The
problem with being the Best Thing I Ever Ate dish that we're most
looking forward to eating in Los Angeles is that our expectations are ten-times
higher than usual. So this is the issue faced by Carneys, home of Marc Summers favorite chili dog from THE CLASSICS episode of the program.
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| What Are These "Vegetables" With Which You Are Tainting Our Hot Dog? |
To
say hot dogs are a guilty pleasure for us would be an understatement,
as in truth, we don't really have much guilt about eating them at all.
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| Yeah, We Don't Care What It's Comprised Of -- Just Hand It Over |
Past experiences have shown that, in general, we are relatively
unimpressed by the Food Network's stars' choices of dogs on a bun,
despite the fact that we will literally eat any hot dog placed in front
of us, no matter its source. So with Carneys, being a bit of an LA
institution (what with the vintage rail car setting and all), we are
expecting great things.
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| Quick Question: Is This the Bar Car? |
Getting to Carneys is no easy
feet, as it involves schlepping up multiple flights of stairs and
crossing Sunset Boulevard sans crosswalk (really, if LA just encouraged
people to walk around a little more, perhaps there wouldn't be such need
for the preponderance of personal trainers).
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| Our Route to Carneys = More Stairs Than We've Climbed in a Month |
Huffing and puffing once
we reach the Carneys counter, Vodka orders one chili dog, which the
server immediately asks if we'd like to split.
"They're very good about splitting dishes here," Ginger notes. "No one in New York would ever ask us."
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| What They're Also Very Good About Is Not Being Stressed to Serve Patrons Promptly |
Indeed,
perhaps this is how LA residents keep their slim fingers despite the
lack of walking: no one ever consumes an entire plate of food.
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| Ah Ha! We Have Figured Out Your Magical Ways, Los Angeles |
The
hot dog arrives quickly, and upon inspection, all looks well. While
smothered in chili is not necessarily how we would choose to order our
own dogs, we're not opposed to the topping.
Our first bites, however, reveal something else. Namely, disappointment.
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| Sorry, Where Can We Find the HOT DOG? |
Somehow,
despite components that appear as though they should all be delicious,
this hot dog is lacking.
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| Never Trust a West Coast Resident to Make an East Coast Dish |
The meat itself is almost completely masked by
the overwhelming amount of chili, which we would forgive should the
chili actually have a pleasing flavor (or really, any flavor at all, as
this is just about the blandest variety we've ever tasted).
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| Can Someone Please Send LA Some Salt? |
"How do you possibly make a chili dog wrong?" Ginger asks. "A hot dog should be so much better."
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| Maybe We Should Have Taken a Hint By the Fact That We Were Carneys's Only Customers |
And
there is the risk faced with those Best Thing I Ever Ate locations who
serve our favorite foods -- the higher the expectations, the greater the
fall. And in the case of a hot dog, maybe it is true that an old one really
can't be taught new tricks.
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