Your Daily Bacon Forecast

This week's Bacon Forecast:

Today: Bacon Is Going To Raise Cholesterol!
Tuesday: Today Bacon Is Going To Taste Really Good!
Wednesday: Today Bacon Is Going To Sizzle!
Thursday: Today Bacon Is Going To Shrivel! Turn down the heat!
Friday: Today Bacon Is Going To Spit Hot Grease! Stand back!
Saturday: Today Bacon Is Going To Hang Out With Hash Browns!
Sunday: Today Bacon Is Going To Smoke!

Your Daily Bacon Forecast

This week's Bacon Forecast:

Monday: Today Bacon Is Going To Liven Up A Salad!
Tuesday: Today Bacon Is Going To Boycott Tofu!
Wednesday: Today Bacon Is Going To Hand Out With Hash Browns!
Thursday: Today Bacon Is Going To Boycott Tofu!
Friday: Today Bacon Is Going To Sizzle!
Saturday: Today Bacon Is Going To Raise Cholesterol!
Sunday: Today Bacon Is Going To Liven Up A Salad!

Yet another week where Bacon boycott's the hell out of Tofu. And obviously a lot of our readers plan on consuming salad this week...

Food Writing 101 Part 2...

So here we are after completing the second part of the Newberry Library's Food Writing course. Between last week's class and this week's class we were to either write a food memoir, or to write a review of a restaurant. We decided to focus on the second and after much deliberation (i.e. we went to lunch at Hot Doug's)the mouse and I decided to submit a review of Chicago's own sausage superstore. So for your perusal, we not so humbly present...

Red Brick in Chicago.

From its red brick exterior, Hot Doug’s Sausage Superstore, has the same gravitas and appeal as the back of Wrigley Field. There’s character there. Moxie. History. It’s a working man’s brick. You know that only a few feet away greatness waits. But unlike the Cubs, Doug Sohn’s crew at Hot Doug’s really does perform like a world class team.

To say that Hot Doug’s is a hot dog stand is like saying “Chicago is a big city”. It’s true. But both Chicago and Hot Doug’s are much, much more. Hot Doug’s does serve the standard fare of the typical Chicago dog stand, but like the Art Institute’s ever changing collections, it’s the ever changing selection of gourmet sausages that make Doug’s different. And it’s not just the encased meats that are gourmet. Sometimes the toppings are as much of a treat as the sausage itself.

Imagine the savoriness of a jerk pork sausage served on soft and chewy French roll, dressed with a spicy passion fruit mayonnaise, sautéed sweet plantain, and a Crème de Brie cheese served with a large helping of Duck Fat Fries (served only on Friday and Saturday).

Or what about the richness of spinach and the bite of feta in a gyros sausage topped with a tapenade mayonnaise and Kasseri cheese? Definitely hold the ketchup.

Or even the dog that got Doug into trouble: a Sauterne-infused duck sausage topped with foie gras. Served during Chicago’s short-lived ban of foie gras, it garnered Hot Doug’s the only fine levied during the entire ban. And thanks in no small part to Doug’s drive to make gourmet affordable, the fine pointed out the absurdity of Chicago’s food ban, and struck a blow for common sense.

And that’s the other thing that’s so great about Hot Doug’s. It’s pure Chicago. You’ll take a seat next to a table of game designers from the nearby offices of Midway Games. On the other side will be a table of roughnecks from ComEd on their lunch break. Hipsters will be sitting next to cube dwellers, who are sitting next to tourist, who are sitting across from suburb visitors from Naperville, and everyone is having a good time. From the primary colors, to the faux sausage facts, to Doug greeting each customer, everything at Hot Doug’s seems to bring a smile to your face. The atmosphere is the appetizer, and the final fun condiment on each order served.

The one thing you will have to reconcile is the wait. Open from 10:30am to 4:00pm Monday through Saturday, locals will cheerfully wait 45 minutes to an hour in some of the worst Chicago weather for Hot Doug’s. You should too. But unlike Cub fans who wrestle with the uncertainty of whether or not this will be be “the year”, you can relish the knowledge that dining victory is yours.

So there you go! Review aside, if you've never been to Hot Doug's just go. And if you've got some feedback with regard to the review, well, we here at Your Daily Bourbon and Bacon always welcome that! Just make sure that you submit it in a case of Neuske's Bacon...