Too often hotdogs are relegated to the periphery of cuisine. They are found in dark corners of convenience stores and the children’s menus of fine dining establishments.
Finally, the hotdog has found its marquee standing as the culinary centerpiece it was meant to be.
I am talking about Frank, an Austin entertainment district destination. Only a few months old, you can find Frank in that weird little building next to where the Alamo used to be. It’s gimmick (and yes, every business in the warehouse district needs a gimmick) is to sell hotdogs and bacon-infused cocktails in a trendy atmosphere.
My food frakking deputy Julia and I ordered a couple of these high-class hotdogs on a recent visit. Julia had the Chicago dog, and I had the plain hotdog with the "pork-it" option, which means that they split it open, stuffed it with cheese, wrapped it in bacon and deep-fried it.
Let’s take another look at those. BTW, our server totally called me out on the photographing.
Julia’s Chicago dog was as authentic as I’ve ever seen. It had the Vienna Beef sausage, the slightly mooshy poppyseed bun, giant slices of vegetables, and the uranium-green relish that is the hallmark of an authentic Chicago dog. If it had cucumber slices it would be so close to perfect that it would bend space in a vortex of hotdoggy goodness.
My porked dog was honestly a little dry. But I blame that on my failure to drop an extra buck to have the dog drenched in chili and cheese. I expect you readers not to make the same mistake I did. Of course if there had been additional condiment options beyond the ketchup (!eww!) and mustard bottles on the table, that wouldn’t have been a problem.
The hotdog prices were about par with a sit-down establishment and certainly not as steep as you would expect for a trendy warehouse district menu. Frank has additional haute cuisine specialty sausages, like "jackalope" and currywurst, but that’s an exploration for another entry.
It’s not directly in line with this topic, but since it’s part of the general ambiance of Frank, I would like to talk about their specialty cocktails.
In the foreground is the "redheaded stranger" that I felt obligated to order. It has bacon-infused vodka, bloody mary mix, and garnished with a cube of cheddar and a strip of bacon. I could barely taste the bacon infusing, in fact I could have imagined it. Mainly I tasted the spicy hot mix and some sort of vegetable matter that kept slipping up the straw and popping in my mouth. I still have no idea what it was. The strip of bacon almost immediately went limp and got lost in the ice like a folded-up tapeworm. I can’t say I enjoyed the experience as much as you would expect for something described as "bacon infused," but it did its job. I didn’t taste any alcohol at all. And it certainly contained alcohol because I went goofy for a bit.
Julia’s "Daytripper" tasted like a watermelon aquafresca. Which, as you know, is awesome. Add Tito’s vodka to that and it’s doubly awesome.
Frank’s Chicago Dog – Grade A plus
Frank’s Pork-it Dog – Grade B plus
