In the Nick of Time

Well how could I not at least pass by? In Fall River for Mothers Day, I went out for a walk, headed straight for downtown...I pressed my nose against the screen door and pulled a long, deep draught of -- boiled dogs and steamed buns. A distinctive signature, no doubt about it...familiar, vaguely appealing and finally, utterly repulsive. It smelled like fat laden water. I am here to say that the fragrances wafting my way were not coalescing. Or maybe they were...Let us note: the menu has grown. Chourico and chips are available now, Fish 'n Chips too.... "Buy five, get one free," says the sign. A young clerk anxious for me to come in and give her something to do watched me snif the doorway...

Charles Conniry, the highly articulate son-in-law of current Nick's owner, Fred Beaudry has taken Nick's Coney Island Dog's to a higher level. History, culture, flavor, food science and America's favorite tube shaped ballpark meat are now the stuff of legend. Nick's has left the realm of oral history (so to speak) and entered the national conversation. Six packets of sauce: twenty-one bucks. How Nick's came to be known as "Dirty Nick's: priceless.

Everybody thought food in Fall River was about Emerill and Chef Machado and Marzilli's and the cooking school and Billy's Cafe, which I want to remind everyone is owned by my cousin, but it is so very much more.