It was my wife’s birthday. We decided to have lunch at a new Chinese restaurant.

On our second night in Chicago, the wildfire smoke had started overtaking the city. The rich haze had turned everything pale orange and halos formed around the street lights. We headed out to Chinatown to eat some dumplings.

Hot dogs provide an ideal medium for expressing culinary creativity. Across the United States exist hundreds of unique recipes created and loved by local and regional consumers. Comedian and author Jaime Loftus goes on the search for the perfect hot dog in her latest book, Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs.

We rode the Chicago subway “L” out into the suburbs of northern Chicago to find the Loba Pastry Shop. We had gotten the recommendation at a wedding from a guy my wife met on the drink line. Lottie + Doof, who my wife follows on instagram.

Early versions of the modern hot dog first emerged on Coney Island and in Chicago about the same time. The two cities have had rival hot dogs ever since.