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This Issue 10/05/2006

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• Dirty Girl Scout

He's quite a presence, and not solely because the giant logo looming above the entrance bears his name. Mr. "Y" Butz, a.k.a. "Boots," is very "gruff Israeli-Godfather" meets "eager entrepreneurial gourmand." Appropriately, he's also the namesake of Bootsie's, Center City's newest upscale hot-dog stand.

During a post-lunch Saturday afternoon lull, Butz joins my foodie friend and me in Bootsie's open and efficient yellow and green splashed cafeteria to both discuss and showcase his all-natural, by-product-and-filler-free "fast food."

After a bit of small-talk about his six-week old establishment, Butz challenges us to order from the giant billboard menu showcasing a butcher's bounty: four hamburger meats, seven types of sausages, three types of hot dogs, and one Portobello vegetarian option. Resentful of the way my interest in the chicken apple sausage ($5.75) is dismissed as typically female, I scour the board for something completely unexpected.

I suppress my love of carnival fare and bypass the corn dog ($4.95), and the 10:30 a.m. cut-off makes the organic egg breakfast sandwich ($4.95) an impossibility. Am I feeling sweet or saucy? Traditional or experimental?

Any semblance of choice, however, is eliminated when an excitedly impatient Butz announces that we will, in fact, have things "his way." He accedes to the buffalo burger ($8.95) that my companion selected, which was a hard win in the face of both ostrich and Kobe beef burgers ($10.95 each). Butz further insists the only way to eat a burger is "medium." Yet have no fear: Bootsie's has a technique to drain all of that excess blood that normally accompanies seared pink flesh. (Graphic? Yes. True? Very.) And, according to the boss, I'm having the Andouille ($5.75), that spicy Cajun sausage of the south.

With regards to the 16 gourmet topping accompaniments ($.95), Butz is again in charge. Butz's half-smiling, half-sneering proclamation, "We don't do goop," underlies the restaurant's commitment to preservative-free ingredients - and the freshness and quality of the concoctions prove it.

The homemade guacamole is whipped creamy and smooth, and the "Hot Dog Lover's" has a subtle pepper taste amidst an unassuming tomato base. Special sweet highlights include the strawberry pecan, a crunchy-sweet chutney and the "Hawaiian" sauce, an ambitious blend of mango, strawberry and apple that is both fun and flavorful.

The burger arrives lean and juicy and is cradled by a soft and hearty dark whole wheat bun - half covered in a simple, straightforward tomato bruschetta and half in a zesty herb-tinged yellow pepper, rosemary and cilantro dressing which amplifies the meat's flavor.