Lucky Dog a Best Bite

I had been craving a hot dog all day long; the flavor, the "bite," the soft texture of the bun, the way my mouth waters a little as I bite into a few chopped onions... There’s nothing like a good old American hot dog. Trouble is, I really don’t eat things like that anymore. I may have a hot dog three or four times during the year, down from three or four a week in summers gone by, dashing from one job to the next. I’ve pretty much given up eating anything that still has all those nitrites and other poisons. I was so happy to find out that the dogs at the Lucky Dog have no nitrites, no chemicals, no poisons typically found in most hot dogs, and yet they’re still really tasty. They offer all kinds of specialty toppings, too. Even so, I still will only eat a few a year because I’m not eating nearly as much meat these days, so the Lucky Dog made me happy again when they told me they had a tofu dog, gluten-free and made of soy. Now before you turn your nose up and make a face, these are really quite good. The flavor and texture aren’t far off the mark, and a lot of people really wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

So when my hot dog craving came creeping up this morning as I was passing through the convenience store where the dogs were already sizzling on the grill at 9 AM, I was barely able to resist the primal urge to boof one down. Later in the day, when I was still thinking about those rows and rows of juicy malevolence rolling endlessly on the glistening stainless steel rods of the self-serve wienie machine, I remembered the tasty, meatless dogs served at the Lucky Dog. So I headed over, knowing that their tofu dog with all the trimmings would allay my pathetic yearning. I got my beautiful little pseudo-sausage drizzled with a bit of spicy brown mustard, a little relish, some chopped onion, of course, and some roasted red peppers. A gourmet ingredient or two keeps me from feeling deprived when I make a healthier choice.

So I was happy as a clam, eating my delicious dog, but the real treat of this visit, it turns out, was yet to come. I saw the counter top display of Hal's Cornmeal Lime Summer Cookies, and I knew I needed to try them. WOW! These are some of Provincetown's best.

They were big and tender, perfectly baked cookies with a texture a bit like a sugar cookie, but lighter somehow, despite being made with cornmeal, and not as dense or sweet or heavy as your typical sugar cookie. They were just a little sweet, with a topping that was somewhere between a thin icing and a confectioner’s glaze, with the sweet/tangy flavor of fresh lime juice and the finely grated zest of the limes as well. Again, WOW! These were the best cookies in recent memory, which is saying a lot considering the Girl Scout cookies made their annual appearance here not that long ago. The Thin Mints and the Tagalongs have nothing on these Cornmeal Lime Summer Cookies, which rank among the best I’ve ever tasted. TheYearRounder chooses these cookies, fresh from the Lucky Dog kitchen, as a Best Bite.

Find the Lucky Dog behind 293 Commercial Street, down the little footpath next to Cuffy’s, or go to the bus plaza and you can see them from there. Look for the beautiful new mural of whales painted on their building.