Coney Dogs and Wieners

Today, I treated myself to two Coney Dogs, fries, and a root beer for lunch. The Coney is a Michigan frank completely smothered with beef chili, chopped raw white onion, and yellow mustard. In some circles, grated Cheddar cheese is sprinkled liberally atop the concoctions – but, not today.

I dined at the Uptown Coney Island on Jackson Road just west of Ann Arbor proper. Renee, my server, was tall, attractive, blond and had an impatient energy to quickly take my order, deliver my meal and turn the table – much to the approval of Gus – the owner – who sat just across the short booth divider from my two-top table trading stories in Greek with another local restaurateur.

The last Coney’s I enjoyed were in downtown Detroit on a Sunday about a month ago. Federal jury duty loomed and I wasn’t exactly sure where the courthouse was located nor did I know parking options. The prospect of having to make a 60 mile near blind drive into the Motor City that coming Monday was daunting, so I made a test run.

To my happy surprise, the courthouse was just a half block away from two Detroit landmarks: American Coney Island and Lafayette Coney Island nestled side by side. After formulating my parking plan and locating the juror’s entrance (#OCD), I decided to catch an early lunch at one of the two – but which?

Not that tough of a decision, I decided to try a dog from each.

The older of the two, American Coney Island, was opened by Bill and Gust Keros in 1919 and was an anchor of the “grab and go” lunch for many years in a growing, vibrant early industrial city. Apparently, there was a falling out between the brothers and in 1936, Bill opened Lafayette Coney right next door and a fierce rivalry was born. Perhaps even an entire food genre was created – today, it is estimated that there are around 500 Coney diners in and around Detroit.

For additional history and information on how Detroit became the Coney Island capital, I refer you to a great website that has additional resources about the dog’s origins:  http://www.theatlanticcities.com/

The clear winner that day was Lafayette: the casing on the frank met my bite with a great snap, the onions had the right tang and the chili had a wonderful peppery tease. I found American Coney Island chili just a bit too sweet and the casing lacked the snap.

Speaking of winners, losers and Wieners, what about that mayor’s race in New York City? I’m aghast that Anthony Wiener is insistent on staying in the race after (what one would hope would be) public humiliation for electronic infidelities and a subsequent resignation from the U.S. House of Representatives, a public mea culpa hand-in-hand with his cuckolded wife where he proclaimed his full repentance and transformation, and now new revelations that his peccadillos never ceased.

The New York Times, one of his previously largest supporters, has excoriated Wiener and advocated that he drop out of the race – as have other political and media lions. His poll numbers are plummeting.

I don’t understand it. Does he believe that he can do anything he wants without consequence? Does he think Big Apple voters don’t care about lies and broken vows?

Of course, some years ago, Mayor Marion Berry was reelected in Washington, DC after being arrested and convicted on a drug charge. Maybe partisanship really can trump good sense.

Even though for an hour or so after eating Coney Dogs the taste will revisit through unrepentant hiccups, that is a far more welcome sensation than the bad taste that lingers from egotistic, amoral, politicos.

Coney Dog image from: Coney Dog Picture