Windsor Terrace joint off ers Chicago-style franks
BY BEN VERDE
It’s a taste of the Windy
City in Brooklyn!
A new takeout joint in
Windsor Terrace is offering
hard-to-fi nd Chicago-style hot
dogs with a side of nostalgia.
Dog Day Afternoon, from
restaurateurs Joe Boyle and
Jay Kerr, opened this week
to crowds of hungry Windsor
Terracites clamoring for one
of their toppings-loaded dogs.
“The reception was really
amazing,” Kerr said on August
3, one day after their initial
opening. “This was our
dream come true.”
Kerr and Boyle launched
their venture after years of
working together at restaurants
in Brooklyn including
Buttermilk Channel and
Kings County Imperial. Boyle,
a Chicagoland native, has
hosted Chicago-style hot dog
pop-ups at Brooklyn bars for
years.
“We decided, after having
worked together for so long,
‘why don’t we just do this for
ourselves?’” Kerr said.
The duo immediately decided
on the name Dog Day
Afternoon, inspired by the Al
DINING
Dog Day Afternoon, 266
Prospect Park West between
17th Street and Prospect Avenue
in Windsor Terrace, open
noon to 7 pm.
Pacino fi lm of the same name.
But only after months of
searching for a suitable storefront
COURIER L 28 IFE, AUGUST 6-12, 2021
would fate land them on
the exact block of Prospect
Park West between 17th Street
and Prospect Avenue where
the 1975 movie was fi lmed.
“Right when we were about
to give up, magically it plopped
down for us, there was this
spot right across the street
from where they fi lmed the
movie,” said Kerr. “Honestly,
it felt like it was a miracle.”
To make authentic Chicago
style hot dogs — piled
high with toppings including
pickles, tomatoes, sweet relish,
onion, sport peppers, and
celery salt on a poppy seed
bun — you need the right kind
of beef, Vienna Beef.
“Those in the know in the
hot dog lovers community,
they all know Vienna Beef is
where it’s at,” Kerr said.
Vienna Beef, prized for
the ‘snap’ effect caused by its
natural casing, is notoriously
hard to get a hold of in large
quantities outside of the Chicago
area, but the duo managed
to track down a supplier
out in New Jersey who had
the weenies but wouldn’t deliver
to Brooklyn. And so,
the frankfurter enthusiasts
became their own deliverymen,
packing thousands of
dollars worth of hot dogs into
their car, blasting the air conditioner,
and jetting back to
Jay Kerr and Joe Boyle at Dog Day Afternoon — and one of their
Chicago-style dogs. Photos by Ben Verde
Brooklyn with their beefy
bounty.
While offering a taste of
Chicago through their menu,
which includes classic Chicago
dogs, chili dogs, vegan
dogs, polish kielbasa and
milkshakes, the duo hoped
to create a sense of nostalgia
through the decoration of
their small storefront.
Their offerings are projected
on an old school backlit
menu, while the wall is
covered in photos of various
actors — including Pacino
in “Dog Day Afternoon,” of
course. The restaurant also
features an arcade-style video
game system and a rack of vinyl
records for sale.
“When I was a kid I would
have loved to have a place like
Dog Day Afternoon that just
felt magical,” Kerr said.
With their opening day
drawing a crowd from the
neighborhood, Kerr says
there’s one more milestone
they need to reach.
“If we can get Al Pacino
to come out and stand on that
corner eating one of our dogs,
we’ll both die happy,” he said.
BY BEN BRACHFELD
The lineup for the city’s
free Brooklyn homecoming
concert has been released,
with hometown rappers Big
Daddy Kane and Desiigner
headlining the jamboree a few
days before the fi nale concert
at Central Park featuring top
acts.
The Brooklyn concert will
take place on Thursday, Aug.
19 at the Brooklyn Army Terminal,
between 4 and 9:30
pm. The concert is the third
of four concerts in the “It’s
Time for Hip Hop in NYC” series
in each outer borough,
featuring predominantly hip
hop acts, most of which are
local. The four borough concerts
will lead up to the main
event at Central Park.
“You don’t want to miss
the local, legendary talent
performing throughout NYC
Homecoming Week,” Mayor
Bill de Blasio said in a statement.
“As we celebrate this
Summer of New York City,
we’re proud to partner with
Rocky Bucano and the Universal
Hip Hop Museum to
bring these momentous concerts
to our boroughs, free
of charge. And if you get a
ticket, you can go as long you
have proof of your fi rst dose
of an approved COVID vaccine.”
The borough concerts will
stream live on the Twitch
channel Behind the Rhyme.
Tickets will be made available
in “batches” starting on
Monday, Aug. 2 at 10 am at
nyc.gov/homecoming. More
batches will be released each
morning until Saturday, Aug.
7. Attendees must provide
proof of coronavirus vaccination
to attend.
The city is partnering with
the nonprofi t Thrive Collective
to create pop-up art installations
during the concerts,
produced by local artists.
The festivities are part of
NYC Homecoming Week, a
celebration of the city and its
resiliency as it begins to recover
from the devastation
of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other cultural events occurring
in the city in the same
week include free rooftop
movie screenings organized
by Rooftop Films, along with
activities for NYC Restaurant
Week.
The full lineup for the Aug.
19 concert in Brooklyn is as
follows:
• Big Daddy Kane
(Headliner)
• Desiigner (Headliner)
• C&C Music Factory
• DJ Mister Cee
• Elle Varner
• Judy Torres
• Lizzy Ashliegh
• Maino
• Obasi Jackson
• Papoose
• PopMaster Fabel
• Special Ed
• Stetsasonic
• Sweet Sensation
• Young Devyn
Gone to the dogs!
Lineup announced for free concert
BROOKLYN
Comeback kids
Big Daddy Kane (left) and DJ Mister Cee (right) are among the acts scheduled
to perform at the Aug. 19 “homecoming concert” at the Brooklyn
Army Terminal. Wikimedia Commons
/homecoming
