Troquet on South says “est. 1975. reborn 2020” and has a website for the Boston Speed Dog, including t-shirts for sale and the hot dog available.
Be still, my heating heart. Has anyone tried it?
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Looks like since last summer.
BOSTON MA. – JUNE 9: Chris Campbell of Troquet on South, who has recently acquired some memorabilia from the legendary Speed Dog on June 9, 2020 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
By OLIVIA VANNI | Boston Herald
PUBLISHED: June 9, 2020 at 7:55 p.m. | UPDATED: June 10, 2020 at 7:29 a.m.
While we’ve had to bid adieu to a number of local restaurants since the start of the pandemic, a few former Boston food favorites are actually being resurrected amidst the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
Just look at Chris Campbell, owner of Troquet on South, who’s bringing the iconic Speed’s Hot Dogs, a cart that used to be parked out in Newmarket Square, back to life. He inherited the recipe for these bunned blasts and will be offering them out of his French bistro.
“I’ve always loved the whole brand and it just brings up fond memories,” Campbell said. “I just thought it would be great to keep it alive and keep it in other people’s memories. I would have hated to see it kind of disappear and never come back again.”
Campbell was close to the cart’s founder, Ezra “Speed” Anderson, before the now-late street vendor retired in the ‘90s, and bonded with him over their shared Detroit roots. Speed passed away in 2015 and some months ago, his widow reached out to Campbell to see if he’d be interested in bringing the beloved sandwich back to our city.
“I had spoken to Mrs. Anderson about maybe doing it for lunch one day a week in the bar area, almost like a popup at the restaurant,” Campbell said. “Now, with all of these changing times, I’m thinking it might be what people are looking for more often than one day a week.”
“We’ll offer it in the bar at lunchtime, but if people want it in the dining room, they can have it in the dining room,” he added. “I think people are going that more casual route now, and we’re now going to accommodate everyone and give them what they want.”
Campbell will be following Speed’s original formula, which involves half-pound Pearl franks, grilled buns, special sauce, onions, mustard, relish and that bean-free, all-meat chili typical of Detroit. And for nostalgia’s sake, Campbell will be adding an extra touch.
“Usually when I would go, I would sit down and share one with my father and always take a second one to go,” Campbell said. “Speed would wrap it in parchment paper and after like a half-hour in the parchment paper, the flavors would meld together more and it was almost better.”
“I’m contemplating doing that here, having every order go out in parchment paper and let people unwrap them themselves,” he added.
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How lovely is that.
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I haven’t yet but I stumbled over that same info last week and am dying to try it.
