Recession cuisine brings celebs deeper down food chain

The month’s big red carpet event is the opening of a hot dog stand on the Strip

Leila Navidi

Celebrity famous person Kim Kardashian poses for photos with fans during the red carpet event for the opening Friday of Pink’s Hot Dogs at Planet Hollywood. Other D-listers at the (media) event were Holly Madison and Mel B, current and past stars of the venue’s “Peepshow.”

By Brendan Buhler (contact)

Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Pink's opening

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Celebrity Sightings

Holly Madison, Kim Kardashian and Mel B. relish opening new Pink's (9-19-2009)
Pink's Hot Dogs opening in Las Vegas (6-12-2009)

Pink's Hot Dogs

The celebrities strolled the red carpet, the cameras flashed, television reporters waited with their microphones and the crowd shrieked, holding cell phone cameras aloft and straining against the barrier.

And thus a hot dog stand opened on the Las Vegas Strip.

Oh, how the glamorous have fallen.

Three years ago, even only two years ago, it seemed you couldn’t throw a $300 bottle of table service vodka on the Strip without hitting some castaway from Planet Fame. (Alas, no one tried.)

It seemed every week in Las Vegas had its own semi-star-studded opening. At the top, there were genuinely A-list famous people opening festivals, award shows and new casinos. Mixed in with the A’s and often opening restaurants, you had people from the B list. Below even them were the C and D listers, the parasites of the celebrity food chain, hosting at night clubs and, more amazingly, getting paid to do so. So it’s a measure of how bad things have gotten that it looks like the big opening this September is a hot dog stand at Planet Hollywood. True, it’s the first franchise of L.A.’s beloved Pink’s, where the dog menu starts at $4.50 and tops out at $8.50. (They’re cheaper in L.A.)

So what does glamour look like in our autumn of diminished expectations?

Friday night it was personified by Kim Kardashian, Mel B and our own local fame limpet, Holly Madison. What can you say when a former Spice Girl stands out as the accomplished one?

Well, if you were in the crowd of maybe a 100 or so people outside, on spotting a head of blond hair emerging onto the far end of the red carpet, you might shout, “There she is! Holly!”

The hair belonged to local drag queen Frank Marino, who is, among other things, taller than Madison.

The real Madison lived up to her reputation as game and eager to please, even finding time for a startlingly intense woman who wanted to give Madison a badly printed and creased picture of herself with Madison.

Scott Harrison/Special to the Sun

Holly Madison and Kim Kardashian were on hand to help open up Pink's Hot Dogs Friday night at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.

Then there was Kardashian, who is famous for reasons that have never been adequately explained. She looks like a magazine cover, most eerily in the gaze of queenly love she bestows on every camera. Those looks are extremely rare in photo shoots, in which subjects are usually giggling or looking gassy. To see someone wear that countenance as her permanent expression is to realize that while most people spend their 20s becoming ever more aware of other people, slowly realizing that they are not the star of “Life: The Movie,” a very few people learn something different. Walking, smiling, eating a hot dog — all of these are activities that you can receive love for. You don’t even have to do anything special or extraordinary.

Otherwise, why would all these people have their cameras out?

Kardashian’s handlers had to pull her away from the crowd.

At the other end of the scale were the owners of the original Pink’s, all of whom walked the red carpet and then came back out to gawk and take pictures of other people walking the red carpet.

But before we lament our lost days of red carpet glory, maybe it’s worth asking what we got out of those nights of (often rented) celebrity. Mostly, we got a lot of nightclubs we couldn’t afford to drink in.

At the end of this carpet, there will be really good hot dogs.

Discussion: 26 comments so far…

By souper12

9/22/09 at 4:15 a.m.

