D.C. is having a designer hot dog moment
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Top dog: Caviar-topped mini brisket hot dogs at Georgetown's Ox & Olive. Photo: Courtesy Ox & Olive
This summer, hot dogs were the new oysters.
Why it matters: Whether crowned with caviar or stacked on plateaus, glizzies overtook bivalves as D.C.'s affordable indulgence du jour.
The big picture: Summers tend to fall between two buns.
- There's burger summer, when everyone obsesses over the latest smash patty or Wagyu blend.
- Then there's the rarer hot dog summer — and we're living through a glorious one.
Credit the economy: With beef prices up and chef-y burgers regularly cresting $25, the comparatively affordable hot dog offered plenty of indulgence for less.
Or blame boredom. Now that seemingly every chef has riffed on the Big Mac, the humble frank is ripe for reinvention — and high-brow hots are the new play.
Whatever it is, we've reached designer wiener.
- Hot dogs are hitting the runway. They're en vogue — and in Vogue. We're living in peak tube-meat times.
Zoom in: Some of D.C.'s newest and buzziest restaurants are dressing up dogs.
- Michelin-anointed chef Ryan Ratino serves mini brisket dogs ($13) at his new "fun steakhouse," Ox & Olive. Caviar encouraged.
- Union Station's swanky new Continental Club serves "railway-style" dogs with mustard, onions and relish.
- Move over wine — it's all about hot dog flights at Frederick's 7th Sister.
- Madhatter has a hot dog tower — because even bar dogs feel fancy on a plateau.
- And perhaps D.C.'s hottest dog is Lobby Bar's viral $44 Wagyu glizzy, relished with caviar.
For the pups: Lobby Bar also serves Wagyu pigs in a blanket ($18).
The intrigue: Like oysters, hot dogs have become something people go out for — order a round, top 'em with something extravagant or unexpected, and turn a humble snack into an occasion.
What they're saying: "I think hot dogs are having a moment because they're the perfect mix of nostalgia and indulgence," Lobby Bar owner Adam Shulman tells Axios.
- "Everyone has some memory attached to eating one, and there's something fun about taking something so familiar and completely overdoing it."
The caviar dog, he says, is luxurious without being pretentious — the mood of the moment.
- "People still want to go out and splurge, but they also want it to be fun and memorable."
What's next: Lobby Bar isn't done glizzying, and has a red-hot plan for autumn.
- "I don't want to give everything away yet, but we're definitely not finished with 'glizzys' at Lobby Bar."
🌭 The bottom line: Hot dog summer may be ending, but the forecast is looking good for fancy frank fall.