For the record, I was born in Detroit, Michigan. But before a week ago, I had never eaten a staple Michigan food, the famous Coney Island hot dog. Reasons and excuses are not important, this is just sad. For anyone who has no clue what I'm talking about, a Coney Island hot dog is a hot dog covered in meaty, bean-less chili, diced onions, and yellow mustard. This specialty hot dog has no association with Coney Island, New York (apart from Coney Island, NY being the birthplace of the hot dog). They are actually named after a chain of restaurants started in the Detroit area called Coney Island which were run by Greek immigrants. Other specialty items on the menu usually include the gyro and the Greek salad. Feel free to check Wikipedia for the veracity of my statements as they always post the absolute truth :) - Coney Island Restaurant History and Coney Island Hot Dog History
The morning after our tour ended, Nic, Eric and I dined at 'Plato's Place' for brunch. A product of its time, 'Plato's Place' sounds more like a 60's metropolitan key party swing club, but I assure you that this 'Plato's Place' near Garden City is a black olive cutting, feta cheese dumping, 'surly' waitress staffed Greek diner. It was here that I tasted, consumed, and digested for the rest of the day, my first Coney Island hot dog.
The waitress actually joined Nic and Eric's ashamed chorus with her own incredulous stares and well-intentioned sarcasm. 'What!? You've never had a...and your from Michigan? What's wrong with you?' she exclaimed only half-jokingly.
Needless to say, another food rite-of-passage has been checked off my list.
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| Customized Carpet by the bathroom (they're in this for the long haul) |
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| Freshly plated |
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| Freshly tasted |
