Hot dogs move out of the ball park

Photos by Susan Halbower

Have you noticed that the lowly hot dog has moved uptown? There are restaurants across the country specializing in a thousand and one ways to serve the dog, and some of them have really creative names: The Dogfather, Willie's Weenies, Hot Diggety Dogs, Hot Dog Heaven, Frankies by the Sea, Dogsters, Flying Weenie (We have Flying Saucer (beer) and Flying Fish in Fort Worth, so that one really intrigued me), Matt's Gourmet Hot Dogs (there it is--the idea of hot dogs being gourmet), and so many others I can't list them all.
In the Kelly O'Connell Mystery I'm currently working on, one of the characters wants to open an upscale hot dog restaurnt. At a loss what to name it, I put out a plea for help on the Sisters in Crime subgroup Guppies and on Facebook, and I was flooded with suggestions--two-and-a-half pages worth. Some I really liked included Chez Haute Dog, Dogs of Distinction, Franks with Flair, Frankly Wienerful, Dogs 'n Dijon, Oui! Oui! Weenies. The winner, submitted by a former neighbor and chosen by my daughter, Jordan, is Bun Appetit.
But the whole thing inspired me to fix a hot dog bar for a Labor Day picnic for neighbors and a few friends  I put a wide variety of toppings on a lazy susan and made little tent cards with suggestions:
Mexican Dog: salsa, jalopenos, cheese, crushed chips; wrap it in a tortilla
Coney Dog (this is traditional): chili, cheese, and onions
Franks 'n Beans: baked beans not pintos, onion, mustard
Chicago Dog (also traditional): chopped tomato, dill pickle slice, sweet pickle relish, onion, mustard
German or Reuben Dog: Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, sweet pickle relish, brown mustard
Others that I didn't offer include:
Hawaiian Dog: grilled pineapple wedges and red onion rounds, chopped and seasoned with sugar, salt and cayenne
Bahn mi Dog: Dissolve 1 tsp.sugar in 2 Tbsp. white vinegar, add 2 shedded carrots and 1/2 tsp. coarse salt; top grilled hot dog with mayo, thinly sliced cucumber, carrot mixture, jalopenos, and cilantro (how do you get all that in your mouth?)
Croque Madame (French, obviously):Wrap the hot dog in ham and Swiss cheese and top with bechamel sauce (still questioning that in my mind)
And then there are the classic Donkey Tails from Tolbert's Restaurant: hot dogs stuffed with cheese, wrapped in a tortilla, and lightly fried, served with chili and salsa for dipping or dunking. I believe these are an invention of the late, great chili king, Frank Tolbert.
The possibilities are endless, but I advise starting with a good quality hot dog. There are many brands, but my favorites are Hebrew National and Nathan's. If you have other combinations, please do tell me about them. Maybe they'll go on the menu at Bun Appetit--I'm getting so carried away by the idea I just might have to open the restaurant.
Serve with chip and dip, potato salad and dessert if you wish.

Food trucks

Buy a taco from a food truck? Uh, no, thank you. You've seen those trucks outside construction sites and can only imagine the greasy quality of the food. I prefer my tacos in a clean restaurant, thank you very much.
But food trucks have gone upscale lately. What you might call gourmet food trucks have become the rage. In Fort Worth, they park all over the city, with the blessings of a city license. Suppose you were a frustrated restauranteur--lot cheaper to operate a food truck than open a restaurant. In this economy, that's a big bonus. And business isn't so good at one location? No problem--just pack it up and drive somewhere else. Some food truck owners see their mobile kitchen as a test run for a permanent restaurant in the future--and some just like cooking on the move. Many food trucks provide late-at-night food, something often sought by college students and bar-hoppers. In Fort Worth, the Ol' South Pancake House is the classic all-night restaurant--some TCU students study there in the wee hours--but now you can get tacos from Taco Heads on Seventh Street or upscale hot dogs from The Weiner Man, which is open from 7 p.m. until 2:30 in the morning, serving hot dogs steamed in beer, or bacon-wrapped and deep-fried.
Is the food cheap? Not necessarily. If the vendor is going to sell quality produce, he or she has to price the final product to cover costs. One vendor makes frequent trips to the farmers' market to buy the freshest produce--not a cost-saving device.It's a hard thing to overcome the public mindset that truck food is cheap food. Hot dogs? Well, they're cheap at 7-11.But once people try the Weiner Man's hot dogs, they reaize the difference.
Some trucks operate independently with generators, but others hook up to a "host" business, often a restaurant. A few, like the Chef Point truck, are rolling advertisements for an existing restaurant.
In Fort Worth, tacos and hot dogs still seem to dominate the market. Sassy Hot Dogs offers a flour tortilla wrapped around a hot dog and ten other ingredients--the mind boggles at what they could be--and deep fried. But having had a deep-fried hot dog in a tortilla, I'm eager to try it. The Chef Point Cafe on Wheels serves fried chicken and bread pudding at the noon hour in downtown Fort Worth and Ssahm Korean Tacos offers the Korean version of tacos and burritos. The Trough Burger serves burgers, dogs,and sandwiches, and the Central Market Herban Eater Assault Truck parks on the grocery store ground to offer a changing menu of gourmet delights.
Supposedly coming soon is a truck with the slogan, "Have sugar, will travel." Red Jett Sweets will offer, no surprise, cupcakes. And Good Karma Kitchen plans to provide gluten-free vegan and vegetarian dishes.  Watch for fish tacos from So-Cal Tacos soon.
Is there a food truck in your city? If not, put a buzz in the ear of a local restauranteur and suggest he or she try it.