I remember when Manor Road seemed like the hippest thing the East Side had to offer. But that was before the East Sixth renaissance. But there’s still some vestiges of coolness here and there. For instance, in the parking lot of a convenience store, where there used to be a sushi trailer (!) there is now a hotdog cart.
I like to think of hotdogs as the Caucasian taco. The "Man Bites Dog" stand has taken the common-man appeal of the hotdog and made it all fancy. Which I can’t say I entirely approve. The menu is a string of slightly cutesy names with esoteric ingredients.
But the "old school dog" was reasonably priced and served with simple fixins. Note the split-grilled method of preparation, which brought out the full flavor of the dog, without undermining the trashy greasiness.
The bun was one of the best hotdog buns I have ever encountered. It walked the delicate line between a pillowy texture and the virile tooth-feel of a real bread.
Man Bites Dog "Old School Dog" – Grade A
Just before the UT baseball team broke their winning streak, Julia my food-frakking deputy and myself attended a game. To be honest, I mainly wanted to eat hotdogs.
The footlong chili cheese dog screamed mediocrity. The machine chili and extrudable cheese product were little different from what you can get from your average 7-11. The bun and the meat were strictly off-the-shelf. Yet, just by being in the ballpark, the hotdog sublimated into its essence the spirit of baseball and the charisma of summer.
The corndog was slightly better fare. Hot and crisp, it was a near perfect example of the form.
The funnel cake (pictured next to it) was probably the worst purchase I’ve made. It felt like a brick of fry oil in my stomach, and to top off the embarrassment, the wind blew the powdered sugar topping onto everyone in section C. Not the best outdoor food.
UT Ballpark Dogs – Grade B
You may have heard that the American Academy of Pediatrics have called for a redesign of the hotdog on the grounds that it causes way too many choking deaths because of it’s esophagus-plug shape. Shortly thereafter I was forwarded a link to a design blog where they attempted to deconstruct the hotdog to make it safer.
Not to be outdone but what are surely a bunch of effeminate Mac-users, I have put together my own ideas. They’re thinking a little out of the box, but I’m sure you can appreciate that they are simply the first generation.
