I’ve heard about the sausage shop but wasn’t sure what their processes were for obtaining meat either for things like hot dogs. I just don’t want mechnically separated meat. Is that possible?

vienna beef does not use it, and i’ll bet the other specialty dogs don’t and i don’t think even hebrew national does.

in cleveland you can get them at miles market and at daves deli (but daves only carries the skinless who-cares variety).

listeria is a huge concern the main concern of the hot dog folks, not just those that use mechanically separated, even at Vienna, they have all kinds of sanitary and sanitizing protocal specifically to safeguard against listeria

Or we could do a trade: you send me some of those hot dogs, and I’ll send you some of Justin Severino’s “Pigs in Zen” chorizo and maple-ginger breakfast sausages. Talk about “last meal before you meet your maker.” Wow.

http://www.hollyeats.com/

I’m sure he’d welcome suggestions as to hot dog joints to try.

I encourage dog fans to check out Niman Ranch’s uncured beef franks (nitrate free). A better (commercial) dog I have not had.

http://guiltycarnivore.com/2006/08/23/the-pleasures-of-emulsified-forcemeat/

Speaking of hot dogs, read “The Secret Life of a Hot Dog” for pure fun at http://pitofmystomach.typepad.com/from_the_pit_of_my_stomac/2006/11/the_secret_life.html

Ummm . . . . Michael – ever been to Coney Island in Coney Island, Brooklyn for a REAL Coney Island (Nathan’s) hot dog? (OK, the original Nathan’s dogs there used to be much better before the Handwerker family sold out and Nathan’s franchised – and they dared change the grease on the grill!- but still . . . it’s Ground Zero for hot dogs in NYC.) (Yes, I realize you might have an opinion about Gray’s Papaya King because of Bourdain’s street cred as a New York Dog Connoisseur, but that’s only because he lives in Manhattan, which is rife with GPKs.)

Nathan’s in Coney Island (before the changeover). French fries cooked in the same oil since 1915!

Gray’s Papaya/Papaya King – great for a late-night snack.

The Hebrew National hot dog carts that used to be down by the World Trade Center (there were two of them). They grilled the dogs properly, with just the right amount of snap to them.

It was very traumatic, being Manhattan-born, to have been torn from my native borough and transplanted to the southeast barrens of Brooklyn when I bought my house, but I’ved since tried to embrace its culinary wonders as compensation – DiFaro’s, S&B’s, Grimaldi’s, Jacque Torres . . . and, of course, Nathan’s, when it was still kind of dicey to be eating a dog in that ‘hood at midnight. Now people pull up in Lexuses and expect – gasp! – fresh grill grease! Jeeeeezzzz! Next, they’ll want pico de gallo or chipotle mango ketchup on their dogs!!!

Chipotle mango ketchup on original Nathan’s? PHILISTINES!

My wife and I live in the San Francisco Bay area now. The things I really miss from New York typically involve food – go figure! Cheesecake from Junior’s, Nathan’s, Spumoni Gardens, and Roll’n'Roaster over on Emmons Avenue and Nostrand in Sheepshead Bay for the best deep fried junk food in the area. In Manhattan, there is, of course, Zabar’s, H&H Bagels, and the original Ray’s pizza (the first one) on 11th and 6th Avenue.

Now, if you’re a bagel aficionado like I am, and you like smooth, creamy whitefish salad, take yourself over to Flatlands Bagel Bakery: http://www.nyc.com/restaurants/Flatlands_Bagel_Bakery_Inc.61704/editorial.aspx and get some fresh plain bagels with some of their whitefish salad. H&H has some of the best, but I remember this place to be even better. Of course, that was maybe 13 years ago, so it might have changed. Let me know.

All your Manhattan favorites are still alive and well (and unchanged), and I will check out the Flatlands Bagel Bakery, although bagels, in my house, are a volatile and highly partisan issue that I tend to stay away from (since I try to avoid carbs, anyway). I’ll get back to you after the weekend on FBB.