Even after ten years in New York I'm not sure the hot dogs in New York are bad.
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
 Food Network | 2020-12-20 18:00:04 |  649,303 Views |
Guy Fieri Tries a 'New Englander' Hot Dog | Diners Drive-Ins and Dives | Food Network
They say you become a true New Yorker after 10 years in the city. Or at least that’s the lore among aspiring New Yorkers. I have a hard time imagining Tony from Brooklyn or Julia from the Upper East Side giving hometown status to someone who didn’t have a subway stop before puberty. I’ve lived here 15 years and 20 is fast approaching. But I don’t think I’ll ever be a true New Yorker. If we have to have labels I’m fine with being called a New Englander. But more importantly I hate the hot dogs here.
When I first arrived in New York City at age 19 the Internet had yet to buckle under the weight of best-of-all-things lists and Zagat was still something people paid money for and kept on their shelves. I'm pretty sure that's where I first read about Gray's Papaya. Mario Batali said that Gray's Papaya in the West Village had the best hot dogs in all of New York. And since New York is a world-famous hot dog city I figured Gray's would be the best hot dog I'd ever had. But the first time I ate at Gray's in the West Village my heart sank.
One of the most prized qualities of a good New York dog according to experts is its "snap." But the cheap dry almost offensively tasteless buns that encase the dogs stifle any chance of "snappiness." For such a noisy city the hot dog is remarkably quiet. I pinch off chunks of the bread to get a better dog-to-bun ratio but less of a bad thing doesn't make a good thing and the limp gray sauerkraut that true New Yorkers demand along with mustard doesn't help either. If you like to eat insulation with old soggy cabbage you'll love a New York dog.
