I've always looked at New York City like I see Lucky Strike Lanes. It's a reverse ATM. I figure everything is going to cost me a twenty. And if it doesn't, I'm pleasantly surprised when I come back with a few singles.
It looks like I'm going to have to revise my estimates and the amount of cash I'm carrying in my wallet. Serendipity 3 has created a buzz in Manhattan with the introduction of its $69 "haute dog." The publicity stunt/culinary feat earned the New York eatery a Guinness World Record for most expensive hot dog last Friday on what was, appropriately, National Hot Dog Day.
The haute dog is a monstrosity -- 12 inches of beef hot dog inside an oversized pretzel bun that has been dusted with white truffle butter. The dog is topped with white truffle oil, foie gras, black truffles, vidalia onions, Dijon mustard and ketchup.
This isn't Serendipity's first dalliance with creating a ridiculously priced menu item that has earned the New York spot with a Guinness World Record. The most expensive sundae in the world -- the Golden Opulence Sundae -- clocks in at $1,000. It requires a reservation one week in advance and is topped with 23K edible gold and Grand Passion caviar.
"People love hot dogs and I think we've glamorized it," Serendipty's owner Stephen Bruce told the New York Daily News.
You can put foie gras on beef in beef intestine casing; but it's still beef intestine casing. A foot-long hot dog should barely crack the $10 barrier and that's only if it comes with the benefit of a baseball game unfolding before me.
Hot dogs are meant to be street food, easy and cheap. I don't want to worry about dropping relish on a white tablecloth and I certainly can't see parting with close to $70 for an entree that will cost me less than $2 at Costco. Leave the hot dog in the back yard where it belongs.
Comments (0)