Amateur Gourmet Survivor Champ Andrea urged me in a long-ago e-mail to try F&B. "It's amazing," she wrote in her e-mail. "Seriously."

I passed F&B many times on my excursions across 23rd street. It's across the street from the movie theater. It's next door to the Krispy Kreme and Ben & Jerry's. It's near Starbucks, Murray's bagels, and Dunkin' Donuts. There are many reasons to walk past F&B. Just hadn't found a reason, yet, to go inside.

And then last night I was hungry and Burritoville (which is also across the street from F&B) was packed. Boston Market looked a little too Boston Markety (there was a time that I liked Boston Market, but I think I'm passed that) and so F&B it was.

I walked inside not knowing what to expect. The first thing I noticed was the music. It was New Age meets funk meets trendy store on the Lower East Side. There were huge framed clippings of F&B in the press. And then there were two aisles of stools and silver counters. The room was dark and the service counter had a certain post-modern Pulp Fictiony hipness quotient. Which is strange when you consider that they sell hot dogs.

But the hot dog menu was exciting. All sorts of weird combinations. For example a salmon hot dog (no, I'm not kidding) with creme fraiche and caviar served with a mini-bottle of champagne. That cost more than $10 so I went with the Top Dog---a chili dog with mustard, sauerkraut and bacon--sweet potato fries and a lemonade. It added up to $8, which is still pricy for hot dog type food:

To my surprise, however, it was well worth it. The hot dog was delicious. The sauerkraut had really interesting unexpected flavors--like cloves, for example, and something cidery. Perhaps cider?

The sweet potato fries were unstoppable. Meaning, I couldn't stop eating them. And the lemonade hit the spot.

My guilt meter was still on high (chili dogs always make me feel guilty) but it moved down a notch when I realized that this was an exciting, outre hot dog. In fact the entire experience was outre: "Highly unconventional; eccentric or bizarre"---in a very good way. Next time I crave funky hot dogs and unstopple sweet potato fries, you'll know where to find me.