Willie wonders whether he should’ve dropped that second tab.Photo: RJ Mickelson/Veras for New York Magazine
Costume designer Ellen Lutter met Tom Anderson, the movie electrician who would become her husband, on the set of Friday the 13th Part II. Since then, they’ve been putting in sixteen- to-eighteen-hour days and spending weeks apart on location, looking for a way out of the motion-picture industry.
I, for one, welcome our new hot-dog masters.Photo: RJ Mickelson/Veras for New York Magazine
Salvation has come in the unexpected form of Willie’s, the Park Slope hot-dog joint the couple plans to open this Friday. “The idea was to try something else while we’re still functioning adults,” says Anderson, who can’t quite explain the Hollywood-to-hot-dogs transition other than to say, as only a restaurant rookie can, “It sounded easy.” After some comparison tasting, Anderson and Lutter settled on Karl Ehmer all-beef, natural casing franks, which will be served on home-baked buns (challah, rye, or multigrain), with sides like Yonah Schimmel’s knishes and house-made fries and onion rings. But the place is dedicated to more than one type of dog: Along with the wiener wall mural, there’s also a collection of dioramas dedicated to rescued dogs. In time, the space will operate as a gallery-clearinghouse for abandoned animals in need of good homes. — Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld
Willie’s Dawgs, 351 Fifth Ave., nr. 5th St., Park Slope, Brooklyn; 718-832-2941.
Scheduled to open February 16.
Sunglasses on a dog? That’s crazy!Photo: RJ Mickelson/Veras for New York Magazine
