The Chicago Dawg and some other treats [Chicago: On The Road]

I didn’t tell you to have a hot dog. Who told you to have a hot dog? 

Jerry Seinfeld (Seinfeld episode “The Soup”) 

Chicago is definitely a wonderful city with great culinary scene. But is also a place for a couple fast food style highlights unique to the Windy City. So I took a time in my last visit to try a couple of them. 

Chicago

The Chicago Dog 

The Chicago style hot dog is frankfurter on a poppy seed bun, and has white onions, pickle relish, tomato slices, sport peppers, and celery salt. Many places to have it but I took the opportunity to go to the legendary Wrigley Field for a baseball game, so couldn’t resist to have it while watching the game. Chicago dog, a beer, and a baseball match some sort of ménage au trois. I loved it. 

Chicago Style Hot Dog

Wrigley Field

Baseball Field / Fast Food

Area: Addison

Chicago

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Al’s Beef 

I saw this place in a Man vs Food episode, and Al’s Beef Italian Sandwich was so grotesque but tasty I had to have it. Esquire Magazine considered one of the best sandwiches in Americas. They are trading since 1938, Al Ferrari and Chris Pacelli developed the idea of the dipped meat sandwich due to the scarcity of meat during the depression, they formulated the secret recipe and became a hit. Even to eat the sandwich you have to take a particular stance known as the Italian stance as any other might cause severe damage to your shoes. 

Al's Beef

Al's Sign

I went to one of the oldest restaurants in Little Italy. Amazing sandwich, full of flavour. The extra spicy peppers are nice. It’s simple, tasty, and good. As side saggy fries dipped in melted cheese so simple but still good. 

The counter

The Italian Combo

Dipped Beef Italian Sandwich

Al's Italian Beef

T: +1 312 226 4017
Italian Sandwich
Area: Little Italy
Chicago
Twitter: AlsItalianBeef

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Rick Bayless Street Food 

I did a quick stop for breakfast at XOCO. Rick Bailess fast food Mexican place. Located besides Frontera, opening early and closing late this self service Mexican cafe offers a menu full of street food from empanadas to tortas, and don't forget the churros. 

Xoco

Inside

I got the empanada, it was brilliant, the pastry was perfect and the filling spot on with the right amount of heat. Passed the tostas as I had them on the past. So I went for the chilaquiles, a specialty you can only have on Saturday. Really good, melted cheese with the tomato, tortilla chips and beef. Good balance and overall a healthy breakfast, Rick as usual delivered.

Empanada

Filling

Chilaquiles

Saturday special

XOCO
T: +1 312 334 3688
Mexican Cuisine
Area: River North
Chicago
Twitter: XocoChicago

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#BlogEatBlog Big Apple Hot Dogs new competition [Revisited]

One of the strong names in the street food community is definitely Big Apple Hot Dogs. A hot dog cart parked during the week in Old Street, and now weekends in the trendy Brick Lane. I had the chance to talk with Abiye and I was happy to hear all new challenges and surprises he has for us in 2012, including residency in Vibe Bar during weekends, and also going north to Camden Town, giving Londoners the chance to get their favourite dawgs in more locations. 

The stand in Vibe Bar

I went for the last heat of #BlogEatBlog a competition for Food Bloggers to create a topping for Abiye’s dogs. In this instalment I had the chance to try and taste three strong competitors, Carla Bribed with Food gave us a strong and nicely refreshing slaw named Devious Dolly, Smy Chutney brought a special sweetness with an apple six peppers chutney with fried onions, and last but not least Will Yums rock the house with his spicy Jam Hot. 

Carla's slaw

Will's Jam

Smy's Chutney

Best of luck for the three contestants of heat four, and follow the trend to know who is going to be in the final. I couldn’t resist and had two dogs, excellent as usual, big dog with a mixture of pork, beef, and garlic just awesome, and a pimp steak. Great afternoon in Brick Lane for a beer, chatting with good friends, and having hot dogs. 

Big dog ready to go

Pimp my dog

Hot dogs remind me the Seinfeld episode “The Movie” 

Kramer: Listen, I'm going to get a hot dog at Payapa King 

Elaine: No, wait 

George: You're not going to get back here in time 

Kramer: I'm starving, I haven't had any dinner 

Elaine: You can get a hot dog in the theatre 

Kramer: I don't want to get a movie hot dog, I want a Papaya King hot dog 

Elaine: Kramer, Jerry is going to be here any second, and then this line is going to start moving, and we're going to end up in the front row 

Kramer: Well, just save me a seat 

Elaine: No! I don't want to save seats. Don't put me through that! I once had the fleece just ripped out of my winter coat in a seat-saving incident

Big Apple Hot Dog (Vibe Bar Residency - Weekends)

T: 079 8938 7441

Aprox Damage: £5pp

Area: Brick Lane

Borough: Tower Hamlets

Twitter: BigAppleHotDogs

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NYC Burger Institution

If you talk about a burger in New York one of the first things that comes to mind is Shake Shack. Currently 12 restaurants 7 of them in the Big Apple. Everything started in 2004 in Madison Square Park thanks to Danny Meyer. The place offer a 4oz proprietary blend of premium beef burger topped with tomato, lettuce, ShackSauce, and American cheese, on a grilled potato bun. Apart from that dogs, fries, and custards. 

