Seattle could be taking home two titles in February:the Seahawks are responsible for one, and food truck Tokyo Dog is responsible for the other.
Tokyo Dog, which specializes in hot dogs topped with Japanese ingredients like tonkatsu sauce and miso mayo, is aiming to pick up a Guinness World Record for the most expensive hot dog on February 23 in a special event at the Fremont Sunday Market. It’s an idea co-owner Eugene Woo has been thinking about since 2010. “This is a special thing we’re doing for Seattle, we want to bring this record home,” he says.
The current record holder is an 18-inch dog sold by Capital Dawg in Sacramento, California that goes for $145.49, a hefty price tag for a fairly ordinary dog thanks to one $200-per-pound ingredient: Swedish moose cheese.
Tokyo Dog’s anticipated record winner, tentatively named the Junni Dog (a nod to the 12th Man, since “junni” is 12 in Japanese), will be far less… moosey. Woo says he’ll sell his dog—a 12-inch Bavarian Meats smoked cheese bratwurst on toasted bun, topped with butter teriyaki grilled onions, maitake mushrooms, shaved black truffles, thinly sliced Wagyu beef, Paddlefish caviar, foie gras, and Japanese mayo—for $169. “We thought about putting gold flakes on it as well,” Woo says. “But there’s no taste to that.”
Anyone interested in purchasing this admittedly indulgent dog will have to pre-order by emailinginfo@tokyodog.com. To simply catch a whiff of the pricey brats grilling, swing by the Tokyo Dog truck at the Fremont Sunday Market on February 23 between 11 and 4. Jean Nakayama of Maneki and Sushi Kappo Tamura’s Taichi Kitamura will be on hand as guests, plus an accountant and a lawyer. Woo will be sending a receipt confirming at least one sale to Guinness to verify. All proceeds will be given to a yet-to-be-determined charity.