Chefs everywhere lately have been elevating hot dogs to haute dogs. But a Vancouver vendor is aiming to raise the bar with a $100 gourmet hot dog, which he says is the most expensive in the world.
Dougie Luv, owner of the dougieDog takeout and sit-down snack joint on Granville Street, introduced the Dragon Dog as a regular item on his menu on Tuesday, complete with luxury ingredients and a hard-to-swallow price tag.
The hot dog is described as a foot-long (roughly 30-centimetre-long) bratwurst infused with hundred-year-old Louis XIII cognac and topped with Kobe beef, seared in olive and truffle oil, and fresh lobster. (According to the BC Liquor Stores website, a 700-millilitre bottle of Louis XIII de Rémy Martin Grande Champagne Cognac costs about $2,300.)
Mr. Luv says he decided to create the Dragon Dog to commemorate the Chinese New Year of the Dragon, and to coincide with his appearance on CBC's Dragons' Den, scheduled to air on Wednesday evening.
He requires that customers order Dragon Dogs 12 hours in advance. Already, he says, he has received about 10 reservations for them.
"You can come in and have a $5 hot dog if you want," he says. "But if you want the best and have the experience of a lifetime, and it's a special occasion, come and have the $100 hot dog."
Others who have vied for the title of the world's most expensive hot dog include the Brockton Rox minor league baseball team in Brockton, Mass., which reportedly created an $80 (U.S.) version containing mushroom dust, caviar and crème fraîche in the summer of 2011, and Serendipity 3 restaurant in Washington, which set a Guinness World Record for the most expensive hot dog in 2010 with its $69 (U.S.) beef dog, served on a pretzel-bread bun and topped with foie gras.
Wency Leung