Food Therapy: Childhood Comfort Foods Gone Gourmet!

When the weather is gloomy, all I want is comfort foods.  So I was elated when I discovered these two lovely joints that serve gourmet versions of two of my favorite childhood comfort foods:  hotdogs and mac&cheese!! (Note: These are not restaurants but gourmet fast food joints.  I know, I know...that's an oxymoron.)

• Dogmatic:  I love a good hotdog and at Dogmatic, all the hotdogs (or should I say gourmet sausages) are fantastic.  You have a choice of beef, chicken, pork, turkey or lamb sausage (that you pair with a yummy sauce) for only $4.50.  What makes Dogmatic's hotdogs is really the bun-that-is-not-a-bun.  It's a slim french baguette that they heat from the inside out.  Now I am not one to pay $2.50 for a street vendor's mushy hotdog (that's just highway robbery) but I will pay $4.50 for Dogmatic's outstanding hotdog. 
• 26th East 17th St (b/w Union Square W & 5th Ave), New York, NY 10003 
• MacBar:  Oh mac&cheese...you use to come out of that little blue box.  Now you're all grown up at MacBar.  I love cheese and I love pasta; together, it's a perfect combination.  When I went to MacBar this past weekend, we couldn't just try one mac&cheese dish, we tried five dishes!  They were: The Classic (my favorite b/c you can't beat the original), Mac Stroganoff (very tasty), Mac Lobsta' (good but my least favorite), Mac 'Shroom (this is just plain addictive) and Mac Quack (if you like duck, this one is for you).  The medium sized dishes were generously portioned and cost $7.99 - $12.99.  The small sized dishes are enough for one and cost $5.99 - $8.99.

(Mac Stroganoff Medium)

(The Classic Small)

• 54 Prince St (b/w Lafayette & Mulberry St), New York, NY 10012