Tour de Hot Dog
Clearly this is inadvisable from a number of perspectives. But it is on.
I am going on a mini-hot-dog tour and you are all cordially invited to come. You see, my birthday is in December, and I have a long history of doing inadvisable eating to commemorate the occasion.
Probably the most vile was when I conquered the one-pound hamburger at Fuddruckers with cheese, sautéed onions, and bacon on my 28th birthday. It was followed by a phantasmagorical dessert called the I do Declair, which had something to do with a giant éclair and a whole lot of ice cream.
But my birth-month is not all we are celebrating. Those of us on the tour will also be toasting Mr. Dave’s return to blogging. Hopefully it lasts for a bit longer this go around. And now that he has observed my family and me in public, perhaps Mr. Dave will be brave enough to emerge from the shadows and join us on the tour.
After all, if anyone has a strong love for the region’s mini-hot-dogs it’s Mr. Dave.
Mark your calendars. The tour is Saturday, December 18. I’m giving you all a lot of warning, because that is the last shopping weekend before Christmas. So if you have a lot of shopping to do, I encourage you to do it early. I know it’s easier said than done.
But even if you are shopping, you still need to eat.
And what better way to eat, when spending a lot of money on gifts, than these incredibly cheap and tasty bite-sized morsels. Plus, as opposed to the Tour de Donut, this excursion will not include multiple hours of driving. Although there will be a minor variation in the execution of this venture. So please pay close attention.
The Tour de Hot Dog will take place in two phases. You do not have to complete both phases to have your score sheets tallied. But you do need to complete phase one to judge in phase two.
Phase one has a tight geographic footprint and represents the three famous establishments known for their mini-hot-dogs with meat sauce: Famous Lunch in Troy, Gus’s in Watervliet and Hot Dog Charlie’s in Cohoes. If you plan to submit a score sheet, I ask that you order two hot dogs from each location – one plain and one with the works. This will allow each scorer to assess any subtle differences in the wiener itself.
Phase two will bring either the most hard core, most curious or most hungry tasters back to Albany to sample the wares from Hot Dog Heaven on Lark Street and Anton’s on New Scotland. Both places were recommended by readers as serious if unlikely contenders to the throne.
People are busy. And I imagine most of you can barely stomach the idea of six mini-hot-dogs over a two-hour stretch. Ten dogs over a longer period of time may be a wee bit overwhelming for the more sensible among you. I understand that.
So I’m doing this. And I’d like you to come. If we’ve met in the past, it will be good to see you again. If you’ve been reading and you’re shy, get over it or bring a friend or two along. It will be good to meet you. Just send me an email if you plan to attend, and I will let you know the specific time and place the tour will commence on December 18. Please note that whatever email address you use I will include in the cc: list to those other readers who will be on the tour (unless you tell me otherwise).
I am very excited and I hope you are too. The Tour de Donut was a lot of fun. But don’t worry if you can’t make this one, I’ll have another event sometime in March.
FUSSYlittleBLOG 
I am marking my calendar because I have been meaning to do this myself for years. I live fairly close to all of the Phase 1 establishments. I think this would be a great time!
I’ll email you to get on the cc list.
Oh… I want to do this. Now it’s just a matter of if I can.
I’m a December baby, too, but I think I’ll sit this one out. The Tour de Donut was fun, and it was great to meet you, but hot dogs aren’t really my thing. I’ve lived in this area for almost ten years and I’ve still never actually had a mini hot dog from any of those places. Does the works include raw onions?
Six mini-dogs? That’s nothing! I could probably order six from each place and be fine. They’re so teeny, after all.
YES! Now, this may be a stretch, even for my iron stomach, but can we consider adding a Schenectady leg? Broadway Lunch, First Prize Mike’s and Newest Lunch all have excellent, albeit full sized, dogs with meat sauce, onions and mustard. Either way, count me in.
In light of our history of spirited discussions about our different opinions on food, I give you my response (and an entreaty) to the Tour de Hot Dog. I illicit your thoughts and opinons, good sir!
http://ridiculousfoodsociety.blogspot.com/2010/12/mr-fussys-tour-de-hotdog-some-thoughts.html
(I posted this in response to your comment on my blog, will just put it here too in case you miss it)
Let me know when you are doing it, I don’t know about the Grande Tour, but I may be game for eating hot dogs at one of the joints or the other.
I could pretty much list the differences between the hot dogs at each of the places from memory, so I don’t know if it would be necessary for me to punish my gut with a baker’s dozen of the little bastards (which I would probably do if I went to all of the places).
There is also a distinction to be made. Are you simply judging the hot dogs on their own? or are you judging the joints themselves?
If it is just hot dogs (and I am grudgingly offering this, but if it must be done, so be it). I think it should be 4 simple categories-
1. Dog
2. Bun
3. Meat Sauce
4. Overall Harmony (i.e. mustard to dog to bun to meat sauce to onion to whatever special magic has been sprinkled by the Chef du hot dog)
So THIS is why I became obsessed with having a chili dog for dinner lastnight? Sort of psychically connected to this blog post?
Anyway, happy birthday…we December birthday people are the bestest.