DEAR MR. PINKWATER: I DON’T KNOW IF YOU REMEMBER THE NPR ITEM YOU DID ON FINDING A CHICAGO HOT ESTABLISHMENT SOMEWHAT NORTH OF NYC. IT WAS PROBABLY 1-2 YEARS AGO, BUT IT REALLY STRUCK A CHORD WITH ME. i’M FROM CHICAGO AND A DEFINTE HOT DOG DEOVOTEE. i ALSO DID’NT QUITE KNOW HOW TO CONNTACT YOU.
AS YOU CORRECTLY PRAISED THE VIRTUES OF THE CHICAGO DOG, I FELT COMPELLED TO CALL YOU TO RELATE MY EXPERIENCE IN TOKYO. WE WHERE STATIONED IN TOKYO FOR ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF, AND HAD ACCESS TO THE AMERICAN CLUB. THE BIG BENEFIT WAS TO READ DOONESBURY AND CALVIN AND HOBBES. THAT WAS UNTIL THERE WAS AN ARTICLE ABOUT A NEW OUTLET CALLED “CHICAGO DOGS” THAT WAS REVIEWED IN THE STARS & sTRIPES. SADDLY, THE ONLY LOCATION THEY GAVE WAS “ROPPONGGI”, THAT ABOUT THE SAME AS SAYING ITS IN SOUTH CHICAGO OR MANHATTAN. i SPENT MANY HOUR LOOKING FOR THE SITE, AND MY EFFORTS WERE REWARDED. VIENNA HOT DOGS WITH THE CORRECT FIXINGS (CATSUP WAS OPTIONAL). THE BUNS WERE JUST RIGHT. IT WAS A REAL TASTE OF HOME IN WHAT WAS OTHER A KIND OF STRANGE PLACE .
I LOVE YOUR COMMENTARIES ON BOTH THE MUNDANE AND IMPORTANT ISSUES.
Roppongi isn't that big. I was able to find all kinds of things to eat there. I wish the proprietor of Hershel's Chicago Hot Dogs were still alive, so I could tell him there was another like him, bringing the Vienna gospel to Japan. Alas, he is gone, subsumed into the cosmos-- now he is truly one with everything.
