Hot Dog ideas..

Some of you may remember me from Hot Dog Nation on Facebook, but I deleted my Facebook account. I was pretty new to the nation, and had some good posts, and it's nothing against anyone there or here. My friend said he was leaving Facebook for a bit, but I think he was back posting the same day. I went hardcore and it's been almost 2 months now or so!
 
Anyway, I'm going to be designing a hot dog to be put on a menu. Probably for a limited time and if it sells well it'll come back. Well, I shouldn't say I'm designing it.. I'm just coming up with some ideas and the chef will do his magic.
 
I thought I'd ask what you guys think of my ideas:

The French Dip - dip the bread in beef au jus, top it with sharp provolone and caramelized onions.

The Benedict - poached egg, hollandaise sauce, and bacon. Bacon Jam maybe?

The Big Country  - country fried steak dog with cauliflower mashed potato, southern green beans or collard greens, and country gravy.

The Greek - Falafel wrapped dog topped with tomato onion, sweet/spicy harissa, and labni..

The Papa a La Huancaina - this is sliced potatoes, hard boiled egg, black olive tapenade, and a spicy cheese sauce - I used to live near this restaurant in Dunellen, NJ and the appetizers were amazing.. in fact I never ordered the chicken.. or dinners.. ever.. I could eat three of these by themselves and call it a meal! Go to this website and view the menu, it has pictures.. first one on the page:

http://planetchickenrest.com/

Their Salchipapas are good too. Deep fried hot dogs over french fries with salad and special sauce. No clue what the sauce is, it’s been a long time since I’ve been there, all I know is I like it... a lot.

What brand of hot dog would be used?

I'd try to be creative without straying too far...and taste to see if the hot dog stand out. That's important in NJ.

If anything I wouldn't dip a roll. We are people who talk and eat hot dogs with our hands.

An Italian trip...sharp provolone sauce with a hint of mustard & giardiniera relish.

I like the sound of the Greek dog, I love falafel and all those fixings.

The Greek dog does sound interesting but I agree with CC. The dogs the most important thing. I would like to see an offering of the different ways dogs are enjoyed throughout the country or even the world. For example, slaw dogs from the south, Chicago style, deep fried as in Rutt's and many others. Having the basic classic's I would maybe offer different sausages on a bun. Maybe Italian sausage with onions and peppers, a German sausage with curry ketchup or a French style with Merguez sausage and a béarnaise sauce.  Well, I think I just described my dream hot dog place!

After taking a look at the link...this is a nice traditional Peruvian restaurant/menu.

I was surprised...based on the name of the restaurant. I'm curious why Planet Chicken?

It's not a hot dog-centric establishment . It's not a chicken-centric establishment.

It doesn't seem like a place to grab a casual hot dog. You'd have to be thoughtful & careful to select something that would gel and (bottom-line in business) sell to the patrons drawn to the establishment (Peruvian cuisine).otherwise.

Salchipapas is already on the menu. That fits quite well. Something else should fit the theme to match the rest of the menu & atmosphere of the restaurant....while keeping location in-mind.

When I think about NJ,NY,and Ct I think tradition. I have been away from the East coast and still eat my dogs with Mustard, relish, onions and kraut. Thats about as adventurous I get, to me it's all about the dog. I made some fresh sausage this week, I was trying to think of a way to come up with a Pastrami dog. I think a full favored tasting pastrami dog split grilled, topped with  kraut, provolone cheese, 1000 island Island dressing on grilled jewish Rye..............I have served these in my cafes using german sausage.
 
The Falafel topping for a dog could work........crispy falafel with traditional toppings
 
Greek dog could be build like a Chicago dog.......... using tomato slices, greek peppers, purple onion, Tzatziki sauce.........
 
Hot Italian Giardiniera Dog, this would be good with a sharp Provolone or a Mozzarella and maybe even some fried eggplant.
 
I think people like dips, if you were able to come up with some signature dipping sauces, I don't know if you make fresh fries or not, but, fresh homemade fries with a choice of sauces are a great idea. Look at Pommes Frites in NYC, for some ides. I went to a few places in NYC last summer, I'm going back to two of them this summer just because I liked the fries, both are homemade fresh cooked crisp and meaty with a great potato taste.........
 
 When I get frozen fries in a restaurant now a days, I think what a wasted chance to improve the meal and impress the customer.
 
Maybe a take off on the Southwest using hatch chilies and jalapeno jack cheese with a crusted masa harina mix, or a take off of on a chili relleno..........Mexican could also work using a spicy Chorizo, eggs and Papas over a dog then topped with Cojita cheese. I think its all in the presentation, if's it appealing to the eye, they will try it.........I think a way to use Potato latkes, kosher dog topped with deep fried apples, Chipotle creama
Maybe a take off on the Popper only using a hot dog stuffed with cream cheese and jalapeno peppers deep fried with a nice thin crust served with a dipping sauce.

You all are coming up with great ideas.....I would try all of them.

