Restaurants

New York City's Serendipity 3 restaurant has a history of doing stunts to make the Guinness World Records. They've scored twice before -- with the World's Most Expensive Ice Cream Sundae and the World's Largest Hot Chocolate -- and on Friday, they did it again with the World's Most Expensive Hot Dog, which will sell for $69.

So how do you get a hot dog to cost nearly 70 bucks? First, you start with a regular Serendipity 3 foot-long beef hot dog, which already sells for $8.50 -- a little more than your average street dog in New York (and a lot tastier, I'll admit). Then you use the tried and true pre-recession stunt of chefs around the world: Add foie gras, then add truffles, repeat as necessary until the price tag explodes. (The other surefire fancifier -- caviar -- would taste a little gross on a hot dog, though Serendipity 3 puts it on a burger.)

To be more specific, this particular "Haute Dog" (as it's being marketed) is grilled in white truffle oil and is served on a chewy pretzel-bread bun (sort of like a cross between a soft pretzel and a baguette) that's toasted with white truffle butter. It's topped with foie gras pâté with black truffles. Condiments (served on the side) include Dijon mustard with black truffles, caramelized Vidalia onions and ketchup made with heirloom tomatoes (more like a tart tomato relish).

I tasted the dog this morning (breakfast of champions), and I've gotta admit, it was darn tasty. My notes, after the jump.

While we'll all be cozying up to our TV's on Sunday night to watch the Mad Men premiere, sipping on either scotch, some Heinekens or a few dirty martinis (what? we like to have options), some dedicated fans might want to spend their weekend enjoying a more authentic "Mad Men" experience.

Eater has rounded up the bars and restaurants the [now former] Sterling Cooper employees visited in seasons 1 through 3. Though many of the establishments are long-gone ghosts of NYC past, there are still several existing bars, markets and restaurants die-hards can visit in anticipation of the expansion of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. (This would all culminate, naturally, in the official Mad Men premiere party in Times Square.) Happy drinking...er...watching!

Just when you thought breakfast couldn't possibly get any more fun, Burger King is rolling out breakfast kids meals.

The $3.38 meals will include an egg-and-cheese English muffin sandwich, apple "fries" and calcium-fortified Minute Maid apple juice, Bloomburg Businessweek reported. The meals will hit restaurants on Monday.

"Offering a kids meal for breakfast that meets our strict nutrition criteria empowers our guests to make menu choices that work best for their dietary needs and lifestyles," John Schaufelberger, senior vice president, global product marketing and innovation, Burger King Corp., said in a statement.

Burger King got served -- by independent regulator of sales promotions in the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The agency ruled against the fast food company's Tendercrisp campaign, alleging the television advertisements may mislead customers to believe the chicken burgers are heftier than the reality of their drive-through counterparts. The commercial in question features a man shacked up in a motel with a substantially portioned and prettily composed Cheesy Bacon Tendercrisp.

The ASA stated that they "examined the size of the burgers in the hands of an average-sized man and considered they did not fill the hands to the same extent as the burger featured in the ad."

Consumers are often reeled in by the promise of juicy, chargrilled burgers and crisp, golden fries, which are often artful illusions created by food stylists (professional "make up artist for food," Jennifer Eustock proudly demonstrates some techniques here). A debate among food stylists as to whether "dirty tricks" should be employed when prepping food products exists in the blogosphere. One blog cleverly captured the disparity between these doctored food products and the soggy, foil-wrapped reality.

Does anything capture the flavor of summer quite so perfectly as a popsicle? Chances are, just the thought of a treacly, neon-red line of strawberry-flavored melt dribbling down your chin takes you back to some perfect summer evening of your childhood. Throw in some fireflies and a pair of flip-flops, and you're twelve again.

As Nation's Restaurant News reports, this summer seems to be marking a resurgence of the popsicle -- but this time they're coming from restaurants, not ice cream trucks, and the flavors are for grown-up palates.

In New York, these run the gamut from the Latin-inspired, such as tamarind-chile and mango-pineapple spiked with chile de arbol (Ofrenda Cocina Mexicana) and sweet corn and caramel popcorn (Rosa Mexicano), to Asian treats, such as calamansi, mago lassi and Thai coffee (Rickshaw Dumpling Bar). In Las Vegas, guests at the Mandarin Oriental can order lemon-thyme, raspberry tea-passion fruit and watermelon-lemongrass pops poolside.

Read more after the jump...

