I’m all for clever takes on street food. I was a huge fan of Cabrito, David Schuttenberg’s culinary thesis version of Mexican street food, long before it was awarded a star by Frank Bruni. It’s about time that New York mainstay, the hot dog, got the same treatment. Dogmatic’s sausages aren’t wildly creative, but it’s the simplicity that really makes them shine.

Walking into the spare storefront on 17th St., you’re presented with a simple menu. Select your meat (or asparagus spears as an alternative), and your “sauce,” which includes options like chimichurri, sun dried tomato feta, and horseradish mustard. The dogs are lightly grilled while the artisanal Pain D’Avignon toast on skewers on the grill. The skewers are particularly ingenious. They’re similar to the ones you’ll find on street carts in Vienna, where the hot dog is inserted into the baguette, which serves as the perfect holder for a wide array of toppings. The sausages are light but filling, and one order made for a hearty snack.

I ordered the pork sausage with a decadent truffle gruyere sauce. The best part came at the end, with all the rich, creamy cheese pooled in the bottom of the baguette. My tasting companions ordered a chicken sausage with chedder jalapeno and beef with chimichurri. The latter was delicious, but the chimichurri sauce is slightly less successful in this arrangement. It’ s a thinner condiment, so it doesn’t get evenly distributed throughout the bun. This means that the first few bites are fairly plain. Once you eat down a bit though, the chimichurri is comes on full force, in all its tangy glory.

The ingredients are carefully sourced, many locally grown, and all freshly prepared. And this attention to detail really shows: The menu items are simple, but still rich and flavorful. Sure, you’re shelling out almost $5 for a hot dog, but it’s the best sausage you’ll have for a long time.

Posted by: Nicole Price Fasig
Order: Pork sausage with truffle gruyere sauce
Price: $
Location: 26 E. 17th St. (between Broadway and 5th Ave.)
Type of Food: American
Veggie friendly? Y
www.eatdogmatic.com

Check out more pictures from Dogmatic after the jump.

(more…)