“High concept” is usually reserved for describing movies,
often disparagingly. It’s also useful for describing some restaurants. The
high-concept restaurant has an angle you can describe in a few words, one
conceived to appeal to a well-defined market. While this seems primarily the
domain of chains, the local restaurant that combines quality with concept can
score big.
Which brings us to DogTownHots, whose owners, Fran and Peg Basil, have opened
in the seemingly cursed off-street location across Monroe
from Oxford.
The curse looks doomed, done in by smart owners with a great idea and classy
execution.
The concept is high-quality regional and creative hot dogs, with a dog theme for giggles.
Remember Boners, which attempted the hot dog schtick
some years back? Dumb name.Worse
than dumb.DogTown hums off the tongue,
though. And the hots and sausages are top-notch, all made by local companies, grilled nicely, and
topped six ways from Sunday.
It starts with the dogs, a couple varieties from Zweigle’s. The standard is a German-style frank, long and
yummy. “We’re one of only two places in the country that has our white hot,”
Fran Basil says proudly. Zweigle’s has been making
hot dogs for well over a century, and has never had a better rep than it does
now. There is a reason.
But a hot dog — even a great one — is primarily an
excuse for toppings. “I thought it would be interesting,” Basil says, “to have
hot dogs that were regional.” So, you might try the Cincinnati Red Dog, topped
with DogTown sauce and cheddar ($2.79). The sauce is
a Cincinnati-style meat sauce akin to our Rochester
sauces, but leaner, not as hot, and more complex (a bit of chocolate lights it
up like a mole). Most of the hot dogs are named after, well, dogs. The Southern
Hound Dog comes covered in coleslaw ($2.79). The German Shepherd
will wake up your taste buds with sauerkraut, grilled onions, and mustard
($3.09).
“After that,” Basil says, “we just started makin’ ’em up.” You won’t find a
Bernese Mountain Dog in Switzerland,
but you will here: sautรฉed ‘shrooms, melted swiss, and dijon mustard ($3.49). Other fun
names include the Rhodesian Ridgeback, the Russian Wolf
Hound, and the Boston Terrier. You can get any of the dogs with a Zweigle’s red or white, a Hartmann’s 100 percent beef hot
(the “Cattle Dog”), or an Yves jumbo soy dog (which is vegan, and most toppings
are vegetarian).
Ultimately, every sandwich rises or falls on its bread. DogTown’s
answer?To quote a City
Newspaper reader, “Martusciello’s, capiscipaisan?”
You’ll find fancier breads, but not better.
Beyond dogs, the DogTown burger, a bargain at $3.29 ($3.49 with cheese),
is superior to similarly priced competition (Gray’s,
Wahl’s). It’s good beef with enough fat to be tasty,
but again the secret is the bread, cut from a loaf of Martusciello’s
French. There are also several varieties of Hartmann’s sausages, including andouille ($4.29), Polish kielbasa ($3.79), and bratwurst
($3.79). There is also one interesting soup every day: cream of Brussels
sprouts, Adirondack corn chowder, or
Southwestern pumpkin, for example ($2.99 with bread).
The fries are coated, but burgerologist
Stan Merrell still liked them ($1.79). Then there are the DogTownhomefries, breaded and deep-fried ($1.99). Those
didn’t work for me, but others obviously dig them. DogTown
also has sweet potato fries ($2.29) and excellent onion rings ($2.29).
“The people who serve plates at the stands, we’re not in
competition with them,” Fran insists. “We’ve got nothing to do with them.” He’s
right; DogTown’s breadth and quality set it apart.
But you can get a plate, the Junkyard
Dog: two pieces of meat on two sides with toppings ($6.29). I loved it with two
white hots, DogTownhomefries, mac salad, fried
onions, and sauce.
Fran Basil has fixed cars, taught English in Italy, worked in restaurants, and written books
about the best of Rochester and Buffalo. He’s proud of what he’s doing now,
albeit in a laid-back way. “Nobody has this,” he says, “Nobody I know of
anyway.” Me neither. High-end-low-end: the wave of the future? I made four
trips when two would have sufficed, and I hear that 16-month-old Ally Fear
loves the place. If DogTown makes me and Ally happy,
it must be doing some things very right.
DogTownHots, 691 Monroe Avenue,
271-6620. Hours: Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday and
Saturday til “late night.”
Food tip
El Rincon (not related to El Rincon Mexicano
in Sodus and Canandaigua) has opened in a renovated brick building at 176 Genesee Street,
near St. Mary’s Hospital. Try some tostones, alcapurrias, bacalaitos, patelillo, and yuca con cebolla for appetizers in this Latin American
restaurant. Open Tuesday though Saturday, 11a.m. to 6 p.m.
(235-1290).
— Michael Warren Thomas of www.SavorLife.com.
This article appears in Jun 7-13, 2006.