Food Network viewers have come to know chef and restaurateur Scott Conant as the prickly judge on Chopped -- but tonight Conant returns to TV as the host of Food Network's latest competition series, 24 Hour Restaurant Battle. The show pits two teams of two against each other, with the winner churning out the best restaurant within 24 hours.

Conant himself has been rather successful over the last 10 years in this realm, but he's had more than just a day. In 2002, he found success with L'Impero, and shortly after that, with midtown Manhattan's Alto. Recently, his flagship joint has been Scarpetta, with locations in New York and Miami (he's expanding to Toronto this week and Las Vegas later this year). As if that's not enough, earlier this year Conant also opened Faustina at the Cooper Square Hotel in lower Manhattan. Thus the contestants on 24 Hour Restaurant Battle are getting more than just the opportunity to win $10,000; they're getting the chance to pick a rather successful brain on the ins and outs of restaurant survival.

Slashfood spoke with Conant about his restaurant concepts, how he comes off on Chopped and the difference between 24 Hour Restaurant Battle and Top Chef's "restaurant wars" challenge.

24 Hour Restaurant Battle premieres tonight on the Food Network at 10pm. Read the interview after the jump.

Ballparks are always working on getting people in their seats. Lately they're reaching their fans through their stomachs with all-you-can-eat concessions -- a never-ending supply of nachos, hot dogs, popcorn and soda. These tickets cost around 50 percent more, usually ranging from around thirty to fifty bucks -- although they can run up to the two-hundred-dollar mark, according to USA Today -- and the trend has hit dozens of arenas, stadiums, and tracks.

At least one fan interviewed by Sports Illustrated is all for it. Matthew Cavalier recently took in an Orioles game at Baltimore's Camden Yards, sitting way out in left field (so to speak) in order to take advantage of the pumped-up food options. Cavalier thinks some teams need that extra calorie boost to get their fan base into the stadium. "The Phillies, Yankees and all them are always going to be fine. They don't need to do this. But for fans of, say, this team, it's a good plan."

Two weeks ago, Chick-fil-A gave customers the chance to earn a free combo meal by coming in to their stores dressed in cow costumes. (In case you missed it, our editor donned spots to cash in on this deal.) Yesterday, KFC took a stab at this sort of publicity stunt (what, KFC, you haven't had enough press from the Double Down?) by offering the first ten people dressed in a competing chain's uniform a free Doublicious sandwich.

They even resurfaced a Colonel look-alike in a promotional video to encourage fast food employees to come get their sandwiches (in it, a McDonald's worker trades out his McD's hat for one bearing the KFC logo).

If that young man (or any competing uniform-wearers) lost his or her job on account of the free meal, KFC promised to welcome them into their arms of employment. Head over to Eater to see the promo video.

Is it your dream to become a restaurateur? Or to travel the world? Now you can fulfill both wishes thanks to Muvbox, a "partially-solar-powered, 12,000-pound shipping container that transforms into a restaurant with seating areas shaded by large awnings." The Transformer-like concept boxes are made to order, so any restless chef could give their eatery a go on one continent, and then ship it across the world and start anew.

Head over to Eater to read more about the Muvbox, and see a video of its amazing assembly.
[Eater]

UPDATE: To ensure continued supply and meet customers' needs due to overwhelming popularity, McDonald's USA announced today that it will not be executing the national in-restaurant sampling event of McCafé Real Fruit Smoothies on July 22-24.

Back in early June, we told you about a product-tasting event we attended where McDonald's unveiled its new McCafé Real Fruit Smoothies (in addition to other products) as an extension of their McCafé line. The smoothies, available in Strawberry Banana or Wild Berry (chosen as the favorites during rigorous consumer testing), launched nationwide on Tuesday.

Our initial reaction was that both flavors (Wild Berry contains blueberries, strawberries and blackberries) were quite fresh-tasting, thanks to their natural ingredients (fruit, fruit juice, low-fat yogurt and ice). Danielle Paris, the Director of Product Innovation and Development at McDonald's, told Slashfood that McDonald's "sources strawberries directly from strawberry farmers, and selects particular varieties that will offer a specific flavor profile" for the smoothies.

As promised, our official taste test is coming soon, but next week you can try out the flavors yourself, at no cost. From July 22 to July 24, McDonald's will be giving customers free samples of both smoothie flavors. This promotion is reminiscent of their offer from just over a year ago for a free sample of their McCafé Mocha, with the early rollout of their McCafé line.

If you taste the smoothies next week, let us know what you think, and stay tuned for our official taste test!