Hearty, flavorful and generally low-food-cost sausage is gaining prominence on menus as a comfort food fix, and the most popular American member of its family, the hot dog, has even started to go upscale.


Chefs are putting higher-end twists on the sausage, finding that those preparations are a non-threatening way to introduce guests to more exotic flavors and often can allow restaurants to charge a premium price for the humble dish.


Drew Belline, chef of No. 246 in Decatur, Ga., recently started offering a fresh sausage, “heavy on the pork fat,” flavored with coriander and cumin and then poached in beer so it could be quickly finished in the oven during service. He serves it with wood-roasted apples and cabbage braised in butter with black truffle scraps, for $16. 


Belline’s reason for offering the sausages is simple: “They fly out the door,” he said.


He also makes a pork sausage rope, which he sears and then slow roasts and serves with cherry mostarda and arugula for $15. 


The sausage itself is made from pork ground with garlic, powdered pequin pepper, black pepper, fennel seed and salt. “Straightforward, simple, fresh. It’s all about the pork,” he said.


Although pork is the dominant protein in American sausages, turkey sausage is the fastest growing variety, according to Datassential’s census of menu mentions, and chefs are experimenting with many different meats.


Jeremy Personius, the executive chef of Spina in New York City, has tapped into his upstate heritage for his sausage inspiration.


“This time of year is hunting season, and everyone I know has venison in their freezer, so I thought I’d bring my upstate style to the menu.”


He grinds venison with house-made lardo, a type of Italian cured pork fat, along with juniper berries, peppercorns and sage. He serves it with yellow turnip purée and roasted root vegetables as a $9 appetizer.


“Pretty much every other table will order the venison sausage,” he said.


Drew Van Leuvan, chef of one.midtown kitchen in Atlanta, said sausage is a good vehicle for unusual meats because it’s so approachable.


“Even though it’s a different kind of meat than they’re used to, they’re still familiar with sausage,” he said.


After successful attempts with mortadella, the pistachio-studded Italian ancestor of American bologna, Van Leuwen used the nuts in his sausage, made with 70 percent venison and 30 percent pork shoulder fat. He also added dried cherries, stuffed it into sheep casing and cold-smoked it. He served it recently with lima beans marinated in blackberry-jalapeño sauce and Vidalia onions. He sold the dish as an appetizer for $12.


The Lucky Monk Burger, Pizza & Beer Co., in South Barrington, Ill., recently added a spicy Italian chicken sausage to its menu.


“We wanted to put a different type of sausage on our pizza and on our menu,” said general manager Chad Severson, adding that it was intended as a more healthful sausage option. It’s 180 calories per link and has 60 percent less fat than their regular sausage. It’s made locally with chicken and provolone cheese and is infused with a local ale.


The Lucky Monk sells it as a single bratwurst as a Sunday special for $5.


Los Angeles has seen a spate of new independent restaurants focusing on sausage and craft beer, including Wurstküche, Berlin Currywurst, Wirsthaus and Tony’s Darts Away.


“I give credit to Wurstküche downtown for kicking off the sausage/craft beer trend,” said Kat Odell, Los Angeles editor of the restaurant blog eater.com


“Unless a restaurant is making its own sausages, it’s relatively easy to order sausages, store them, cook them … so there’s an attraction right there.”


Hot dogs, too, are enjoying a resurgence, with some operators getting truly premium prices for this American staple.


Red Apron Butchery, a whole animal butcher shop in Washington, D.C., opened a hot dog cart this past summer, offering items such as beer brats, mortadella dogs, chorizo, baconwurst, Italian hot dogs and atomic hot dogs — spiced with puréed chiles, cayenne and red pepper flakes — with assorted toppings. Most sold for $8, although the foie gras dog with Italian black truffles sold for $10. 


Chef Nathan Anda changed up the hot dogs and the toppings that went with them each week. Popular items included the Viet Frank, which was an atomic dog with cilantro lime aïoli and banh mi slaw, and his Cheddar-stuffed hot dog, which was a mild white hot dog with diced cheese folded into it. That was topped with beer-braised onions and house-made whole grain mustard.


Jim Pittenger has seen similar success with his Biker Jim’s Gourmet Dogs, which started as a cart in Downtown Denver, although earlier this year Pittenger opened a brick and mortar restaurant that allows him to get more creative.


Known for using unusual proteins such as alligator and rattlesnake, he said the elk jalapeño cheddar dog is the most popular. 


“Elk’s more flavorful than buffalo, which is fairly neutral,” he said, adding that reindeer dogs sell well during the holidays, although he said there are customers who have “an argument about not eating Rudolph.”


Another popular option is rattlesnake brat topped with harissa-roasted cactus, Malaysian curry jam, caramelized onions, fried onions and scallions.


He charges between $5 and $8.50 for the hot dogs.


He said his customers tend to be young, culinarily adventurous “food channel watchers.”


Operators with a more mainstream crowd say the tried-and-true hot dogs sell best.


Brandon Gillis, owner of Bark Hot Dogs in Brooklyn, N.Y., said he initially got resistance from customers when he charged $4.25 for his classic hot dog. It’s made from whole cuts of pork jowl and shank mixed with beef shoulder, naturally smoked in beef casing by a 5th generation Austrian-style sausage maker in upstate New York. It’s served in an upscale, fast-casual setting with wine, craft beer and specialty milkshakes, but Gillis said that, in a city accustomed to hot dogs that cost less than $2, customers are resistant to premium dogs.


Richard Blais agreed. The former Top Chef contestant opened a fast-casual “haute doggery” called HD1 in Atlanta about two months ago. 


Half of the hot dogs served there are made in-house. The rest are made by a local manufacturer.


His classic dog is $4, and most of them range from $4.50 to $7. 


“We’ve found that, even at $4, people are like, ‘wow, that’s an expensive hot dog.’ He added that, although consumers now understand the concept of a “better burger,” many diners’ “understanding of the hot dog is the supermarket or backyard barbecue.”

Contact Bret Thorn at bret.thorn@penton.com
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