PINK'S HOT DOGS
Hollywood staple, frequented by the likes of Orson Welles, Michael J. Fox, and Brad Pitt, finally brings its authentic hot dogs out of California and into Manila — its first branch outside the U.S.
Pink’s is the quintessential Hollywood eating experience, magic ally transported here. All that’s missing is a fast-talking Quentin Tarantino character beside you, munching loud ly on a bacon-wrapped breakfast dog.
It’s still on a blooper reel somewhere. When I was a PBA sportscaster in the 1990s, the two biggest hot dog brands in the country both had very competitive teams in the league. Purefoods had the Tender Juicy team, and Swift’s, the Mighty Meaty lineup. Inevitably, during a live broadcast on a day the two teams were to play each other, I interchanged the nicknames of the hot dog teams: Swift became Tender Juicy, and vice versa. I thought it was a cute little on-cam flub, but no ... I was chastised very quickly by my director, my producer, and even by my make-up artist. Apparently it was the worst blunder I could make. That’s when I realized how serious the business of hot dogs in the Philippines is.
We’re a nation of hot dog eaters. We all grew up loving Smokey’s. No respectable streetside ihaw-ihaw is complete without those bright red tubes on the grill, charring beside the isaw and tenga. Of course, for every child raised in the Philippines, the best kind of spaghetti is still the one served at fiestas, birthday parties, and at Christmas: ketchupy, sugary sweet, and studded with dozens of sliced hot dogs.
Richard Pink, the owner of Pink’s Hot Dogs, realized that from all the Filipinos who would patiently line-up at his family’s original restaurant on La Brea in Los Angeles. They’d ask him to please, please open shop in Manila. Their excited exhortations were not made in vain. When the proper time came to open abroad, Richard would say to himself: “Why not go where we’re wanted?”
Richard’s parents, Paul and Betty, opened Pink’s as a hot dog cart back in 1939 and it has since become as much a part of Hollywood lore as the superstars who frequent the joint. But in its almost 80 years of existence, it has never opened a branch outside the United States. That is, until last month, when Pink’s opened at the Shangri-La at The Fort. We have to give a standing ovation to the folks behind the Wildflour Café and Bakery, and their sterling cred in L.A., for bringing home the hot dogs.
Pink’s Manila is actually an elevated dining experience, compared to the iconic SoCal original, where patrons have to patiently line up al fresco. Our Pink’s may be air-conditioned, and in the poshest part of The Fort, but inside, the happy clamor of crowds enjoying their dogs is identical to that in the States. And that’s because the hot dogs are exactly the same. Everything is recreated precisely, all the authentic key ingredients are imported, and the decades old Pink family recipes followed to the letter. The bread rolls have the same softness; their incomparable world-famous chili is as meaty, the hot dogs in their all-natural casings have the same signature curvature, and most important, they all have that irresistible, irreplaceable “snap!”
Pink’s is the quintessential Hollywood eating experience, magically transported here. All that’s missing, really, is a fast-talking Quentin Tarantino character beside you, munching loudly on a bacon-wrapped breakfast dog. Instead, it’s more likely that the table to your right will be occupied by a gaggle of titas of Manila chatting away, and the table to your left, a group of young kids all messily, beautifully, devouring their hot dogs, absolutely loving their unforgettable first time at Pink’s.