Maxwell Studios, Manchester City Blend Food and Culture With Flavors of Football | OneFootball

Manhattan social club and event space Maxwell Social launched its in-house creative studio on June 12 with Flavors of Football.

The event, run in partnership with Manchester City, Mundial Partners and Asahi, marks an effort by hosts David Litwak, David Bettenhausen and Chris Savino to foster and grow a community of soccer fans in the city. The event space was adorned with Man City imagery as a TV in the space's back room played club highlights from their successes in the last decade.

Hosted just a week before Man City began their Club World Cup journey in the United States, there was a palpable excitement in the air for the tournament at the event. Guests also received Man City's new Club World Cup kit with a pressed-on badge commemorating the event.

The event featured a cooking demonstration with former Man City player and Premier League champion Joleon Lescott and chef Ana Sofia Fehn. In attendance for the event was a sophisticated crowd of Man City supporters and soccer fans from different walks of life.

Fehn and Lescott, while cooking a ricotta gnocchi, discussed the latter's playing career, his favorite foods to eat then and now. Following the demonstration, plates of the course were passed around to guests for them to try before the venue opened up into a party with music and drinks.

The event highlights the ongoing interest in Premier League football, let alone European football as a whole in the U.S. with the Club World Cup this year and the 2026 World Cup the following. Lescott is privy to the unmissable growth stateside, speaking to Sports Illustrated at the event.

“Over the years, it's grown obviously, the standard itself in MLS and America, the accessibility,” he said. “We were at a community event yesterday, [I] was made aware how some areas still don't have access to pitches as I do back home.

“That's kind of an eye opener, but the enthusiasm it's grown and it's there. They're very passionate and becoming a loyal fan base with Man City's fan base growing all the time.”

The former England international compared the cultures of soccer fan bases abroad to that of American college football fans highlighting the intersections between the two.

Events like Flavors of Football, which Maxwell are interested in expanding to different sports, and the Club World Cup are just two examples of culture building going on in New York. Later this summer, Manchester United, Everton, Bournemouth and West Ham United will play the Premier League Summer Series—a pre-season event—at MetLife Stadium—the same ground that's set to host the Club World Cup and World Cup finals but has drawn significant criticism for its playing surface.