Seattle Dog - Seattle Weekly

Seattle dog illustration (originally done for Serious Eats) featured in a recent Seattle Weekly cover story on the origins of the "Seattle Style" cream cheese hot dog. 

I'm quoted along with my buddy Garrett Morlan (also an awesome illustrator  ) who tipped me off to these things when he moved out there a few years ago.

Also interviewed for the article was Keith over at Hot Diggity about his version, which I also did the artwork for. Diggity's version takes it more in a "bagel" direction, which i always thought was sort of wrong, until I read this awesome article and realized the first guy to do this in Seattle was a bagel guy.

The funniest part is that everyone in Seattle thinks the style came from Philadelphia, assuming that we slather everything in cream cheese. Anyway the article is fantastic - and follows the history of the Seattle cream cheese dog WAY further back than I had any idea it went - to hot dog carts in the park during the grunge era - supposedly someone was hit in the face with a cream cheese dog at a Pearl Jam concert in the early 90's - and a bagel place that made hot dog roll sized "bialy sticks" and filled them with hot dogs.

From the grunge carts and bagel dudes the trend spread to vendors outside Mariners stadium - where i had assumed it started - like Joe Bernstein at Joe's Grilled Gourmet Dogs, who's been slinging them for something like 15 years. Joe may not have invented the cream cheese thing, but he's probably the first person to call them "Seattle Style".

From then it spread across the country, in waves - the most famous cream cheese slingers outside of Seattle being Biker Jim in Denver (who bought his first cart - cream cheese caulk gun and all - from a guy in Seattle) and M.A. in Alaska, who added their coca-cola onions to the mix, served on reindeer dogs and game sausages rather than standard dogs.

They've both been at it for 10-15 years, Biker Jim famously serving one to Bourdain on No Reservations a few years ago. Anyway don't take it from me, go check out the article,
probably the most exhaustive history of this newer regional hot dog style to date.

Seattle Weekly: The Seattle Dog - An Oral History

Dirty O Artwork & Prints

Unfortunately I don't have the time to do a full-on painting every week for Hot Dog Of The Week (my column on Serious Eats).. these things take me at least a few days to finish... but every once in a while there's a place so awesome that it really deserves an illustration. The Dirty O was one of them, awesome food along with awesome hand painted signs covering every inch of the place. They also sell beer and greeting cards. The vibe was more Philly Cheesesteak stand than hot dog joint.

Anyway check out the process shots below or check out the article on Serious Eats. Or pick up a 10 X 14 giclee print of the artwork here- www.hawkkrall.net/prints

Mike & Patty's

Poster for Mike & Patty's I finished a while back. Mike & Patty's is an awesome sandwich shop in Boston that I REALLY want to go to. Really delicious looking sandwiches aling with a bunch of different hot dogs and lots of specials. Reminds me a lot of Fricano's in Austin and honestly the sort of place I would want to open if I ever did something like that.

Check out their website or reviews on Serious Eats (not mine). They're also profiled in the new Serious Eats book.

Rachael Ray Hot Dog Bracket

Last year, Every Day With Rachael Ray magazine asked Serious Eats (website I do the Hot Dog Of The Week illustrations for) to do a basketball-bracket style "best hot dog in the country" article and I was lucky enough to be a part of it.


While Serious Eats head honchos Ed Levine and Adam Kuban were in Arizona, Chicago, New York and the West Coast I was driving across the South hitting 5, 6, 7 hot dog joints a day. Along with eating and writing I also did a bunch of illustrations for the article, just published in this month's magazine.





You can check out the bracket here or grab the magazine but I wanted to post the full size paintings and bunch of stuff that they didn't use.






These quick napkin sketches (I did about 30 of them) were going to be photographed with some actual hot dogs but they ended up not being used.


Also not used was a bunch of lettering for the different sections of the article, a lot of which was fashioned after the awesome hand-painted signs at Angelo's Coney Island in Flint, Michigan. Check out my recent post on Angelo's for more photos.




Also some spot illustrations of "hot dog drink pairings" like Cheerwine with Pulliam's Slaw Dog and Moxie with a Flo's dog.

Much thanks to Serious Eats and everyone at Rachael Ray magazine. It was incredible to illustrate a story I had actually experienced and something I'd love to do again, whether it be hot dogs or something else entirely.

Serious Eats shopping bags

Crazy sandwich design for a Serious Eats promotional re-usable Baggu shopping bag. A whole fried fish, sausages, random deli meats, lettuce and tomato. Hot dogs are great to draw but it's nice to branch out into some other food groups every so often.

