How Mets Outfielder Mark Canha Became a Legitimate Foodie

When he was growing up in San Jose, Mets outfielder Mark Canha wasn’t eating your typical children’s fare of hot dogs and plain pasta with butter. No, he was more of a cassoulet and risotto kid. Canha’s father, David, was a semiconductor salesperson who often traveled to Europe, and when he returned home he’d try to replicate the Continental cuisine he’d enjoyed for his family.

“There was always a lot of variety,” says Mark. “As a kid you’re not always into eating stuff that’s not familiar, but I think that exposure, being around that kind of food and seeing my parents set an example of eating fancier things, gave me more of an open mind as I got older.”

Johnny Navarro

Canha enjoyed the globally diverse cuisine of Berkeley, Calif., when he attended Cal, and, during his seven-year stint with the A’s, he lived primarily across the Bay in San Francisco, another epicurean mecca. As such, he’s become something rare in baseball, a world in which most postgame meals are eaten at the stadium: a legitimate foodie.

On one hand, having a job where he travels to virtually every major city in the country gives Canha, whose Instagram handle is @bigleaguefoodie, the opportunity to indulge his jones. But he’s also at the park almost all day. “It takes some planning—I have to make sure that on the off days and the day games that I’m set up with the reservation somewhere,” he says. “So a few times during the season, I’ll sit down and kind of map out the next three or four weeks.”

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Canha often dines out by himself, but occasionally a teammate will tag along. (Pete Alonso is also something of a known foodie, and last year Canha explored Queens with reliever Trevor May and a writer from GQ.) His favorite cities are New York and San Francisco, with Miami as the top up-and-comer. Strangest thing he’s eaten: pigeon in Morocco. (“It didn’t taste like chicken.”)

For now, Canha is at spring training. There are good options, but the extended time in Florida living by himself (his wife and two daughters didn’t make the trip) lets him take part in another aspect of the culinary experience. “I’m very into cooking, too, and I don’t get to do that at home as much as I’d like, just because it’s a little more hectic with life and with kids,” he says. “So this is my opportunity.”