Simon Hulstone | Hot dog month

July is the UK’s official month of classic New York street food; the hot dog, and some restaurants are hoping it will give a little boost to their business. While hot dogs are still a favourite in America today, it also sees mass popularity in the United Kingdom with Michelin star chefs and big restaurants wanting to get in on the action. Simon Hulstone currently runs The Elephant restaurant with his wife Katy, featuring a Michelin star area titled, The Room, but he has now decided to open a new hot dog restaurant called the Kennel in Torquay harbourside.

The hot dog in its current form originates from North America in the New York Polo Grounds during the early 1900s. Frankfurters are considered to come from Frankfurt in Germany though this is disputed with others believing they were created by Johann Georghehner in Coburg. Some alternatively believe that it originates from Vienna in Austria. Sausages have been the standard food for American sports fans from around 1893. The hot dog market in America made around $2.4 billion last year. Los Angeles was the highest consumer at a total of 39 million.

Speaking to The Staff Canteen, Simon claims he wanted to have a change from his current restaurant. He said: “I wanted to do something a little bit different more than anything, it wasn’t going to be any particular thing but I just found a nice product and I thought we will roll with that. The possibilities are endless in terms of what you can stick on top of a hot dog.” Simon is hoping that July will give the Kennel a boost. He said: “I don’t know what a national hot dog month is but the season properly kicks in this week and we are hoping to try and take some business off the fish and chips shops. We’re still in the stages of opening but we’ll probably do some deals or something.” Today each major city or state in the US has their own take on the original hot dog. Simon was inspired by this when designing the Kennel’s menu. He said: “The hot dogs that we have are just the basic frankfurter but we have a bit of play on words and some cool artwork to go with it.” Simon also spoke about the popularity of New York street food and said: “I think street food is a big thing at the moment, it has always been there but the present chefs are taking it a step up.”

The Kennel is the latest hot dog themed restaurant to open but others have already seen great success. ‘Bubbledogs’ in London has become popular since launching back in 2012, offering exotic hot dogs served with Champagne. Other British hot dog restaurants include Big Apple Hot Dogs, which aims to bring New York inspired food straight to the heart of London. Simon thinks that his hot dog restaurant will give him a bit more creative freedom, he said: “It’s not like I’m at the hot dog place cooking there but it allows me to have a lot more freedom of expression, more so than I can do at the Elephant.” By Wilfred Collins

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