Eat West

Well I have gone and done it again! As you may know, I have several hot dog related websites and blogs, and the new Shark Tank Blog in my portfolio. I have other hobby blogs too like Our Sea Glass, The Punch Buggy Game, and Winning Football Picks.

Now I have another blog! It's called Eat West and it is published by Gatehouse Communications, the Wicked Local folks. I have partnered up with the MetroWest Daily News to write a food blog all about food in the Metrowest area of Boston.

Eat West will go beyond hot dogs, in fact I will save all my hot dog posts for The Hot Dog Truck or Hot Dog Stories. I will have guest bloggers on Eat West too, so contact me if you'd like to write a post there.

I look forward to reviewing new places and old favorites. Unlike Hot Dog Stories where "I don't rate, I celebrate," I will be offering my opinions and reviews on Eat West, so Metrowest restaurateurs, you better have the kitchen cranking when the Hotdogman shows up!

Eat West

The Hotdogman is branching out! In the next week or two, I will begin authoring a new food blog on Wicked Local Framingham called Eat West. The blog will be hosted by the Wicked Local folks and feature photos, videos, and reviews of restaurants in the Metrowest Boston area (with the occasional jaunt into Boston).

I won't be critiquing hot dog joints on this blog- it will be mostly reviews of sit down establishments with a fast food type place thrown in here and there. We are setting the blog up this week and I am actually making my first visit to an old local favorite a bit later today.

Once the site is up and populated, I will link it here. You'll also be able to find it on Rob's Hot Dog Tales.

As always, stay tuned!

A Hot Dog a Day Number 18: Devo's Dogs in Marlborough, MA

It's the 18th day of my quest to eat a hot dog a day in honor of National Hot Dog Month and today's journey led me to Trombetta's Farm in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Trombetta's is located at 655 Farm Road- but I wasn't looking for perennials, I was looking for Devo's Dogs.

Nestled amongst the nursery stock is the well appointed trailer that houses Devo's Dogs.

Owner Chris Devoe runs the business with his father. The two were in the flooring business together prior to opening Devoe's Dogs. Their mutual love of food and cooking led them to purchasing the well appointed trailer, complete with flat top grill, steamers and deep fryers.

Chris approached Charlie Trombetta, pictured below, four years ago about locating at the farm. Charlie thought Devo's Dogs would be a good fit, so he told Chris to "come on down."

Chris' dad, Ron Devoe, works the truck with Chris and helps with the many catering gigs they do. Both Ron and Chris have roots in the Marborough youth sports community as coaches and Ron used to run concessions for Marlborough youth soccer and hockey. They still run concessions at local tournaments and Chris coaches hockey at WPI. Making the jump from amateur concessionaires to professional hot dog men was an easy task.

Chris hopes one month old C.J. Devoe, his first child, will join the elder Devoes when he gets a bit older. For now, C.J. is just a cute mascot.

Trombetta's is a great fit for a hot dog trailer- there's already an ice cream stand on the premises!

There's also a wooden toy craft shop- kids can come in and assemble, then paint, a wide variety of wooden toys. It's a popular kid's birthday party destination (my kids have gone to several birthday parties there).

As if that weren't enough, there's also indoor mini golf. Forget Disneyland, go to Trombetta's with the kids and cap off the day with a hot dog and an ice cream!

I was joined on today's visit by Nicole Simmons, The Metrowest Daily News new media editor and Wicked Local Food Blogger. We had a few laughs- and a hot dog.

The dining room is perhaps the most well appointed hot dog trailer dining room I have ever seen. The garden setting is pleasant and far more visually appealing than the standard parking lot picnic benches. The joint was hopping today...

...as evidenced by the long lines at Devo's.

Chris was hard at work cranking out the orders.

Devo's serves up a full menu. Hot dogs are featured, but you can also get burgers, meatball subs, chicken parm, grilled chicken, sausage, steak and cheese, a full spectrum of fried foods and much more.

Nicole went for a Buffalo Dog- Buffalo hot wing sauce with bleu cheese.

She CHOWED DOWN....

...and loved it.

I went for a Texan: Chris's special chili (which is actually more like a Coney Island sauce), onions, cheese and BACON. All of that is on top of a Kayem Old Tyme Frank on a grilled roll.

Time to 

CHOW DOWN!!!

The chili was AWESOME. There were lots of interesting flavors: coriander and spices gave it a sharp yet mellow kick- not overpowering but you knew it was there. The bacon, onions and cheese rounded out the flavors and the dog was cooked to perfection.

TWO THUMBS UP!!!

Happy National Hot Dog Month!

Stop by Devo's Dogs the next time you're in Marlborough and tell Chris, Ron, and C.J. "the Hotdogman sent me."

See the rest of the story and the video of our visit on Hot Dog Stories

A Hot Dog a Day Number One: A Visit to the Kayem Plant

It's day number one of "A Hot Dog a Day," my way of paying homage to National Hot Dog Month!

I kicked off the adventure with a trip to Kayem Foods, the largest manufacturer of hot dogs in New England. They invited me down to tour their plant in Chelsea, MA as a fun way to kick off the month. Channel Five News was there (I'll have a link to the news video when it runs on their website) filming me chowing down on a sampling of the hot dog spread Kayem's corporate chef Susanna Tolini put out for me.

Susanna was classically trained at Roger Williams University, but apparently they didn't have a class on hot dogs and ketchup!

I chowed down on a variety of Kayem products.

I also met Dr. Robert Campbell, "The Hot Dog Doctor," chief of Quality Assurance at Kayem and he gave me a tour.

Unfortunately, I was unable to film in the over 200,000 square foot facility due to health regulations; but I did get a picture of me dressed up in my protective gear.

They churn out over 5000 pounds of hot dogs an hour, so the nice folks at Kayem sent me home with a Box of Meat jam packed with their Old Time Franks, Chicken Sausage, Fenway Franks, Kielbasa, Brats and Italian Sausage. Looks like I'll be eating hot dogs well into September!

I put together a video of my trip to Kayem on Hot Dog Stories and there was a little write up on me in the Metrowest Daily News today too! They'll be tracking my progress as I eat a hot dog a day in July.

See you tomorrow......