Crave.

I rarely go out. I rarely drink. Last night, I did both. Two watermelon-cucumber mojitos, 2 vodka-sodas, and one Labatt 50 later, and I am seriously jonesin' for a hot dog (of the vegetarian persuasion, of course). It happens every time: I tie one on (or two, or three) and I come down with a severe case of the hangries (hangry=hunger induced anger). The only cure: street meat.

 [photo c/o seriouseats.com]

 

[photo by Jen Chan, torontoist.com]

Last night, I was out at Augusta House, and decided to make the trek home on foot rather than shell out 3 bucks for a painfully slow streetcar ride. Trouble is, on my walk north through Kensington and then up Brunswick from College, there is not a single hot dog vendor in sight. Worse still, the Annex is completely devoid of them. It's not that my 'hood is lacking the customer base; the Brunny pumps out enough potential clients with some serious 2am munchies to keep any hot dog vendor busy. I know, because my dogs bark at their belligerence every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.

My back-up tipsy midnight snack is Kraft Dinner (mmmm, fake orange cheese...), and luckily there is no lack of 24-hour grocery spots in the area. I felt a little skeezy buying 2 boxes of KD Extra Creamy at 1:30am (by myself), but I'm sure the cashier sees more pathetic purchases than mine at that hour. 

[powdered cheese heaven at Bloor Superfresh]

Alex and I hit home around the same time (he was at a house party) and he seemed to think the KD idea was my most brilliant ever, and helped me devour every noodle. Have I mentioned that I love this man?

But back to hot dogs. Why are we Annex-ites deprived of them? I shouldn't have to resort to boxed pasta. And why is Toronto in general still lacking in diverse street food options, even though other-than-dog foods were been approved by city council almost a year ago? Why can't a girl get a falafel sandwich or a bowl of curry or a Korean taco on every corner at any hour? Where is the justice? It's a sin, really. Oh, I cannot wait for NYC!

 

[korean street tacos in LA, gourmet.com]

[street curry in Berlin, gourmet.com]