Are you ready for some hot dogs?

Yesterday, Merritt Martin of Eater Dallas, linked (ha!) to a story reporting Dallas-based Zaccanelli Food Group’s acquisition of the 133 year-old Hofmann Sausage Company in Syracuse, New York. She writes:

“Wait, what? Dallas-based Zaccanelli Food Group acquired Syracuse’s Hofmann Sausage Company in a multimillion dollar deal that means sausage expansion (well beyond Hot Haus rests, even into Texas groceries, gasp!) and, linking (ha) seemingly random investors the likes of Oneida Indian Nation, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach and others.”

The “others” Martin omits are significant players that are anything but randomly linked. Like the “Zaccanelli” behind the group:  Frank Zaccanelli, a native of Syracuse, is the former team president of the Dallas Mavericks. He was the minority owner to Ross Perot Jr.’s majority. Together, they sold the team to our (foodie) hero, Mark Cuban. Before that, Zaccanelli was a big wig at Perot Jr.’s company and they did some big deals like Alliance Airport and large real estate developments all over the state. (Huge overstatement in the interest of time.) Zaccanelli Food Group received majority funding from the powerful central-New York based Oneida Indian Nation Enterprises, a group dedicated to “re-investing in Central New York.” Other investors include former Syracuse Police Chief and two-time Syracuse University All-American basketball player Dennis DuVal, Syracuse University Head Basketball Coach Jim Boeheim, Dallas Cowboys quarterback and businessman Roger Staubach, and several high-profile restaurateurs and sports figures.

The until-now family-owned and operated Hofmann Sausage Company is a well-respected name in the restaurant business. They make some fine sausages and hot dogs. Call me crazy, but I swear I ate a Hofmann dog at Fuddrucker’s a century ago. Oh, that brings me to another “other” in this multi-million-dollar-dog deal: Phil Romano, the creator of Fuddruckers®, World’s Greatest Hamburgers®. Secret fact: Romano ALSO grew up in Syracuse eating Hofmann dogs. He loves them so much he sells them at Eatzi’s! Now he’s going to show the world just how much he hearts Hofmann dogs. Romano is in charge of creating a national chain of Hofmann’s World’s Greatest Hot Dogs restaurants. (I’m sure the ® is still at the attorney’s office.)  I, for one, can’t wait. Hot dogs are the new hamburger.

Update: Hofmann products will be available in 64 Texas Albertson’s stores, including those in DFW, this weekend. That was fast.

My initial response is: if you can circle the earth twice, why don’t you just drop off a few million pounds in places where one chicken for a village causes more excitement than the Super Bowl.

My secondary response is actually a question: How many chickens does it take to make 25 billion chicken wings. Hah! You say: do the math dummy; one chicken has only two wings. But your assumption would be wrong. I turned to the Wing-onomics department (true!) at The National Chicken Council for an answer.

You’ll have to jump because you, like chickens, cannot fly.

Wing-onomics

The vast majority of wings, especially those destined for foodservice, are disjointed, with the third joint (the thin part known as the flapper) being exported to Asian countries and the meatier first and second joints being sold domestically.  The wing is usually split into two parts or portions, known as the “drumette” and the mid-section or “flat” and sold to food service or retail outlets.

A chicken has two wings, and chicken companies are not able to produce wings without the rest of the chicken.  Therefore, the supply of wings is limited by the total number of chickens produced.  When the demand for wings is stronger than the demand for other chicken parts, the price of wings will go up. Wing prices always go up in the fourth quarter of the year as restaurants stock up for the Super Bowl and prices usually peak in January during the run-up to the big game.

In the Midwest, for instance which includes Indianapolis, home of Super Bowl XLVI, the price of wings (whole) for the week of January 16-20, 2012 was $1.96/lb wholesale, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Poultry Market News Service.   This represents a 50 percent increase in price from six months ago in July, 2011.

“The good news for consumers,” said NCC’s Roenigk, “is that food service and retail outlets generally plan months in advance for the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl Sunday, meaning that increased wholesale costs for the most part aren’t passed on to consumers’ plates.”

That’s great news. You might find this interesting as well.

According to NPD Group data, not all regions of the country are equal when it comes to eating wings.

This year’s Super Bowl matchup between the New York Giants and New England Patriots should hold wing consumption relatively steady compared to last year’s levels.   That is because New Englanders and Patriots fans are six percent less likely than the national average to order chicken wings at a food service establishment, but fans of the New York Giants and those others in the Mid-Atlantic region are 24 percent more likely.

A New York Giants – Baltimore Ravens match-up would have produced maximum wing consumption out of the four possible Super Bowl match-ups.   Those in the South Atlantic region, including Ravens fans, are 27 percent more likely than the national average to order chicken wings at a food service establishment.

Should the San Francisco 49ers have won in overtime and faced the Patriots, wing consumption would have taken a hit. Those in the in the Pacific region are 34 percent less likely to order wings.