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And now with the many nightclubs we can't afford to drnk at. Let's add a HOT DOG JOINT we can't afford to eat at. I know unemployed people who would be able to feed a family of 4 with the money it costs for 1 dog! When will there be a time that will put limits on what someone can charge for a product?I hope the city will initiate a special tax and charge the vendor a $3.00 special city tax on each dog and dedicate the proceeds to feeding the poor! This is the land of opportunity, But there must be limits set to keep people from overcharging people with a profit margin of 800 percent!
By realist1

9/22/09 at 4:44 a.m.

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As usual, here comes the person who thinks we should limit how much individuals can make. Hey, how about this, don't buy an F'n hot dog! Or get off your butt and try to do something yourself that may allow you to earn enough to buy a hot dog! Well, be happy about this, soon the people who own the hot dog stand will be paying for your healthcare.
By iceguy

9/22/09 at 5:52 a.m.

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can't wait to try one...this place is an institution. Maybe it isn't worth it, I can't wait to find out.
By revtomperl

9/22/09 at 6:23 a.m.

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There is a great hot dog cart in front of Dino's at Oakey and Las Vegas Blvd which serves hot dogs they way they were intended - on the street with the folks near a vintage drinking establishment for all the people!
By wdevine

9/22/09 at 6:40 a.m.

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To souper12:
Wait - so you are advocating that we artificially restrict the maximum price that a private party can charge another private party for an optional product that is purchased based on a consumers free will? So, should we also restrict the maximum price for sodas, Cirque shows, hotel rooms, and alcohol on the Strip, or elsewhere for that matter?

Even if it costs $50 for a hot dog, if someone wants to buy it, let them buy it. If you don't like it, don't buy it. If you're jealous that you're not selling hot dogs for that much, then open a competitor, grow your business to that level where people will pay $X for a hot-dog, and start your own stand on the Strip.

Until then, I think you should probably let that real world concept of allowing the demand for an optional product purchased by a willing and able consumer determine what its price should be.
By artswanson

9/22/09 at 7:27 a.m.

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Jesus H Christ, go to Costco for $1.50 the best hot dog deal in Town!
By atdleft

9/22/09 at 7:31 a.m.

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I know I'm the resident "socialist" [hehe ;-) ] here, but today I'll throw the usual suspects a bone and agree with them on this. It's jest the nature of the market place. If there's a market for $8 hot dogs, then someone will ultimately fill it.

And maybe next time I'm down at The Strip, I might check out Pink's. Their LA location is legendary. If the new Strip location is as good as the original, then we're all in for quite the treat!
By spyder515

9/22/09 at 7:45 a.m.

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"And now with the many nightclubs we can't afford to drnk at. Let's add a HOT DOG JOINT we can't afford to eat at. I know unemployed people who would be able to feed a family of 4 with the money it costs for 1 dog! When will there be a time that will put limits on what someone can charge for a product?I hope the city will initiate a special tax and charge the vendor a $3.00 special city tax on each dog and dedicate the proceeds to feeding the poor! This is the land of opportunity, But there must be limits set to keep people from overcharging people with a profit margin of 800 percent!"

Most moronic comment I have ever read.
By stevem

9/22/09 at 7:55 a.m.

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that photo shows everything that is wrong with our country.

a bunch of morons tripping over each other to get a photo with a no talent "celebrity".

yuck.

i can smell the skank on that girl through the computer.
By vegasm

9/22/09 at 8:18 a.m.

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Quote: "True, it's the first franchise of L.A.'s beloved Pink's, where the dog menu starts at $4.50 and tops out at $8.50. (They're cheaper in L.A.)"

They're cheaper in L.A.

And we wonder why Vegas is loosing visitors and conventions.

That one singular observation sums it all up.

While there's one born every minute, and you never give one an even break, at some point even they have to say 'enough'. Maybe an $8.50 hot dog will be the turning point...

EVERYTHING in Vegas is cheaper somewhere else. Including convention facilities, hotel rooms, food, taxis, hookers, strip clubs etc.
By Vulcan

9/22/09 at 8:35 a.m.

