Wieners on Vine. That’s what one of my good friends likes to call Senate, but talk about an oversimplification. When Senate opened in 2010, the very idea of gourmet hot dogs, not to mention locating a restaurant on Vine Street in Over the Rhine, seemed preposterous. Almost six years later, Chef Daniel Wright’s flagship restaurant (the others are Abigail Street, Pontiac and the forthcoming Blue Ash location of Senate) has received not only local, but national acclaim, setting the bar very high for the Over the Rhine food scene and all of the restaurants that have since followed in the footsteps of Senate.

Senate of course has a great bar, with not only a fine selection of wines and local beers, as well as incredible craft cocktails, but I don’t feel like I am missing out if I don’t have a drink when I go to Senate. The food is so much different than not only anyplace else in Cincinnati, but also any restaurant I have ever dined at, period.

There are other items on the menu, but the real reason to eat at Senate is the hot dogs. They all have catchy names like The Trailer Trash, The Una Noche con Nick Lachey and my personal favorite, The Lindsay Lohan, an all beef dog with goat cheese, caramelized onions, bacon, arugula, and balsamic vinegar. Just listing the ingredients doesn’t really do it justice, but the Lindsay Lohan is a great combo of meaty, cheesy and salty goodness with the sweetness of the caramelized onions and the tang of the balsamic thrown in for good measure. All of the dogs are served on a small cutting board with a fork and knife and there is no way to accomplish eating them without the utensils (unless you have giant hands and are wearing a big-boy bib.) But before you get to your hot dog of choice, no meal at Senate would be complete without an order of poutine. Perhaps I have waxed poetic about Senate’s poutine before, comparing it to dishes at Incline Public House, Pontiac and Tela, but Senate is the original as far as Cincinnati is concerned. French fries topped with cheese curds, braised shortrib and brown gravy is a variation on a common French Canadian dish, served even at McDonald’s in Canada. While I will admit that at first poutine did not sound like an appealing combination of ingredients, it won me over immediately. If you do try it and inexplicably it is not your thing, try the truffle fries or the duck fat fries. If you are lucky enough to eat at Senate on Friday, go for the delicious bacon fat fries (served only on the ubiquitous Bacon Fat Fridays.)

If you have saved even one square millimeter in your tummy, the Warm Pretzel Beignets with Caramel Mascarpone are heavenly. Salty and sweet is my dessert of choice and these particular beignets hit the spot. For the uninitiated, in the United States beignets are a common deep fried French Creole pastry, often served with bananas and powdered sugar, akin in some respects to a doughnut. But better. Way better.

Senate is closed on Sunday and Monday, so make your plans to devour some poutine on any day Tuesday through Saturday. The service is always great, so feel free to set your expectations high. Prep yourself for a wait as well, but 1215 Wine Bar & Coffee Lab is right across the street to keep you occupied in the mean time.