Hot Dogs

When Chad Vandegrift was a teenager living in Anne Arundel County, he used to make hurried trips to Orioles games. He would show up minutes before game time, buy bleacher seats at Memorial Stadium and eat hot dogs. Now some two decades later, he routinely goes to Camden Yards. He arrives early in the morning, sometimes before dawn. He doesn't see much baseball, but he eats a lot better. Vandegrift, 36, is the new executive chef of Camden Yards, overseeing a staff of some 40 cooks who prepare ballpark fare: everything from the Guinness-flavored flank steak to the Maryland crab soup.

The good news for Baltimore chef Jill Snyder was that she had much more screen time on Episode 2 of this season's Top Chef. The bad news was that she was eliminated. The judges found fault with not only her ostrich-egg quiche (looked like "dog food," tasted like "glue"), but her half-hearted defense at the judges' table, too. An earlier Quickfire Challenge involving hot dogs didn't go so well for her either, when she appeared to take an easy way out with the assignment by not "making" her own hot dog. Snyder's next step is uncertain - she has left Red Maple, where she was executive chef.

Do not be fooled by his diminutive size, slobbering devotion to smoked sausage or the dainty sweaters he wears in winter. Papageorgio "Poppy" Bidle-Booth is a serious athlete. Today, with two regional victories under his, uh, collar, the 2-year-old Bay Ridge canine will attempt to blow away the competition today at the Petco Unleashed National Chihuahua Races in San Diego. But for Poppy, it's not about winning. "He doesn't even know he races," said Rob Booth, 33, who owns the dog with his girlfriend, Brande Bidle, 30. Rather what speeds the sand-colored pup along the 35-foot course is the sight of Bidle by the finish line and the tempting aroma wafting from the plate of smoked sausage she carries.

CHICAGO -- Perhaps it's not fair, given all the temptation on the beat from deep-dish pizza and Chicago-style hot dogs (that's with pickles and tomatoes) and with vast parts of the city smelling of chocolate thanks to a downtown candy factory. But the skinny on the officers of the Police Department here, at least according to the new police superintendent, is that some have, let's say, fitness issues. The superintendent, Jody P. Weis, a former FBI agent, came in last month as a reformer vowing to clean up the nation's second-largest police force, and he has already diversified the ranks and bolstered community relations.

This column explores a highly entertaining subject: the difference between choking and coughing. Sometimes in Janet's World we must take the unlikely, potentially controversial subject and pursue it purely for the sake of The Sun copy editors downtown. These former English majors have to read a lot of stories about depressing news events, and painstakingly check them for accuracy and integrity. Late in the week, the Janet's World column comes across their desks, and all of their training goes out the window.

At virtually every hall of justice in Maryland, there seems to be a hot dog cart. Several explanations come to mind. Hot dogs, like our courts, are "of the people." Both the courts and hot dog stands draw a lot of traffic. Finally, reporters who cover the courts tell me that whenever an officer of the law makes a court appearance, it is customary for him or her to stop at a hot dog cart for fuel. Baltimore City Circuit Court Address --100 N. Calvert St. Hours --11 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays Two sidewalk carts are set up on both sides of the 100 block of N. Calvert, near the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse.

The dwindling days of summer don't always lend themselves to culinary ambition: It's hot and I'm lazy. So, taking a cue from the nickname, I make the hot dog my supper of choice. When there's a baseball game scheduled the evening of my culinary dog day, all the better. Even when you dress up the pup with a zesty slaw and assorted accouterments, this supper is speedier than a fastball. Because the franks are precooked, the microwave heats up the entree in about a minute. Before you know it, it's time to step outside, turn on the radio and enjoy supper.

It's like holding the Masters without Tiger Woods. The annual Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest will go on July 4 at New York's Coney Island, but Takeru Kobayashi won't be there. The competitive eating superstar is out with an injury. And, no, the injury has nothing to do with an ulcer. Kobayashi has an arthritic jaw. On his Web site, Kobayashi said: "My jaw refused to fight anymore." He can't open his mouth more than the width of a fingertip. "I feel ashamed that I couldn't notice the alarm bells set off by my own body," he said.

When baseballs fly, hot dogs will be eaten. This seems to me to be a basic fact of Baltimore life. I don't devour many hot dogs at home, but as soon as I enter a baseball stadium and see the players on the greensward cavorting in what former player and manager Alvin Dark called "God's own sunshine," I get a craving for a red hot. Normally, one dog will do. Yet recently, I took stock of this year's offerings by eating a total of 12 hot dogs during three...

Louis George Giatras, known to Cumberland residents as "Big Lou" and as proprietor of the landmark downtown restaurant, Curtis' and Coney Island Famous Weiners, died of an aneurism Tuesday at the Beverly Living Center in Cumberland. He was 80. Mr. Giatras was born in Cumberland, the son of immigrant parents from Sparta, Greece. His father, George Giatras, was a candy maker who launched a small conglomerate of downtown shops: George's Confectionary, then the Maryland Nut Shop, and finally Curtis' Confectionary.