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There's a shocker, an over priced food joint on the strip. Just another reason for locals to stay FAR away from the strip. I would suggest the next time you are in L.A. to hit it up if you have the time, but its not worth spending an extra $3-$4 more per item.
By davidwayneosedach

9/22/09 at 8:55 a.m.

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What's next? Taco stands?
By LV4LIFE

9/22/09 at 9:17 a.m.

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I finally went to the Burger Bar at the Mandalay Bay. I have watched chef Hubert Keller make burgers on tv and I am a big fan. Unfortunatly I was profoundly disappointed. I ordered the turkey burger as I do not eat red meat, the bun was a sad little thing with this dry patty of (free range) turkey. One wilted leaf of lettuce a thin slice of red onion, I think there was a tomato, (I can't remember) and about 15 french fries. If you have seen Kellers show you know that when he makes a burger at the Burger Bar it's almost a work of art. This however was an oil painting done on black velvet. Cost of the meal with 2 iced teas (I was with a friend that wasn't eating) $20 bucks + $5 tip. I could have had a turkey burger and fries at Fatburger which would have been a whole lot tastier and cheaper. Oh well, thats what I get for breaking my "never eat on the strip" rule.
By spike357

9/22/09 at 9:48 a.m.

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Have any of you sour pusses ever eaten a
Pink's Hot Dog? I thought not. the 8.50 dog is huge and covered with so much stuff that it will feed two people. It's also darn good. Pink's is a landmark in LA for good reason, and now we have one too. I, for one, am really happy about this.
By mslv

9/22/09 at 10:40 a.m.

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Right on Stevem! The only thing those skanks should be opening is a hot dog stand!
Just shows these losers have no talent and will do anything to have their photo taken.
By Nevada_Ned

9/22/09 at 1:29 p.m.

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Some people are just famous for being famous. They have never really done anything, they're just famous, that's all. A generation or two it was Zsa-Zsa Gabor. Now it's Kim Kardashian. Eventually she will end up on The Hollywood Squares, or as a judge on American Idol.
By gold1020

9/22/09 at 2:52 p.m.

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There's really nothing more glamorous than standing around eating a hot dog.
By LV4LIFE

9/22/09 at 3:11 p.m.

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Some people will go to the opening of a paper bag.
By Txtea

9/22/09 at 3:56 p.m.

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V4LIFE I love it.
By ScottsdaleSun13

9/23/09 at 7:41 a.m.

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Most of you wouldn't eat hot dogs if you realized what was in them. Some of you still would, epitomizing American culture: ignorant, and literally full of it.
By cactusdan

9/23/09 at 9:04 a.m.

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Nothing phallic about it. If Holly Madison was there, it must have been worth it. I usually opt for a kosher dog, thinking it somehow has been blessed by a rabbi, which makes the carcinogens less potent. It's a health issue to me. The day hot dogs come with a warning, is a day that government regulators are finally getting it. Forget about immigration, health care and the war in Afghanistan (are we winning yet?) The issue facing America today is obesity, and do they really have chili dogs to die for?
Pinks? sounds like a hot date to me. Okay baby, wear something black tonight,I am going to cash my unemployment check and after we eat a few hot dogs with that sexy yellow mustard, might get you in the mood for some late night action, or passing gas, whichever comes first.
By sheckyvegas

9/23/09 at 1:54 p.m.

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Ah'm openin' a stand fer mah speshully boiled IRRADIATED TERMATERS! Now, ev'rybody line up! An' send me one o' dem two buck hores...
By edandersonvt

9/23/09 at 5:57 p.m.

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Sounds great to me. One of the reasons we come back to Vegas every year is to have fun. That means Shows, Casinos and a great choice of some of the best food in the world and that now includes Hot Dogs. Can't wait to try it on our next trip from Vermont.
By skerlahdee

9/23/09 at 6:43 p.m.

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The red carpet theme is over if it's being done to open a hot dog stand.

Time for a new gimmick.