The Place at Madison Square Park

I went with The Chief, the queue wasn't so bad even though it was an amazing day. The queue is so long that you can see it from the website thanks to the Shack Cam to decide the best time to drop by. 

Mer Shack dise

I ordered the Shack Burger, fries, and a dog. The burger is perfect for purist, an American classic, the beef is spot on, the juices, the flavour, the balance, Shake is like the old testament for American burgers. The dog was good, nice flavour, good touch with the kraut, finally fries were perfectly cooked, crispy on the outside, soft and tender on the inside. 

The Order

A perfect place for a burger during a sunny day in the Big Apple. 

Dog

Burger and Fries

Burger Perfection

Shake Shack reminds me the first episode of Seinfeld “The Seinfeld Chronicles” 

Jerry: Seems to me, that button is in the worst possible spot. The second button literally makes or breaks the shirt, look at it, it's too high! It's in no-man's land, you look like you live with your mother 

George: Are you through? 

Jerry: You do of course try on, when you buy? 

George: Yes, it was purple, I liked it, I don't actually recall considering the buttons 

Jerry: Oh, you don't recall? 

George: Uh, no, not at this time. 

Jerry: Well, senator, I just like to know, what you knew and when you knew it

Shake Shack

T: +1 212 889 6600

Burgers

Area: Flatiron

Borough: Manhattan
Twitter: shakeshackfans

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The most Talked About American Burger Online

Founded in 1986 by the Murrell couple with their 4 sons, even though they had another son after they open the first store in Virginia they didn’t change the name Five Guys Burgers and Fries. What started as a family business soon changed into franchise around 2003, now Five Guys has more than 900 locations in the US. Their menu straight forward burgers, dogs, sandwiches, and fries. With a policy of no freezer only coolers you can be sure they will use fresh products, also there are no timers in the kitchen as they believe a good cook knows when food is perfect. 

Five Guys

Inside

I went for a bacon cheeseburger, a kosher dog, and the five guys style fries cooked in peanut oil. You can add 15 different toppings to your burger, including grilled onions, relish, jalapeno peppers, pickles, and hot sauce, making the possibility of having 250.000 combinations you can ask for. 

My Order

The burger was good, American flavours, pretty straight forward classic bacon cheeseburger, crispy bacon, melted American cheese, ideal for burger purists. I really like it even though the patty was well done and I’m more of the medium rare type. The fries were good, nice flavour with the peanut oil, and the portion was huge basically a quarter of the paper bag was full of fires. Finally the kosher dog was excellent no need of anything else, the sausage flavour was nice, and again the melted cheese did justice. 

Kosher Dog

Some of the Fries

The Five Guys Bacon Cheeseburger

Fast food kings, nice burgers, excellent and deserved online buzz, and good critics and reviews, won’t hesitate to go again and get another burger if hungry. 

One I talk about a guy I remember the Seinfeld episode “The Pool Guy” 

Jerry: Yeah? 

Ramon: Hey it's Ramon 

Jerry: What? 

Ramon: Hey, It's Ramon Jerry. I’m coming up 

Jerry: Oh. Okay. Wha… what is he doing here? 

Elaine: Who? Who is Ramon? 

Jerry: He's the pool guy 

Elaine: What pool guy? 

Jerry: Do me a favour. Just stick around while he's here.

Elaine: Yeah, no problem

Ramon: Hee… hey, hey Jerry How are you, crazy guy? 

Jerry: Hey. So, ah, Ramon this is my friend Elaine

Elaine: Yeah and I was just leaving. Bye-bye Jerry

Five Guys Burgers and Fries

T: +1 256 382 3150

Burgers

Area: Huntsville

Alabama

Twitter: Five_Guys

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New York Style Hot Dogs in London

One of the vendors or usual suspects in The Long Table and a place I was looking to eat in the past month was definitely Big Apple Hot Dogs. The tricky thing in this occasion was that they were completely the other side of town where my office is located and the of commuting for lunch was impossible, add to that they close at 6pm so the window of opportunity was limited. 

The Big Apple Magic

New Yorkers not going to be happy

Big Apple offer 4 official types of sausages but the day I went they had an additional one. Hand made using natural ingredients, 98% free range gluten free meat, and fresh buns. The offer an authentic NYC style hot dog in the rainy capital of England, with the guarantee it will be the best dog you have ever had. 