I didn’t have the balls (that’s another story) to ask what would have happened if the Dallas Cowboys had made it to the Super Bowl, but my guess is that sales at Wingstop, based in Richardson, would have quadrupled and they would have probably had to rely on duck or grackle wings to meet the demand. As it is, Wingstop, with 500 locations, plans to “sauce and toss 5.6 Million Wings on Super Sunday.”

The new location at 9007 Garland Road, has a full kitchen and a new menu which will include chicken biscuits, biscuits and jelly from local purveyor JJ&B, biscuits and gravy, oatmeal made to order with choice of toppings, Greek yogurt and fresh fruit parfaits, along with protein drinks, protein bars, and energy/recovery drinks.

“Hyppies,” as patrons are known as, will enjoy a casual in-store experience with seating at the donut and coffee bar, or lounging on the sofa and some old school chairs.  Outside will be cheap plastic chairs that face the street.  Hypnotic calls this seating style “Goodfellas Row” as it is inspired by the movie of the same name. Standard chairs and tables will be placed throughout the space as well. In following St. Peter’s Hyppie mantra, Hypnotic Donuts furnished the store using reclaimed furniture and décor from local vintage, resale, thrift and charity stores. To further utilize local talent, local artist Kristen Johnson painted a mural of well-known hippies throughout history giving customers the joy of sharing a Hypnotic experience with their favorite hippies.

My little, fat Filipino chicken taco of stewed chicken, tomatoes onions, and peppers.

Yesterday I mentioned Moto Taco, a new breakfast and lunch taco delivery operation. We placed an order and Mac, who calls himself the Chief Taco Jockey, showed up with tacos. After his arrival was announced over the intercom, Mac was surrounded by 30 hungry workers. I felt bad for him. He was obviously overwhelmed at the response. Not only did he take orders, he processed payment. And he ran out of food. Needless to say, Moto Taco is still working out the kinks of their new business. (They have partnered with the kitchen at La Hacienda on Henderson.) I asked my office mates to send in their reviews which are listed below. I tried the carnitas and, other than the soggy flour tortilla which I see as an inevitable problem with their vision, the filling was tasty. However, I love the concept of office delivery and what I shall now refer to as “cubicle cuisine™.”

Jump for more details from Mac and the relentless reviews written by my colleagues.

Tim Rogers is always first. Here you actually see him parting with $2.50. Very rare sighting.

To his credit, Mac the Chief Taco Jockey, surveyed folks while they ate. He writes:

I spoke with a few folks to get feedback as well. We do this after every delivery either in person or by email. Unfortunately, they said that some of the filipino chicken and the hippie tacos had soggy tortillas. This is certainly an anomaly because our standard process calls for thorough draining of the meats and vegetables for portability. They mentioned that the other day when they tried them they were not like that. I am working with the kitchen to determine what was different about today’s order so that we can correct it. And of course, I’ll be bringing by some more next week (on me) so they can see the difference.

He also described the Delivery Areas:

Over the past few weeks, we have been introducing ourselves to customers in zips 75204,05,06,19 and 01 but have a few regular customers outside of that area. We target one particular area for delivery of breakfast or lunch each day by letting them know the day prior that we’ll be going there, about the menu and asking them if they’d like us to deliver to their office. Some people give us specific orders and times and others just ask us to drop by. This gives them flexibility and reduces the hassle of having to track down everyone. It also provides a service to those whose lunch plans were canceled, who were just given a big project to complete by 2pm or who rushed out the door without their sandwich that day. However, if there are any special orders or catering orders that come in outside of that day’s run, we can accommodate them if we have some advance notice.We plan to continue expanding our normal runs to other parts of Dallas in the same way. There’s no minimum order on the regular runs. If someone calls from a different area we always try to accommodate them if we have tacos available.

Tomatillo salsa on the carnitas taco. $2.50.

Office Comments: I asked for quick review and a one (bad) to five (awesome) rating.

“I had one carnitas taco. I’d give it a 2. The meat was alright, but I did not like the toppings at all. Was it boiled cabbage?”

“Rating : 1. The tortillas were doughy (raw and/or soggy).”

“The chicken was soggy and the carnitas, though not soggy, was tasteless.”

“Hippie-3. I’m not especially fond of meatless tacos, but these had decent substance and texture, although the taco was unacceptably soggy.”

“Carnitas-4. Not the best pork taco I’ve had, but very tasty. Good neutral flavoring (meat and fillings), and very good meat tenderness and texture.”

“No sauce on either. Overall taco sizes and amount of fillings were good (slightly above average). Glad to see they use flour instead of the corn tortillas used by everyone else.”

“The hot sauce that came with the chicken taco was great.  The taco, not so much.”

“Chicken taco very soggy, overload of peppers-2”

“Brisket taco kinda dry/tough-3”

Sorry for the soft focus on the Hippie taco of roasted tomatoes, serranos, onions, cilantro, and what looks like arugula.