It’s hardly a secret that Americans pamper their pooches. Last year, Americans spent an estimated $109.6 billion on their pets in 2021, according to the American Pet Products Association (APPA). But a new restaurant in San Francisco is taking things to the next level.
Dogue is a fine-dining restaurant exclusively for canines. And like other haute cuisine establishments, it carries a high price tag.
Forget the kibble. The menu here includes hand-cut filet mignon tartare topped with a poached quail egg and savory beef liver flan set in an eggshell with a liver crisp and mirror glaze—and the food is farm-to-table. There’s a glass case filled with pastries (though these are made of things like wild venison heart instead of sugar), and patrons can grab a “dogguccino” in the afternoon. On Sundays, Dogue assumes its alternate identity—Bone Appetit Café—and charges $75 for a three-course tasting menu.
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Rahmi Massarweh, a trained chef, oversees the establishment. He tests new recipes on his pack of four dogs and works with a holistic veterinarian. Dogue started as a specialty store for dog food (which it still sells) before Massarweh took a risk on something more.
He knows there will be critics and eye-rolling, but says the point is to showcase the benefits of fresh food for dogs versus the processed alternatives so many of them eat.
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“Eating fresh food is the whole point, whether or not we dress it up and garnish it or plate it,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle. “For me and my wife, there’s nothing we wouldn’t do for our family, for our dogs. They give us so much. The most I can do is make them a meal that looks good.”