After five years of flat sales, the $1.6 billion hot-dog industry is going upscale and offering a glut of new products. Some of the new dogs are organic. Some are made from tofu. In a few cases,
prices can rival steak. The Laundry, a white-tablecloth restaurant in East Hampton, N.Y., sold more than 1,000 $25 hot dogs made from Wagyu beef this summer. Some customers ordered $250 bottles of
wine with them, says co-owner Stuart Kreisler. He calls the trend "reverse snobbery." The gourmet hot-dog chain Franktitude will offer imported salmon hot dogs on whole-grain buns when it opens the
first of five eateries scheduled for the Miami area later this month. The tab will be a more down-to-earth $3.49. Franktitude's offers 25 toppings from Wasabi mayo to artichokes to banana chips, with
more on tap. Mandler's, The Original Sausage Co. in New York, features a "mustard bar" with six varieties to spread on its 12 different hot dogs. "It's the Starbucking of the hot dog," says Janet
Riley, president of the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council. But a nutritionist warns that no matter how gourmet they get, "most hot dogs are full of fat."
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