By RICHARD VIRGILIO
My heart beat a little faster for Martha Stewart recently when she announced, on her daytime talk show, that the WindMill hot dog was one of the “best in the country.”
Standing majestically in the costliest studio for daytime talk ever – an assortment of superior hot dogs meticulously arranged on her thick, perfectly veined, Carrera marble countertop – Martha named the WindMill one of her “fourteen favorite hot dogs” in the entire country.
“I can’t pick just one,” said Martha, with an elegant, giddy smile. “Out of all the hot dogs we tasted, these 14 are very special and very delicious.”
A relaxed and jovial Martha dedicated the entire one-hour show, peppered with surprisingly (for Martha) naughty double-entendre, to the hot dog.
“The hot dog is this country’s most famous food,” said Martha.
While Martha effusively described her love for the WindMill hot dog, topped with Gulden’s mustard and proprietary WindMill sauerkraut – a photo of the restaurant’s landmark wind mill-shaped Long Branch location flashing on the television screen – Steve Levine, chief operating officer and self-proclaimed “hot dog guy,” sat in the front row of the studio audience.
“It was very exciting to be part of the live broadcast of Martha’s show,” said Steve, son of WindMill’s co-founders. “I know that my parents, co-founders of the restaurant, were proud to see our hot dog on stage with Martha and her friends.”
The extensive search for the best-in-show dogs began weeks ago.
“We were invited in August by one of Martha’s producers to participate in the contest,” said Steve.
Some vendors dropped off hot dogs for Martha to sample, however Steve’s passion for quality impressed Martha. He was one of the chefs invited to prepare his hot dogs in Martha’s fully-stacked studio kitchen, for the broadcast.
“I told the producer that if I couldn’t be in charge of cooking the hot dogs, we couldn’t participate,” said Steve. “I set up a WindMill workstation in Martha’s kitchen.”
Martha’s new discovery is not news to many locals. Since 1964, the WindMill has been serving up the same classic, slow-cooked-on-a-griddle-until-they-crack dogs with fresh-daily rolls.
“I love these hot dogs,” said Maureen Hintelmann of Red Bank, who visits WindMill with her grandchildren every week. “And everyone is so pleasant.”
Today, there are 10 WindMill locations – including one on Main Street in Ocean Grove – that serve more than 12,000 hot dogs each week.
As the economy continues to crumble, I bet simple, classic, affordable comforts like the WindMill will become even more popular.
Briefly: The October issue of Martha’s magazine has a number of gorgeous craft ideas for Halloween. Simple one: arrange Vaseline glass together and shine a black light on it. She explains “there is a harmless amount of uranium in the glass – which gives it its green tint, and makes it fluoresce under black light.”
And, Gay Bowling is back – Saturday, Oct. 18. Barron of Bowling, Michael Delia is your host for another striking season at Asbury Lanes. Blackberry the full schedule now: Nov. 22, Dec. 20, Jan. 24, Feb. 28, Mar. 28, April 18, May 23, June 20. Gay card not required.
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Published every Thursday.
Windmill is the best hot dog around. Martha – not my favorite person.