A Brief Word on the Name

 Okay, so why Hot Dogs and Caviar?

At the Woodlands, we had a kitchen table.  A small, intimate table set up in the corner, where we would feed a long-form tasting menu to its occupants.  It was super cool... for them.  For us, it was a complete hassle.  They made us turn the lights down, we had to really watch our mouths (this was an issue), it just made the night into an irritating struggle, even more than a service normally is at a fine restaurant.  

So anyway, we would find little ways to keep the mood light, and try to feel the table out.  If they were a little playful, we could all relax a little bit, and they'd have a better time, and we'd have a better time.  Previously that day, the cooks had all had a spirited argument about our top five favorite foods, and I (executive sous-chef at the time) had hot dogs at the top of my list.  Because hot dogs are amazing, no shame in this game.  So anyway, executive chef Nate Whiting (my partner here) was showing the guests around, and we are all hushed, trying to behave, and he comes up to me and says 'And this is my sous-chef, Jesse.  His favorite foods are hot dogs and caviar, in that order.'  

It was such a gloriously weird thing to say.  I mean, yeah, I had said that very thing just that afternoon, but it was in the context of such a deep philosophical discussion of gastronomy that I hadn't realized, at the time, how goddamned funny it was.  They laughed, I laughed, we made them dinner, it all went ok.  This story came back up when Nate and I were trying to name our blog (and upcoming podcast), and I remembered this story.  It fits for several reasons.  First, it is a story of Nate busting my balls, which you will find a recurring theme, hereabouts.  Second, it is a story that highlights the spirit of culinary philosophy that cooks get up to in the professional kitchen.  Want to see a room full of cooks get heated?  Forget asking whether they prefer their foie gras sauteed (trendy, one-dimensional) or cold, as a terrine (classic, timeless).  No, you want to see feathers ruffle, ask them what their favorite fast food fried chicken is (and roll your eyes if they don't say Popeye's).  Ask them what their favorite kid's breakfast cereal is (Cinnamon Toast Crunch, if they want to be taken seriously).  We spent hours talking about this stuff.  After enough years, our culinary philosophy, our point of view, became extremely finely honed.  It was discussions like the hot-dogs-and-caviar-in-that-order conversation that we plan on packing this blog with.  

But the main reason we went with this name was the juxtaposition between junk food and rare delicacies, two things that cooks take very, very seriously.  Pretty much the whole totality of human gastronomy fits in between those pins.  You could look at the title as being short for 'Hot dogs, caviar, and everything in between.'  We may want to discuss the impact of thermal circulators, now that the modernist wave has crested.  We may want to talk about Peruvian-Japanese ceviche tradition.  There is no culinary topic too high-brow for us, but we are also ready to go to the mattresses to back up the best places in Charleston (or, indeed, anywhere) to get a two-dollar taco.