Hot Dog: Creative Is A Summer, Frank

Who does not love a good hot dog? It would not be summer without them.

Memorial Day to Labor Day, more than 7 billion hot dogs consumed in the United States, according to the dog and the National Hot sausage. (In case you were wondering, is 818 per second.)

They are so pervasive, the chefs all over the world are experimenting with the basics (dog, bun, mustard, ketchup, onions, taste). And we decided to invite some of the chefs, and gives a twofold challenge dog: Top this!

And they did.

A hot dog Hippo in Clinton Township, Michigan, the menu offers owner Mark Platt and more than half a dozen hot dogs with various toppings.

It is the classic Hippo dog, a dog Chicago-style Vienna beef with mustard, salsa, onion, tomato, pickles, sport peppers and seasonings. Variations include salad dog covered with mustard and sauerkraut.

For the Free Press, Platt, 48, joined Chicago-style dog and produced in the south-west of Chicago-Style Dog on the salsa-marinated mixed vegetables, crispy tortilla strips.

"I wanted to create something from the west because of our menu, we have New York style, Chicago style with its traditional garnishes and dog cabbage, a native of the south," says Platt.

Carpentry Union in Clarkston, Michigan - 2011, Restaurant Free Press' of the year - not just cut hot dog seriously, but the hot dog, too.

"We do our hot dogs from scratch in-house, with Chuck beef and pork shoulder," says executive chef Aaron Cozad, 29 Smoky Dogs are served with homemade sweet and spicy relish and a drizzle of sauce restaurant in South Carolina style barbecue.

Carole Wendling, 28, Executive Banquet Chef Matt Prentice Restaurant Group, loves Latin flavors, and has created two dogs for us - in Argentina, with chimichurri, chorizo, marinated red onion, queso fresco and pickled, and Cuba, a variant of the style Cuban sandwiches.

"I thought chimichurri goes well with grilled meats, so it would go well with a hot dog with a little char on it," said Wendling.