When the Original Hot Dog Shop closed its doors for good two weekends ago, it did so quietly and with plenty of goodwill.
The iconic landmark, at the corner of South Bouquet Street and Forbes Avenue on the University of Pittsburgh campus in Oakland, gave away tons and tons of potatoes to charity groups for free. That led to a trickle-down of generosity and a sharing of kindness.
My neighbor Deneen Loughran had sent a group text telling two other neighbors and me to help ourselves to the box of potatoes on her front porch, noting that they were from The O.
She had received a generous number of ginormous Idaho Russets from her friend Karen Fischetti, who runs the Vintage Market at The Blessing Board, a nonprofit in Oakmont that helps the needy.
Ms. Fischetti in turn got the potatoes when Douglas Rehberg, pastor at Hebron United Presbyterian Church in Penn Hills, approached The Blessing Board to help with delivering 35,000 pounds of potatoes as the group had two trucks that were not being used. The vegetables had to be picked up at the restaurant and dropped off at ministries and food banks and to military families in the region such as Light of Life Ministries, Urban Impact Foundation and 911th Airlift Wing.
After Ms. Fischetti and her husband, John, delivered the potatoes to several locations, she had about 100 pounds left. “So we dropped them off to our friends who we have not seen in a long time saying ‘We are thinking about you’,” she said. “It was one of the best days we had because it was rewarding.”
The restaurant had purchased a full tractor-trailer of potatoes just a week before COVID-19 shut down businesses in mid-March, Mr. Rehberg said, and so did not have an immediate need for them. Co-owner Bruce Simon is a regular at Hebron United and a good friend of Mr. Rehberg, and so they mobilized a plan. With the help from Pitt students, 50-pound boxes of potatoes were loaded into the trucks and distributed in different batches — the first one was in the beginning of April and given to the members of the congregation.
“Bruce didn’t give the potatoes away simply because they will go bad. He did it because he saw that people are in need and wanted to do it for the glory of God,” Mr. Rehberg said. “God blessed him and he wanted to be a blessing to others.”
Mr. Rehberg said he didn’t know why the restaurant closed but thinks COVID-19 was a catalyst.
Brothers Sydney and Morris Simon opened Original Hot Dog in 1960. When Morris took over the business in 2000, he renamed it Essie’s Original Hot Dog Shop. The ownership then changed hands to Sydney’s children, Bruce and his sister, Terry Campasano. But all along, the restaurant was affectionately known as The O, and sometimes, The Dirty O.
“The O really made Pitt home,” said Ms. Loughran, who earned her bachelor’s degree at the university in the early 1970s. “I spent many a day and many a dollar there.”
After every Pitt football game she would go to The O to get a hot dog and the fries. “There would always be a line to get in,” she recalled.
She didn’t reserve her visits, however, just for game days. “I went there between classes all the time and sometimes I would go there instead of going to a class,” she said, laughing. So when she heard that the place had closed, “it felt like the passing of an old friend.”
“I cannot tell you how much those fries will be missed,” she said. “It was affordable and I have never tasted french fries that good — ever.”
The fries, which were served with ketchup, beef gravy or cheese, hold a special spot for Mr. Rehberg and Ms. Fischetti, too.
The pastor, who has lived in Boston, Miami and Washington, D.C., said they were the best fries he has had anywhere.
“They came in three sizes. The small was large, the medium was huge and the large was astronomical,” he said. “They came in paper baskets and when you put them on a tray, they will fall off the tray.”
He recalled what Bruce’s father, Sydney would say: “More fries fall off our trays than what most people will serve.”
Ms. Fischetti concurred about the portion size. “It was the biggest serving of fries you can imagine. You could feed a small family with it,” Ms. Fischetti said. “They were outstanding and absolutely delicious.”
The O’s fries were made with fresh Idaho Russets, which were peeled, cut into thick sticks and dunked into peanut oil not once but twice to get that crisp exterior and soft interior.
When I went over to Ms. Loughran’s porch and took five Russets, I felt like I was holding a part of The O in my hands. A pressure started building up in me to do proper justice to them, especially because I had never been to the restaurant or had its fries. There was only one way to come to peace with that — I had to make the best french fries with those potatoes.
I’m talking about the kind that is hand-cut into ¼-inch thick slice, allowed to rest in a bowl of cold water to get rid of the excess starch, twice-fried in peanut oil so it is crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, gold-ish with the right amount of sprinkling of salt.
When I was done with making the fries, I gave most of them to Ms. Loughran, partly as a way to thank her for the potatoes and partly to continue the goodwill started by The O.
Arthi Subramaniam: asubramaniam@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1494.
Twice-Fried French Fries
PG tested
Make sure to pat the fries dry before cooking them as this way they will not end up being too greasy. Also, to get a soft chewy inside, don’t cook the fries for too long when dunking them in the lower-temperature oil the first time.
5 extra-large Idaho Russets
2 tablespoons white vinegar
Peanut oil for frying
Coarse salt for sprinkling
Wash the potatoes under cold water. Add vinegar to a bowl of cold water and stir well.
Peel and then cut potatoes into ¼-inch thick slices and add them to the bowl of water as you go. Let them soak in the water at least for 30 minutes to get rid of the excess starch and prevent them from turning color.
Wash the fries in several batches of cold water and pat them dry with a paper towel and spread them on on a baking tray lined with paper towels.
Add enough peanut oil into a heavy large pot to reach a depth of 4 inches. Bring the temperature of the oil to 325 degrees. Working in batches, fry the potato sticks, for 4 minutes, turning frequently, until they are limp and pale blond.
Transfer them to another baking sheet lined with paper towels.
Increase the heat of the oil to 375 degrees.
Working again in batches, recook the fried potatoes for 4 to 5 minutes, turning frequently, until they are golden in color.
Drain fries on clean paper towels. Sprinkle with coarse salt, toss and immediately serve.
Makes 3 generous O-style servings.
— Arthi Subramaniam
First Published: April 29, 2020, 11:15 a.m.
Updated: April 29, 2020, 11:28 a.m.