Abiye doing his part

Got there for lunch on a lucky day I was working in Central London near St Paul’s with the objective of trying as much as I can. My first victim the Big Dog, pork and beef Big Apple’s signature sausage, season with marjoram, garlic and black pepper, and double smoked. Love it, the smoky flavour with the garlic and the pork/beef sausage great combination. Then asked for a Big Frank but they didn’t have so I settled down for a Frank Junior, same as its big daddy, 100% pork Frankfurter seasoned with paprika, nutmeg and black pepper, and oak smoked. Beautiful, full of flavour, simple but tasty. Finally I asked for Pimp Steak which they didn’t have either but they offered a Polish Substitute. This Big Pole was great as the two before, a little bit more rustic than the predecessors but delicious, it’s difficult to choose a favourite I will probably try a different one every time as all of their dogs are excellent and his popularity in the last month is proof of that. 

Big Dog

Frank Junior

Big Pole

Go try them in Old Street from noon to six Tuesdays to Fridays or head over The Long Table next Friday night where you will find Abiye selling his creations which are at the same level of their New Yorker or Danish Copenhagen brothers. Just remember No Brains, No Bones, No Butts. 

Street Art nearby the Crime Scene

Hot Dogs always reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Muffin Tops” 

Mr. Steinbrenner: John Tyler? George Steinbrenner here. I want to talk about George Costanza. I understand he's been dividing his time between us and you. I cannot have that. 

John Tyler: Well I don't know who he is but if you want him that bad I'm not giving him up that easily. 

Mr. Steinbrenner: Oh is that so. Playing a little hardball huh Jonny boy? 

John Tyler: How about this. You give me Costanza, I convert your concessions to all chicken no charge. Instead of hot dogs, chicken dogs. Instead of pretzels, chicken twists. Instead of beer, alcoholic chicken. 

Mr. Steinbrenner: How do you make that alcoholic chicken? 

John Tyler: Let if ferment, just like everything else. 

Mr. Steinbrenner: That stuff sounds great. All right. I'll have Costanza on the next bus.

Big Apple Hot Dogs

T: 079 6804 3245

Hot dogs / Street Food

Area: Shoreditch

Borough: Hackney

Twitter: BigAppleHotDogs

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Pølsevogn War – The Børge Hotdog

My third and last stop for hotdogs in Copenhagen was Harry’s Place. I read about the Børge and had to go and try this huge hotdog. The place a small store in Nørrebro loved by the locals and hide to the turists, been there for more than 50 years, with clientele including prime ministers, but who made famous Harry was a lorry driver who visit the place daily and had 3 of these bad boys, after that devotion they decided to name it after him apparently. The options the red casing hotdogs, including the monstrosity 150 grams Weiner. 

The Place

Got to the place and asked for the big dawg, immediately got approval nods from the locals that were gobbling happily at the place. To complete my selection the Danish version of a meatball sandwich the Frikadeller. 

Big Daddy

Meatball time

The Børge was huge and with great flavour, the Frikadeller extremely good. Simple food, great flavours, in summary my kind of place. 

My Kind of Place

Meatballs remind me the Seinfeld episode “The Nap”. 

Steinbrenner: Boy can you think of what went through my mind when I saw there wasn't going to be enough room under that desk for me and my babies. 

George: I'm sorry sir. 

Steinbrenner: You know what I think? I think you knew about that bomb ahead of time. 

George: What? 

Steinbrenner: About that bomb. You climbed under that desk because you have ESP George, what's on my mind? Meatballs! Huh? Unbelievable. Anyway this terrorist had a specific demand. Not more cheap adjustable hats on hat day. He wants fitted hats just like the players wear.

Harry's Place

T: +45 35 81 26 69

Hot Dogs

Borough: Nørrebro

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Pølsevogn War – The Gourmet Hotdog

My second stop to try the Copenhagen style hotdogs was Andersen Bakery. The place is in Tivoli Gardens exactly in the Nimb hotel. Pretty easy to find as the hotel is a replica of the Taj Mahal. Andersen has 4 locations around the world, including Hiroshima, Tokyo, San Francisco, and Copenhagen. 

Side entrance from Tivoli

Three dogs, Grand Danois, Bulldog, and Fransk Hotdog. I’ve already tried the Fransk in DØP so I was between two options pork sausage versus halal veal mixed with beef sausage. At the end I went for the Grand Danois, pork sausage, home baked bread, ketchup, mustard, remoulade, cucumber, and crispy onions. 

The Menu

Preparation

Amazing, excellent flavour, a dawg worth of the gourmet title. 

The Gourmet Dog

Hotdogs remind me the Seinfeld episode “The Chaperone”. 

Jerry: Hot dog?
Miss Rhode Island: No, thanks. I'm watching my weight.

Jerry: Ah. I'm watching my height. My doctor doesn't want me to get any taller.

Andersen Bakery

T: +45 33 75 07 35

Bakery / Hotdogs

Borough: Vesterbro

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