Chez Ray American Hot Dog

As a second installment of my hot dog series I have decided to dedicate this page to my good friend Ray Sewell. Ray passed away earlier this year from heart failure. My nickname for him is “Chez” after his restaurant called Chez Ray in Eugene, Oregon. Chez was a classically French/Swiss trained Chef for the Grateful Dead. Aside from working with the Grateful Dead he often hung around with the likes of Timothy Leary, Carlos Santana, Ken Keysy to name just a few. After he finished his gig with the Grateful Dead, Chez dedicated a good part of his life to feeding the homeless, the poor and people that were just down on their luck. It is safe to say that he fed tens of thousands of such people. He was also an incredibly talented Chef and I am grateful to have not only cooked beside him but to have had him in my life. Never a kinder or gentler man have I met. There is a more complete bio on Chez that you can access online at the dailyemerald.com. It is a bit outdated but you will get the idea.

If you would like to see how to create a Danish Hotdog, Click here.

The Jerry Garcia Hot Dog Connection

So you might wondering what the heck am I doing naming a hot dog after Chez? It’s actually a pretty funny story. Chez used to tell me some pretty harrowing stories about what it was like to take care of this band while they were in concert. His responsibility was to make sure that before every concert there was food prepared not only for the band but also all of their guests backstage. (And there were alot of guests!) Being classically trained in French/Swiss Cuisine you can only imagine all the different dishes that he had in his repertoire. So it was with some surprise when Jerry Garcia said to Chez that he loved all fancy dishes but… Could he make sure that there are ALWAYS hot dogs available on the table. Chez couldn’t stop laughing when he told me this part. The irony wasn’t lost on him that here they had some of the most amazing dishes being prepared for them but Mr. Garcia’s only request was he wanted “dogs”. And so it was. Every single concert from that moment on always had “dogs”. Now Chez being Chez couldn’t just leave it at that. He started producing all sorts of dogs. European, American, Beef, Pork, Chicken with regular buns, white buns, brioche, whole wheat, etc. That was just the base. Then he added toppings. Bacon, a multitude of cheeses, homemade relish, mustards and so on. He told me that after a while his biggest challenge was coming up with a new variation for Mr. Garcia’s beloved hot dogs. And although Chez was an incredibly talented Chef, one of my favourite stories from him is this one. So here it goes Chez, here is the hotdog you and I made together so many moons ago. It is not cluttered, as you and often spoke of the idea that sometimes the simplest things in life are the best. Chez, you might not be on this mortal coil any longer but you still makes me strive to be a better person everyday. Love you Brother, you are always in my heart.