Tampa Bay Rays' new gourmet Mac Dog brings some heat (w/video)

The Tampa Bay Rays might lament attendance numbers but they should have no complaints about the hot dogs. As they head into a new season they will probably sell about 400,000 of them. Among them will be a gourmet newcomer, the Mac Dog, and it might just be the leader of the hot dog pack.

It's the creation of executive chef Marc Spooner, 40, who won an episode of Chopped, the popular Food Network show that pits chefs in a timed competition. Since coming to Tropicana Field, he has made it his mission to elevate ballpark cuisine. This latest menu offering might sound excessive but in execution it's pretty great.

Rays pitcher Matt Moore said he wasn't expecting to like it as much as he did.

"It was unusually good," he said. "Maybe the best hot dog I have ever had."

For this hot dog edition of Food Fight we asked Spooner about his personal favorites on a hot dog and what made the Mac Dog take us out to the ball game.

The Mac Dog: It's not just a footlong dog, it's a half-pound Kayem hot dog, versus the typical 5.3-ounce footlong dog. Homemade mac and cheese has more cream and butter than you want to know about, but Spooner is smart to use it sparingly as a garnish instead of smothering the hot dog in it. He adds a sprinkling of deep-fried onion strings and pickled red jalapenos, all nestled in a soft hoagie-type bun made by St. Armands Bakery in Sarasota. The Mac Dog is available only at the Everglades Brewhouse restaurant on the first floor of the Trop, where you will likely need a knife and fork, and some help, to finish it.

Personal hot dog: If Spooner is making a hot dog for himself, it's all about practicality and nostalgia. He boils it because that's what his mom in Lakeland did. He wants a soft steamed potato roll. He likes mustard and sauerkraut, and usually some heat like pickled jalapenos or Korean kimchi. But all of this goes on the bottom of the bun with a naked hot dog on top. This is the practicality. "When you take a bite, you want a dog, bread, mustard and toppings all in one bite." As a chef of course he would dress it prettier. But for his own pleasure, he builds it for multiple mouth-party impact.

In 2009, Spooner was featured on an episode of Chopped, where he was awarded first place for his preparation of Thai-inspired beef salad with chipotle pumpkin puree, curry-dredged flounder with mini watermelons, baby bok choy and plantains, and a judge's favorite dessert of pickled watermelon rinds inspired by a recipe his father made when he was a child.

A Florida native, with a career that began more than 18 years ago, Spooner worked at leading New York and Boston catering firms, restaurants and country clubs before the Rays concession partner, Centerplate, named him executive chef.