What is a food/restaurant post doing on a website devoted to pop culture? It may seem incongruous, but eating is as much, if not more, of a communal cultural experience as music, film or literature. The act of breaking bread with another has been part of the human experience long before the first movie house was built, before the first guitar was strung, or even before the first book was written. Food and cuisine is arguably the purest expression of culture, an expression of history and shared custom through the need for sustenance – it’s where art and biological imperative meet. (Some could argue that music is just there to facilitate reproduction, but that’s another post.)
Enough of all that fancy talk – let’s get to shoveling food down our gullets.
GRTM contributors Nate and Evan took a pilgrimage to Hot Doug’s, Chicago’s foremost sausage emporium. (That’s fancy talk for a hot dog stand). Hot Doug’s belongs to that class of restaurants that experiments with food within one form, such as California Pizza Kitchen or similar Chicago eatery Kuma’s Corner (possibly subject to its own Gather Round the Table writeup) who practices the dark art of the hamburger. Along with the standard menu of hot dogs and sausages (Polish, Italian, Brats, etc.), there is a weekly rotating specials menu, serving unique sausages with gourmet toppings averaging between $7-9. It has become one of the hottest eateries in the city, with a standard 20-45 minute line wrapping around the block. It’s well worth the wait, though, and has been reviewed by critics both novice and experienced. We thought we’d give our taste-buds a whirl.
When first going to a place like this, it’s nice to try the basics on the menu – the simple hot dog, or bratwurst. The French say that the true mark of a great chef is how well they make a simple omelet, and the same can be said of any specialty food store. But who wants to read about how tasty a regular hot dog is? We decided to dive headfirst into the specials menu, sampling the truly unique offerings at Hot Doug’s.
Wild Rice and Asiago Cheese Bison Sausage
with Roasted Yellow Pepper Mustard, Chimay Beer Cheese
This was, generally, the most sausage-like of those we sampled, in that it’s the most humble and simple sausage, and would go best with a cold beer at a baseball game. The asiago lent a saltiness to the sausage, which, combined with the smokiness of the bison, created a flavor similar to bacon, but much richer and deeper. The yellow pepper added a crispness and sweetness to the mustard, and the cheese tops it off with a subtle creaminess with a very mild complexity, similar to muenster. This sausage was the first one we dived into and it was great for kicking things off, definitely a great pick.
Foie Gras and Sauternes Duck Sausage
with Truffle Aioli, Foie Gras Mousse, Fleur de Sel
Did we feel bad? Yeah, some. Was it good? Dear God, yes. Sometimes there are difficult moral dilemmas that face us, compromises we need to make for enjoyment of “the finer things”, and we need to decide individually where all those lines are. (As a side note, we both agree that, under the right circumstances, we would sample human flesh. Not out of a need for survival, but just to see what it tasted like.) But, more importantly, this was one amazing sausage.
The sausage itself had a sweetness, imparted probably from the Sauternes wine, that was delicate, with hints of butter and almost cinnamon-like, vaguely reminiscent of french toast. Layered on top of that was the ultra-rich and smooth foie gras, the tangy, creamy but earthy truffle aioli, finished with a touch of the fleur de sel, making this as decadent and luxurious, while also guilt-enducing, as anything we’ve ever had.
Caribbean Goat Sausage
with Spicy Prickly Pear Creme Fraiche, Roasted Plantains, Delice du Jura Cheese
Sometimes, when you try something new and innovative, it fails miserably. As we expected, the goat was a bit off-putting at first, with its gaminess, but that was the least of this sausage’s problems. (Evan actually finished the sausage after removing all of his toppings.) The uber-sweetness of the plantains, and the filthy-shoe-sole taste of the cheese were all competing for superiority on our tongues, and the prickly pear got completely lost in the flavor battle. Nobody won, but we definitely lost.
Ribeye Steak Sausage
with Black Garlic Aioli, Double Creme Brie Cheese
A solid effort. Nate described this sausage as a “portable steak dinner,” though Evan lamented that, with a sausage, you don’t have the luxury of cooking it below medium-well. It’s probably the best beef sausage you can have, though. The brie was delicious, and that black garlic aioli should be sold in bottles.
All in all, a worthy venture. The failure of the goat sausage adds to the adventure, making the highs of the other sausages that much better. (Kind of like life, huh?)
Well, hope you guys enjoyed our first foray into food criticism. Anyone else been to Hot Doug’s? Any other eateries you love that you feel are doing some clever work?
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Evan Mather lives just outside of Chicago and is a full-time student with hopes to eventually earn his Masters in Library Science. He spends his limited free time with his wife and cats, subjecting them to his cinematic, musical, literary and culinary interests. Sometimes this is a good thing, and sometimes it is not.
I like that this article about a hot dog restaurant included the authors’ admission of considering cannibalism.
I’m totally trying this place, by the by.
Ok now that you have eaten at Hot Doug’s you need to try Frank ‘n Dawgs! It’s in the Lincoln Park area right by De Paul’s campus.
It’s the same concept of a gourmet hot dog joint, but I have to say I kind of like Frank ‘n Dawgs better. Something about their ingredients taste more fresh and they have this AMAZING corn dog that comes with a mystery sausage! And for now, you won’t have to wait as long to get a dog!
P.S. My favorite at Hot Doug’s was also the Duck Sausage with foie gras!
Stephen – If you’re looking for some company, I’ll totally come by. I will take any excuse to go to Doug’s that I can find.
I really want to try their duck-fat fries, too, which are only served on Fridays and Saturdays.
Lilly – I checked out Frank ‘n Dawg’s website, and they do seem to be fairly similar to Hot Doug’s, even with the witty pun of a name. I will have to check them out.
I even noticed that they have a competition, where you can submit a dog recipe and conceivably win money and a cut of the sales. Pretty cool!
Evan, maybe you and I should enter that competition with a “Cannibal’s Delight” hotdog.
I’ve been meaning to try that Foie Gras dog for like…a year. This just makes me want to try it all the more.
Still, I feel that it is necessary to let you all know that if you’re looking for the (and I do mean THE) perfect traditional Chicago dog, there is NOTHING on earth that could beat the experience at Gene and Jude’s. If you don’t know where it is, then you probably shouldn’t go there. And if you do know where it is and haven’t been, then you’re probably a filthy ketchup-eater and don’t belong there anyway.
(it’s just outside the city in River Grove)
So what you’re all saying is, we need to have a big ol’ Chicago area GRTM summit, where we go to both Hot Doug’s AND Frank ‘n Dawgs (and maybe even Gene and Jude’s to cleanse the palate) and then have an even BIGGER writeup on here. After we all wake up from our diabetic coma after we’ve all become morbidly obese, that is…
The competition is pretty tough right now at Frank ‘n Dawgs. Their reigning champ is the Foss Hog by Philip Foss, chef of Lockwood. Us plebeians don’t stand a chance! Although, that would be kind of a fun project.
I second Colin’s comment on Gene and Jude’s. Sometimes I will randomly daydream about their hot dogs…strange I know. But they’re just simply awesome and the fries packed on top make it even better!
Just ate at Gene and Jude’s last week, turns out its right on my way to Dominican. So freakin’ good! And its so awesome how they package the fries by wrapping them up with the dog. All of the different greases become one gigantic orgy of hot dog bliss!
I haven’t been to Gene and Jude’s (we’ll have to go sometime!), but there’s a joint in Grayslake (or is it Round Lake?) called Big Jack’s that does the same thing w/ their dogs, which are quite tasty. They also have the best italian beef I’ve ever had, period.