Who’s got the winning wiener? Amateurs slug it out for tube steak glory.
Kelso Brewery's fifth-annual wiener showdown, held on Saturday, was enough to make hot dog–loving foodies think they were in heaven—where all dogs go, of course. From green to greasy to no dog at all, 20 competitors cooked up tube steaks in every variety (washed down with Kelso suds, natch), and prizes were handed out in categories like "Top Dog" (the fan fave) and "Best in Show" (the judges' pick).
Entrants included Laena McCarthy and Jeanne Hodesh's Farm Dog—topped with hot pepper jelly, radish and green tomato relish made from tomatoes grown at Brooklyn Range—and Noah Berland and Shunya Togashi's "Le hot do à la crème glacée," which didn’t use any hot dog at all. Instead, the pair squeezed ice cream onto a homemade pain au chocolat “bun.” “It was excruciatingly hot last year, and I didn’t want to stand over a grill again,” Berland said of their decision to ditch the dog.
Tasters raved about Basil Lee and Kevin Stafford’s Ditty Mao Dog, served on a buttered and toasted New England bun and topped with basil mayo, carrots and cucumber. But in the end, David Estorino and Adam Arce took the "Top Dog" award for "Luca Brasi Sleeps with the Fishes," a hot dog covered in spaghetti, pesto, cream sauce, and Pepperidge Farm Goldfish. The "Best in Show" award went to Karol Lu and David Roderick's Pickles to the Slaw-ter, slathered with fried pickles and 'slaw. —Lauren Huefner
