the chef makes sure that lunch is ready and that all the food “is being cooked to our expectations — delicious.”
Dinner options vary but can include racks of lamb, Montauk tilefish, smoked short ribs with okra, cipollini onion fritters and jalapeño creamed corn, an Asian teriyaki salmon dish with mango, cucumber and jasmine rice.
When players stray from their ultra-healthy diets, they usually want to try some famous New York foods. Upon request, Strynkowski brings in Queens staples like Corona Pizza or handmade soup dumplings from Nan Xiang Xiao Long Boa’s Flushing location.
Players go through large amounts of olive oil and devour generous plates of homemade pasta with basil pesto.
The kitchen makes about 6 gallons of pesto per day, with “straight basil, a ton of parm, and great olive oil,” said Strynkowski.
“They burn so much energy every day,” he said of the players.
Watermelon water, “blended in a cup with nothing else,” is also big.
“It’s high in potassium. I used to make that and bring it out to players [practicing] on the court, especially when it’s hot, in the middle of the summer in Queens,” Strynkowski added.
Sometimes players ask for specific foods like a high-end toro or tuna belly sashimi or, once, avocado with hard boiled egg on toast.
“I had to make it real fast, chopped a hard boiled egg and avocado smeared on toast. We don’t traditionally make that,” Strynkowski said.
Another player loved a vegetable shake with red pepper, broccoli and asparagus blended with oat milk and a pinch of salt.
“I have whipped that up in a blender even though it’s not on the menu. Whatever they want, the answer is yes,” Strynkowski said.
While he lives in Pearl River, NY, he moves into a Flushing hotel during the competition. His day at the tournament ends around 7:30 p.m. – unless matches run long or there are rain delays. After the kitchen closes, the athletes can dine or get grab-and-go food at a Player Cafe that stays open as late as 3 a.m.
On the way back to his hotel, Strynkowski will chow down on some dumplings or stir-fry from a Flushing spot, but doesn’t have much time to unwind.
“If you think you will hang out and party after working at the US Open, it won’t work out for you. That’s the reality,” he said.
The same goes for the staff, who come from as far away as California.
“We try to keep the same cooks each year to build on our food products being amazing and delicious … It has to be consistent,” Strynkowski said.
He’s been executive chief of the tournament the past 14 years.
He plans to take things to the next level in 2027, when a new, $250 million players’ center will be built as part of an $800 million renovation of USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
“The beauty of my job is to watch them enjoy the food. We blow away their expectations,” Strynkowski said.