Dogmatic
More on hot dogs, because you can never quite have enough of them. The hot dogs at Dogmatic are snuggled in an almost baguette like bread that has been baked/skewered on a metal apparatus. I had originally thought that hot dog makers were just good at finding places to hide sausages (like pizza makers scurrying to stick cheese anywhere they can), according to their website however, the idea of baking artisan bread on “metal spikes” is a borrowed European brain child.
Now for the menu. If you indulge in a bit of middle school math you will find that given 5 kinds of dogs and 6 kinds of cheese, the store yields 30 different hot dogs (you will notice I left out the asparagus, I consider it in the league of wannabe meats not worth the attention due legitimate proteins). My amazing SAT math skills aside, you can choose from cheeses you tend not to find from your hot dog stand dude. While your favorite hot dog hawker may not have cheddar jalapeno or sun dried tomato feta, just appreciate him for the fact that he is more consistent than your mailman, charges you only $2, and probably makes more money than you do…or more than whatever arbitrary amount of money you hope to make. (less than the projected salary of a business student of course, of which i am one. Blogging about food may not be a thankless job, but since you don’t click very much on the fantastic ads to you right, it is a salary-less one. Humor me darlings, humor me)
Hotdog and sides
The sides and homemade sodas are well worth it too. You can be sure none of that usual crap goes into the sodas. I did however, take issue with the strawberry soda because it had hints of cinnamon, which tend to make me a bit queasy. The lemon lime though was straight up natural citrus deliciousness. I had the Mac and Cheese for a side, which was quite yummy, not the best, but definitely better than the one you whip up for your kids out of the blue and yellow Kraft box. I can’t speak for the salads myself (I do not eat rabbit food), but I heard it was refreshing and a nice side for the cheese heavy dogs.
Signs and flavors
The set up for the whole place is somewhat like what you would find at a more modern Le Pain Quotidien, with the long communcal table. The walls have some cute artsy touches, so keep your eye out for that. When I was there, the woman across from me saw Rachel Ray passing by…so I guess keep your eye out for her too? (I tried screaming EVOO, but thought that to be in bad taste)
Lastly, careful with the cheese, it can be kind of hot and gooey.
It’s nice to be back. Chow on.
Jessie
