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Last year Pervaiz Shallwani was at the James Beard Awards chatting away about something he knows quite intimately: hot dogs. Not too surprising, given that Shallwani pioneered chutney-laced Desi dogs with his NYC-based pop-up Chaat Dog. At the time, he just happened to be conversing with Tristen Epps, the winner of Top Chef season 22. The two found kinship in their shared love of the humble hot dog, so much so that Epps and Shallwani hosted a hot dog pop-up at Time Out Market, doling out a dual menu featuring chaat dogs and hot dogs layered with kifto chili and cracklin’ injera. The experience was twofold for Shallwani: the pop-up led to a permanent residence, with Chaat Dog landing in the Brooklyn market this past June. It also sparked a follow-up pop-up series, which Shallwani brought with him in the move.
All summer long, Shallwani has hosted Hot Dogs with Friends at Chaat Dog. The ongoing video and food series tapped a lineup of culinary talent, including Food Network host Monti Carlo, Ham El-Waylly of Strange Delight and Jae Jung of KJUN. The resulting friendships and franks have led to Japanese and Peruvian dogs with pickled cucumbers and rocoto purée from Papa San’s Erik Ramirez, and a New York City-Caribbean dog with tamarind barbecue sauce and habanero chow chow courtesy of Lana Lagomarsini, a Top Chef alum and chef behind the upcoming Creola. There’s even been a creation that swapped the dog for fish, herring to be exact, with a little bit of chaat, thanks to a team-up with Russ & Daughters.
But more than a pop-up, the series ties into Shallwani’s overall project, Stinky Lunch Kids Strike Back, a media platform that explores American food through the lens of immigrant food. He believes the hot dog serves as the perfect jumping-off point.
“The hot dog is a blank canvas for regional and coastal interpretation—I would argue that every immigrant makes it their own,” he said. “The whole concept was to give people a bun and a hot dog and let them go wild.”
Closing out the summer series, Shallwani has invited a few more friends to the table, including Sohaib Ahmed of Halwa Wala, who is rolling out The Pig in a Paratha (mozzarella, pistachio, honey and rose petals wrapped in paratha) this week, from August 25 to August 30, or until sold out. Josh Lanning of Brightbird Kitchen in Peoria, Illinois, will be bringing the Dirty Curry Dog to the plate (onion jam, fried onions and pickled jalapeño relish), while LJ Almendras of Pinch Chinese and the upcoming queer and Filipino wine bar, Beautiful Eyes, will be cooking up a Filipino-inspired dog.
Shallwani hopes to keep the series alive in some form post-peak hot dog season, aka the summer. But we say don’t wait; keep an eye on Chaat Dog's Instagram for the next drop and catch these collaborative dogs exclusively at Brooklyn’s Time Out Market.
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