Haute Dog

To kick off my birthday weekend, Tom and I went to lunch Friday at HD 1 in Poncey-Highland. I haven’t been in that neighborhood for years and so much has changed! The Plaza Drug store is gone and has been replaced by, of all things, an Urban Outfitters. Gone are the winos and hookers, all replaced by hipsters and trendy types. The Majestic Diner still remains but Ray Lee’s Blue Lantern Lounge is gone forever. I know it’s better now, but I still feel some nostalgia for the way it used to be when RuPaul sightings were a common occurence. But I digress.

The menu and the hipster busboy

HD 1 is the latest restaurant from my favorite Top Chef contestant, Richard Blais. He won the Top Chef All Stars season. He is so cute and talented but still fraught with anxiety, a quality I find very endearing. HD 1 does for the hot dog what Flip Burger Boutique did for the burger.

Walking into HD 1, the atmosphere is similar to Flip Burger but a little more casual. There is a bar, a row of tables up against the windows and a row of communal tables down the middle of the restaurant. The menu is written on the wall and changes regularly. It is divided into Bits & Pieces, Stuff, Plates and Sweets. You order at the counter and are given a number and find your seat and your food is brought out to you.



Mexican cokes can be found in most Latino groceries



The sodas offered are all classic Southern flavors. Of course, there is Coca-Cola. This is Atlanta. The twist is its Mexican Coke. Most Coke sold in the U.S. is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, a nasty concoction that is terrible for you. If you want Coke sweetened with sugar like when we were kids, you have to buy either Mexican or Kosher Cokes. They also offer several flavors of Nehi, Cheerwine and Root Beer. There is a full bar but as it was lunch, Tom got a Coke and I had Root Beer.

We started out with the Shrimp Fried in Grits and the Porky Corn Dogs for an appetizer. The shrimp were beautifully fried in a surprisingly light batter of grits and served with a totally unnecessary sweet tartar-like sauce. Not that the sauce was bad, it was just that the shrimp were so good they didn’t need the sauce. The Porky Corn Dogs were equally as delicious. They were served with a yummy spicy mustard sauce. I told Tom it was the best corn dog I have ever eaten. The batter on the dog was sweet and smooth with just the right amount of coarse cornmeal.

Shrimp Fried in Grits



Porky Corn Dogs



Next up, I had the Classic dog and Tom had the Kenturkey dog. The Classic is served with sauerkraut and HD mustard. The frank was very flavorful and had a good snap when you bit into it. The texture was juicy without being mushy. The sauerkraut was mild but stood up to the mustard which had a little bit of a pleasant afterburn. The Kenturkey dog was a turkey dog with bacon, mornay, tomato-pimento marmalade and parmigiano. It was a really good combination of sweet from the marmalade and salty from the bacon and cheeses. I would order both dogs again.

Classic Dog

Kenturkey Dog

 

Chocolate Soft Serve with Bacon Caramel - My new reason to live

Now the dessert was a revelation. Just like Flip Burger specializes in liquid nitrogen milkshakes, HD 1 features soft serve ice cream. Friday’s offering was Chocolate with Bacon Caramel. O. M. G. The first bite tastes sweet from the chocolate and salty from the caramel. Then you hit what at first seems like a chocolate chip but slowly gives way to crispy bacon-y goodness. Weird, but so, so delicious. This was a sundae that could easily have been created by some insane pregnant woman.

We ended up spending about $38 after tip so it’s not cheap. Tom couldn’t help but point out that we could have gone a few blocks down Ponce de Leon and fed four people at the Varsity for the same amount. That’s true but then we would have never have known about chocolate and bacon. I am definitely stealing that one.

Stay tuned for my next post when I play with my newest food gadget:  the food mill.

L8r G8r!