Hot Dogs!

A couple of weeks ago I had occasion to shop at Fox & Obel. Note that I almost never do this, but I was meeting a family member right there, and our best friends were coming to dinner that night...

While shopping at the meat counter, my 4-year old shouted "hot dog! I want a hot dog!" This is unusual, since he is at best lukewarm to any meat that isn't steak or chicken. After the butcher presented me with the requested leg of lamb, he handed me one hot dog. I noticed disapprovingly that it cost about $1.29.

As expected, my son really didn't want to EAT his hot dog, he just wanted to get Daddy to PREPARE one for him so he could have a bun. Fair enough, hot dog buns are delicious, especially when you are 4 years old.

This left this enormous, weiner/frankfurter/wurst/hot dog uneaten. My buddy and I couldn't bear to let it go to waste. Here's the deal, it was freakin' AWESOME! I gave my buddy permission to admit that the F&O hot dog was in fact better than the leg of lamb I had lovingly grilled to perfection. I say this as someone who loves sausage, but generally hates hot dogs.

Has anyone else had these amazing dogs? Maybe the price isn't too outrageous -- they are so big you can slice them in half and serve two. Does anyone else know of purveyors of similarly delicious dogs? Maybe at a lower price?

I don't know, but I can make a guess. It's probably an Allen Brothers hot dog, since Allen Brothers supplies F&O's beef, and AB's hot dogs seem to be well regarded.

You can order them from Allen Brothers online here, but the prices look about the same as F&O's:

http://www.allenbrothers.com/Product.js ... egoryId=81

I've had the Fox and Obel hot dog, and I think it's really good too. It's very different, though, from a Vienna Beef dog that most are used to. It's similar to an Usinger dog-- smoother, with more of a bologna-like texture, with a natural casing snap. Fox and Obel's hot dog buns are incredible too.

I'd almost forgotton about the F/O dog--thanks rdb66 for the reminder!