Me: Why is this a Seattle dog?
Hot dog seller: I don't know. We just bought the stand.
It was early Sunday afternoon, the day after the final day of AWP, and I had a few hours before my flight back to California, and I’d just bought my ticket to go up the Seattle Space Needle as the only touristy thing I had time for. I was hungry, so I figured instead of eating at the pricey restaurant at the top I would buy a hot dog from a vendor down below.
When given the choice between a Chicago dog or a Seattle dog, well, when in Seattle…. But why cream cheese? Why sautéed cabbage and onions? What makes those things uniquely Seattle?
First, the Seattle Dog has its own Wikipedia page. I learn that it originated during the grunge era, and I like that, because as a Gen Xer I came of age listening to Nirvana. Then there is this oral history of the Seattle dog. I won’t get into it, but at least a couple of people take credit for the Seattle dog’s invention. The biggest reveal is that a true Seattle dog uses a bagel “bialy stick” bun.
My hot dog had a normal hot dog bun. So was it in fact a “real” Seattle dog? Who knows. The real question is: Was it good?
I ate the hot dog beneath a drizzly grey Seattle sky, next to the MoPop Museum and watching kids play on a playground in the rain.
So yes. Yes, it was good. And so was the hot dog.
