Hot dogs have long been one of America’s cheapest comfort foods, but now some restaurants are pushing them into luxury territory, with caviar, Wagyu beef and eye-popping price tags.
At Pawn Shop Sports Bar & Kitchen in Hollywood, Executive Chef Tony Messina is serving a house-made Wagyu hot dog that can cost up to $74 when topped with caviar. The dish fits into a broader national trend that has seen hot dogs climb as high as $100with premium ingredients and extravagant presentations.
Pawn Shop’s version starts with an 80/20 blend of chuck roll and beef fat. Sous Chef Katie Valdez grinds the meat, mixes it to create the signature “snappy” texture, stuffs it into casings and cold-smokes the dogs with applewood.
Messina said making the hot dogs from scratch is part of Pawn Shop’s “high brow, low brow” approach.
“There’s a level of masochism involved,” he joked, explaining that the kitchen prefers to make as much as possible in-house.
For the luxury version, the Wagyu dog is served in a house-made Parker House-style roll with Japanese mayo, finely cut chives and a half-ounce of either Kaluga or Siberian sturgeon caviar.
And according to Messina, the caviar is where most of the $74 price comes from.
“You’re paying for the half ounce of caviar,” he said. “For all intents and purposes, the hot dog is free.”
As for whether luxury hot dogs are a passing gimmick, Messina isn’t worried.
“Tasty food is tasty food,” he said. “What is good is good.”
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