Doggone it! Where are they now?

Doggone it! Where are they now?

SINGAPORE - They made a ferocious entry to Singapore, but scattered as quickly as they came - and with nary a whimper. This time two years ago, there were at least eight standalone outlets offering different takes on gourmet hot dogs, or hot dog sandwiches made with premium sausages rather than your low-brow canned frankfurter.

But recent young shoots aside, a scarce few of those ventures seem to have lasted the distance. Gourmet dogs and craft beer joint Li'l Papa's Wieners Beerstro, which closed in Craig Road in June, last month re-opened as craft beer retail kiosk The Papa Shop in Kallang - sans the hot dogs.

Earlier casualties include Superdog at Vivocity, The Purple Mustard at Icon Village in Tanjong Pagar, Zen Dog at The Sail at Marina Bay, and gourmet dog and artisan coffee joint Homebodies in Boat Quay, which has since been reconceptualised as Ah Sam's Cold Drink Stall under the same owners. Even O My Dog at Great World City, which opened in September 2011 serving dogs made with grain-fed meats in flavours such as truffle mushroom and bak chor mee, has now scaled down its operations to a weekend-only affair.

Cold response to hot dogs

Why exactly haven't gourmet hot dogs taken off here?

Low-priced hot dog buns from local confectioneries, cinema snack counters and even furniture retailer Ikea's deli counter have a part to play, say gourmet hot dog purveyors.

"A plain bun with a boiled chicken frankfurter inside for 50 cents or a dollar, to most people, that is a hot dog, plain and simple," says The Purple Mustard's co-owner Willie Sng. "And once the general public has a perception of a hot dog bun as something made from low-quality, processed meat, it is hard to change their minds that it could be something better," he adds. Gourmet hot dogs typically start from $6 and can go up to $12 with premium condiments.

"Singaporeans don't view hot dogs as a meal. When they go out for lunch, they want a meal, and they want to sit down," says Dan Segall, who previously partnered with local actor-turned-fitness guru Robin Leong to run hot dog counter Zen Dog. "In New York, you'd grab a hot dog and soda and eat while walking back to your office for lunch."

Agreeing, Janet Lim, spokeswoman for the Spa Esprit Group behind O My Dog, says the biggest challenge is presenting the hot dog as more than just a snack. Relative to the gourmet burger trend, which has taken off by leaps and bounds here, she believes that burgers benefit from having an "image of quality" compared to hot dogs. "Burger patties are often thought to be made from a whole cut of meat, which gives burger sellers more room to play about with the different grades of beef, and customers the option to customise their burger in any way they like," she explains, adding that patties are often perceive to be made in restaurants, and hence more fresh.

This also leads to another point: gourmet hot dogs are a labour-intensive business to run. "It was tiring. It's not like taking ready-made dogs out of a jar. They takes awhile to grill, and you have to prepare the toppings and assemble it with many condiments," says The Papa Shop's Fabio de Souza on why he has dropped hot dogs from the menu at this new outlet. He would re-introduce them if he could hire a kitchen team just for the hot dogs, but with the current shortage of manpower in the F&B industry, he says: "It was just not a cost effective business to run."

But Mr Sng believes this can be mitigated with some logistical tweaks. At its peak, The Purple Mustard would have as many as 300 hot dogs orders within a two-hour lunch rush, "but we ran the kitchen restaurant-style, where everything was cooked a la minute, which slowed things down." Mr Sng is also co-owner of four-month-old The Mustard Incident, where he has consequently streamlined the cooking processes to churn out the hot dogs more quickly. The Orchard Road location, however, means that diners come more evenly throughout the day, he says.

Other factors

Like him, other gourmet hot dog sellers believe that demand for gourmet dogs is still growing, and the string of closures should not be seen as an indication of lacklustre demand.

"It's anybody's guess why certain businesses go under and why they don't. It could be anything from rent and being in the wrong location to labour, or pricing your product wrongly," Mr Segall offers. Zen Dog closed when its six-month lease "as a pop-up stall to test the concept" was up and his business partners wanted to focus on other priorities, he says, adding that if it were up to him alone, he'd gladly go into the business again. "I've got a list of recipes done up, all I need is a lease in a suitable venue, 100 sq ft of space and $20,000 to stock it and pay staff, and I can have a shop open within a month," he claims.

The Purple Mustard primarily closed due to differences among its partners, while Ms Lim says that O My Dog now operates on weekends as its location within the family-oriented Great World City shopping mall means that it is mostly crowded only on weekends. "Perhaps the concept will work better in locations with fast-moving consumers such as in a kiosk in a foodhall. or if it is run alongside a diner concept, which will give people more choices," she suggests.

Catching up

Still, the new entrants are staying upbeat despite mentions of the closures. "Gourmet burgers took awhile to take off here, and I believe hot dogs are not far behind," says Jonathan Shen, spokesman for week-old Hopdogs in Clarke Quay, referring to them as "a less pretentious version of a burger".

"The upside is that through popular culture like movies and television shows, everyone will see what a real hot dog should be like," adds Mr Sng. Anthony Bourdain's popular "No Reservations" series, for instance, had an entire episode dedicated to Chicago-style dogs, he points out.

Both believe that presenting the gourmet hot dogs as a complete meal is the key to boosting its image as more than a mere snack. A set meal at The Mustard Incident comes with a side of chilli and a drink while Hopdogs' sandwiches are served with complimentary nachos on the side. "We built the outside for those looking for a quick bite, and indoor dining tables for those who want to sit down and have it as a proper meal," says Hopdogs' Mr Shen.

"People don't just come here for the hot dogs, but to cosume the whole culture that surrounds it. Hot dog stands in the US are traditionally social gathering points where you end up talking to the person next to you, and that's what we tried to recreate here," adds The Mustard Incident's Kelly Koh of his stand's four-stool perch. And he believes that the hunger for dogs is not just limited to Singapore.

And never mind if the local population is slow to bite, there's a region with a voracious appetite waiting, he believes. After building up a name for its Singapore outlet as the brand's flagship, he hopes to open a branch in Bangkok by year-end, and has franchise offers from Australia and South Korea.

debyong@sph.com.sg


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