I also thought of the Hawaiian Puka dog. Maybe that could be the fifth one callmebruce. Also don't forget maybe a corn dog or a dip dog. Having a selection of beers would add to the appeal but probably tough to get a liquor license. It would also add to the price of the dogs. I've never had a problem with BYOBs.  Yuppicide, what are your thoughts on our suggestions?

Sorry I haven't visited this topic in awhile. I'll tell you what happened. I didn't want to say at first who I was designing a hot dog for, because I wanted to get your honest opinions without clouding them.
 
First off, Planet Chicken.. they are chicken-y. Someone was commenting on the menu. When you go there they have those huge roasters right next to the front window you can see fire and chickens spinning.
 
Second, I'm designing a hot dog that will be featured at The Hot Diggity in Philadelphia. They are launching a food truck in the near future and I was one of the people who helped them get it. The hot dog will also be drawn by Hawk Krall. I've been there a few times, but I forget what type of dog they use.
 
Here's their website if you've never seen it:
http://www.thehotdiggity.com/index.html
 
I've tried The Seattle Grunge, The Saigon Fusion, and The Big Kahuna. Their fries are really good.. skin on, and now they have home made sauces. I don't drink soda, but they make some unique flavors of soda as well. They have different specials every month. Check out this month.. The General Tso's dog. Last month was an amazing looking Italian Hot dog featuring bread made by a pizza place around the corner. Each month they have a new special. One time they made homemade Cracker Jacks and had prizes in the box I think. Another time a corn dog trio. During fall their Heirloom Pumpkin Soup with Apple Cider reduction was really good. Some times in the summer they have all you can eat hot dogs and play a bad movie for one low price.
 
Look at their Italian Hot Dog here:
http://blog.zagat.com/201...es-nj-italian-hot.html
 
Looks amazing if you ask me, but I was busy and didn't make it in time.
 
In fact, I'm visiting there this Saturday if anyone is in the area. Keith (the owner) is a super nice guy. Every time I've been there, though, they're super busy. I talked with Keith really quick a few weeks ago and presented him my list of ideas. I'm also going to point him towards this thread. He's probably on Hot Dog Nation on Facebook (I deleted my Facebook account sorry), but I definitely know Hawk is there.
 
What's really funny is, I was doing some research and found there's an adult movie called Hot Diggity Dog, which features a naked lady on the cover with her privates covered up by hot dogs and mustard! I found someone selling a flyer that adult stores would have used back in the day and I got it for Keith when I saw him a few weeks ago. He really got a kick out of it. When I gave him the list of hot dog ideas I included a print out of a dirty conversation I had with my Mom about a hot dog idea called the "Porn Dog" (basically a naked corn dog, but I can't elaborate more on that here without getting dirty) and my Moms response of how disgusting it was.
 
So there you have it.. I/we presented the ideas to Keith and he'll turn one of them into a reality. He's already got some of the ideas you've mentioned. I have no idea what dog I'm having this weekend, because I want to try so many, yet I want to eat one I already had they were so good.
 
By the way, on the way back there's a place called Cool Dog Cafe I found.. if anyone is interested I'm going to try their hot dog challenge.. eat 2 hot dogs and a small fry in 20 minutes and get a shirt and the meal is free.. the catch? The dogs are half pounders by themselves, plus all the toppings. One dog is hot, one isn't.  We should get a few people together and all go try the challenge. Here's their website:

http://www.thecooldogcafe.com/homewrecker.html

Good luck to you & Hot Diggity Dog!

I figured there was a little more to the story. Your Mom is a good sport!

Good Luck buddy
If you ever decide to hop back onboard FB , the Nation awaits - Hot Dog Nation that is (:
Benzee

I'm assuming that all the creative dogs you're looking at are allowed by your HD? 
 
I've been going through the same idea brainstorming....I'm not able to be quite as creative because I just have the mobile cart and am somewhat limited to what I can do.  One thing that always interested me is coming up with recipe dogs that wouldn't require a whole lot more in condiments that I wasn't already bringing out.  It's amazing what you can come up with that you can make with all of your same condiments, give it a fancy name, and people will jump on it!
 
My current example is my Trailer Park dog...google it.  It's been one of my best late night sellers as of late.  I only had to add cheez whiz and crushed potato chips to my current condiment lineup...and neither one will spoil.  : )
 
For the spring I'd like to come up with some dog that has peppers...maybe pineapple....perhaps a pineapple flavored cream cheese....could be delicious!

Hot Diggity is not a cart. It's an awesome B&M and soon a food truck...

http://www.thehotdiggity.com/index.html

I love all those ideas if you can pull them off. 

I've been doing some research and development for my cart I'm opening in a month. Our favorite one today was one we're calling the Pork Pile. It's a beef hot dog topped with bbq pulled pork, onion crunch and a dusting of mojo seasoning. 

Do you not have trouble with the Health Department? They told me anything precooked. So, you are allowed to prepare raw eggs on a cart?

Hot Diggity is NOT a hot dog cart.