A few weeks ago, Holly and I were at the historic Helms Bakery Complex in Culver City--it's a hoity-toity furniture market now. We didn't buy any furniture but the trip was well worth it, because I had the best hot dog ever from a stand selling Let's Be Frank hot dogs, outside the building. I think Holly agrees with this assessment. If you don't have time to check out the link, suffice to say that these delicious hot dogs are made from grass-fed, pasture-raised beef and omit the absurd list of chemicals that you see in most hot dogs.

Let's Be Frank was started by foodie Sue Moore, whose Chez Panisse business card says "Meat Forager." That is one of the best titles I have ever heard of, perhaps second only to my friend Ali, who ran a museum wing that was comprised of a giant exhibit on the Universe, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York...and whose business card said "Director of the Universe." I digress.

Chez Panisse is Alice Waters' legendary restaurant in Berkeley and the fact that the Chez Panisse "Meat Forager" started a hot dog company and was enthusiastically selling the dogs at stand in Culver City is a remarkable set of facts and circumstances.

Sue was grilling onions for the dogs at the cart, and she definitely gave off the vibe that each dog-and-onion combo she served up was her little masterpiece. But she wasn't doing it in a pretentious way, rather in a modest but highly enthusiastic manner of someone who cares deeply and passionately about what they are selling. That's what happens when a foodie gets into something pedestrian like a hot dog and hits a home run on the recipe. And they were only $5...came with the great grilled onions and gourmet mustard, ketchup, and relish. Unbelievable dog.

And yes, I did see that the Anonymous Hawk unleashed heavy fire at me in the comments section of my last entry. A little heated political rhetoric makes things more interesting, don't you think? Of course I will take the bait dangled by the AH, but not right now. Perhaps tomorrow. I had better things to tonight, like write this dog entry!