One Great Dish: Big Star's Sonoran Hot Dog

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Oct 4, 2010 3:20PM

For about a year, I've been discussing in passing with Wiener and Still Champion owner Gus Paschalis on a Sonoran hot dog collaboration. When made with care, this border take on the hot dog can be as revelatory as your first Coney dog, NEw York style dog, or Chicago dog.

The Sonoran is one of the many new menu items at Big Star and, if Paschalis and I are ever going to get serious about working on one of our own, the gauntlet has been thrown. Chef Justin Large has created a monster here: a quarter-pound Vienna Beef dog wrapped in bacon, topped with pinto beans, onions and green hot sauce, topped with lime mayonnaise and mustard and served in a bolillo roll. A lot of the early complaints I heard about Big Star's Sonoran is that there was too much roll, making the dish a dry eat. Since then, Large and his kitchen staff have remedied that by simply adding more of the other ingredients. It is a sloppy, fun-to-eat mess for only $6. It and about a half-dozen black cherry fizz cocktails made for a great way to wait out the rain Saturday.

Tonight would probably be a great night to sample the Sonoran for yourself. Big Star is preparing a special menu paired with some brews from Lagunitas Brewing. Lagunita founder Tony Magee will be in attendance to play some music and share his beers with guests. The fun starts at 7 p.m.