As we pointed out a month ago, last year we published an article that wondered if the humble hot dog—typically found between innings in baseball or bobbing in a city street cart—would ever get the gourmet treatment from chefs. After all, the hamburger managed to beat the odds and shed its low brow-status when Daniel Boulud introduced his DB Burger, a once unimaginable marriage of foie gras and truffles to beef and bun. Would the hot dog ever reach such heights?
It appears that it has. We've seen perfected traditional dogs like Akhtar Nawab's (he'll be serving them at the Beard House later this month) and dogs with Far East accents like the Fatty Dog at Fatty Crab UWS. Let's Be Frank, the popular Bay Area producer of 100% grass-fed beef hot dogs, just opened its first restaurant in San Francisco.
And coming full circle, Daniel Boulud is currently putting the finishing touches on his DB Dog, which will be on the menu at DBGB. (Last year his publicist told us not to rule out the possibility of an haute dog appearing at one of his restaurants.) His hot dog is made of ground beef shoulder, and, according to a representative, is encased in a bun, like some frankfurters found in Europe. In fact, the kitchen at DBGB possesses its own bona fide European hot dog bun toaster, which holds the tubular buns on heated spikes to achieve perfect internal crispiness.
