It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?"

What vegetarian doesn't love hot dogs, right?  I mean, they are definitely the epitome of everything that I love about food: healthy, "variety meats" (if you think you don't want to know, you're probably right), and they get their own national council!  Ok, actually, having your own national council is pretty cool.  My bias against hot dogs is no secret since they have topped my picky eater list-o'-unacceptable-foods long before I became a vegetarian.  Using Veggie Monster status as a legitimate reason to turn down hot dogs factored in as roughly 25% of my decision to become a vegetarian in the first place.  Whatever inspired me to walk into a place like the Red Hot of my own free will is beyond both reason and hunger.  The Red Hot is a bar.  That does hot dogs.  That's it.  And it is my favorite restaurant.

Obviously, they are serving veggie dogs, too.  And let's be totally fair right up front, it's not like veggie dogs are the pinnacle of health food...but it certainly feels easier to justify eating 2 or 3 in a row, which is what I cannot help but do while I'm at the Red Hot.  My first love at the Red Hot is their "Not Dog" (punny and vegetarian?! This thing was made just for me!), the veggie version of the "Chicago".  Served on a poppyseed bun, somewhere under the mustard, relish, tomato, sport peppers, pickle spear and celery salt lies the dog.  I can't say enough about this monstrosity to the right.  There's the crunch and dill of the pickle, the bite of the onions, the tang of the mustard, the saltiness and the hint of celery, the sweet acidity of the tomatoes and the heat when you bite into a pepper; you stuff your face (with any luck everything actually makes it in your mouth not just on your face), chew, swallow and then your mouth practically begs you to repeat.  Seriously?  This is me.  And I'm writing an open love letter to a hot dog.



In my last couple visits to the Red Hot I finally realized that it wasn't cheating on my dear "Not Dog" to order a different veggie dog to accompany it in what I like to think of as the "Nom Nom Nom" basket.  (Don't even get me started on the day it suddenly dawned on me that there was nothing stopping me from ordering as many "Not Dogs" in one sitting as my heart desired).  This weekend I tried the "6th Ave Strut" for the first time.  You know those individual packs of Philadelphia Cream Cheese?  This dog comes smothered in a whole one, with onions and tomato.  Again, the tomatoes perfectly counter the bite of the onion and the creamy/tangy contradiction of the cream cheese makes your mouth sit up and pay attention when it's on a hot dog.  And I like food that makes my mouth have to think.

 This is what I'm talking about! Beer
taps cover the ceiling at the Red Hot.

I deviated a little from my usual order of beer (they have roughly 13 on tap and I have yet to see the same tap list twice, even when visits fall less than a week apart) and decided to try the Pennywise Petit Sirah.  You'll notice if you check out the link that hot dogs are not one of the ideal pairings listed for this wine.  Then again, the Red Hot isn't really the place to be concerned about that.  One of the dimensions of the Red Hot that make it my favorite place is the atmosphere.  If you care about quality beer and hot dogs you will get it.  But there is just something about putting the two together that makes snobbery and overt classiness absolutely impossible (that and trying to get your mouth around the hot dog pictured above).  I also like a restaurant/bar that sets out to teach it's customers a little something.   At the Red Hot a brief history of the growler can be found on the menu with fantastic little tidbits such as: "In many states, it used to be (and still is) illegal to sell alcohol on Sunday.  So, if you wanted beer on a Sunday you went to a tavern and bought some of these 'containers' of draft beer.  Hallelujah!"  And if you think that beer is saving the planet, the Red Hot agrees with you.

And just to make sure that I balance out raving about food I did not make - a little bit of raving about some food I DID make this weekend.  On Saturday, set with cravings for bold flavors, simple prep, emptying the fridge and to be the world's best girlfriend by preparing a tasty meal while le Boyfriend worked I tossed pasta shells, tomato, fresh basil, minced garlic, freshly grated parmesan, olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar into a bowl and mixed.  The best part was walking down to Pike Place to grab fresh basil and tomato right before cooking.  Or maybe it was that I got to finish off what was left over.  :)

With a rumbly in my tumbly,

The Veggie Monster

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