Right now they're only available as contest giveaways but I'm pretty sure they will be for sale in the near future.

Jimmy John's

For this week's Hot Dog Of The Week article on Serious Eats. This place burned down last week - right outside of Philadelphia, but I've actually never been there.

Apparently Andrew Wyeth and family were regulars - he would reward himself with a hot dog or cheeseburger after finishing a painting. Much thanks to Mod Betty of Retroroadmap.com for letting me use her photos for the article.

New Hot Dog Prints

The hot dog madness refuses to end! 4 brand new bright as hell prints from some of my latest excursions. 11x14 giclees printed by Silicon Gallery Fine Arts in Philadelphia.

There are now 16 different designs available, pick up a set of 4 for $100 and a discount on shipping. Check them out on my web shop.



In case you haven't been following, every week I do an illustration of a different hot dog variation for a feature called "Hot Dog Of The Week" on Seriouseats.com and have recently been traveling the country in search of the best and wildest hot dogs. There is no end in sight as new variations keep popping up every day and almost every waking minute of my life is spent thinking about tubular meat.


more hot dog madness
•Hot Dog Of The Week on Serious Eats
•Flickr hot dog photo archive
•Nothin But A Dog Hound - Inquirer Article

2009, the year in hot dogs - literally

For last week's Serious Eats megapost looking back at the year in hot dogs, chock full of artwork.

Chicago Dogs

Latest hot dog piece. Tried to evoke a little bit of the feel of old school Chicago hot dog lettering. Check out the full post on Serious Eats.

One of the best things about chicago hot dog culture is all the different lettering & signage on the stands. A lot of the older ones are hand painted. Go have some fun on Flickr if you want to see more.

Detroit Coney

Latest Hot Dog Of The Week.
Detroit and Michigan serve their hot dogs blanketed in heaping mounds of Greek chili made with beef hearts and kidneys .

In case you're confused, Detroit Coney dogs have little to do with Coney Island in Brooklyn. Greek immigrants who stopped at Coney Island in NY on their way to Michigan opened up diners called "Coney Islands" and called their chili and mustard covered dogs "Coneys".

I didn't even realize when I was painting this last week, but apparently they filmed a scene from Whip It - Drew Barrymore's new Roller Derby movie - at Lafayette Coney Island, one of the oldest & most well known of Detroit's Coney spots.

Charlie's Pool Room

Latest Hot Dog Of The Week on Serious Eats.

Check out the above link for my full review. Great hot dogs and an amazing place, more photos here.

Depression Dog & Inquirer article

Latest Hot Dog Of The Week for Serious Eats.

Also don't miss this recent article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about my hot dog illustrations! Written by Rick Nichols, who has been combing the Philadelphia area for forgotten culinary treasures for years.

Papaya Dog

Latest Hot Dog Of The Week. Pretty much one of the best things about NYC is that you can still get a pineapple/coconut juice and 2 hot dogs for 3 dollars at one o'clock in the morning. There was a Papaya King in Philadelphia in 1937 and again in 2001 but neither lasted too long.

I'll have some prints of the newer designs soon, in the meantime I've still got these for sale!

Hot Dog Giclee Prints

Prints available now! 4 different designs from my Hot Dog Of The Week series. I think they came out fantastic, thanks to the kind folks at Silicon Gallery Fine Art here in Philadelphia.

These are 11 x 14, high quality giclee prints on acid free, archival paper. 27 bucks a pop plus shipping from my website.

Initally produced as illustrations for an ongoing series of hot dog articles for seriouseats.com. I really don't know who wouldn't want one of these in their kitchen. The originals are also for sale if you're a high roller!

BUY PRINTS HERE

Slaw Dog

Latest hot dog of the week for Serious Eats.

The West Virginia Hot Dog Blog loved my art but was pissed that I called it a "Slaw Dog". I guess in West Virginia that's kind of like ordering a cheesesteak with blue cheese and bean sprouts.

More Hot Dogs

More hot dog illustrations for Serious Eats.

The Texas Weiner started in New Jersey and was created by Greeks but called "Texas" as a marketing gimmick. It's a dog with beanless chili (aka greek sauce) and raw onions. I was lucky enough to hit up a Texas Weiner place last week in Central PA.

The Puka Dog is a relatively new Hawaiian style hot dog that involves jamming a polish sausage into a mini bread loaf that has a hole in it, and filling it with all kinds of sweet coconut habenero action.

These are gouache on printmaking paper and are definitely for sale.
Prints coming soon!