Hot Dog Fest co-promoter Sef Gonzalez was excited but not 100 percent confident that an all-dog celebration would get a good reception.
"Sure, hot dogs are the perfect summertime food, but would the public embrace the idea?" Gonzalez mused to Clean Plate Charlie.
After all, Gonzalez, AKA Burger Beast, is better-known for meat discs than franks and sausages. But he, along with Food Truck Invasion, was pleasantly surprised when more than 5,000 families came out to Hollywood's Arts Park yesterday to eat hot dogs from 35 food trucks, listen to '80s cover band Mad World Orchestra, and enjoy a steamy pre-July Fourth celebration. Each of the 35 trucks turned their focus to franks, inventing and selling a signature hot dog, specially designed for the afternoon.
The premiere event at the fest was the hot dog eating contest. National
Deli of Miami provided the dogs and the prize, a Weber grill and a case
of franks.
Eight brave souls entered the contest to see who
could eat the most dogs in ten minutes. As the timer ran out, two men
were left standing. Tony Dicillo and Liam Burt were tied at 14 (and a
half) hot dogs each. Organizer Gonzalez asked if they wanted another
five minutes on the clock for a tiebreaker but then decided to make the
two eaters co-winners at the inaugural event.
Short Order asked Gonzalez if he planned to do a second-annual hot dog fest. "Absolutely," he replied. "It's not an if but a when. Once we have the date picked out, we'll let you know."
Which means you have a year to bring your eating skills up to speed for the next contest.
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