Review: Dot’s Delicatessen is my new favorite deli

For the past four years or so, I’ve called myself a “happy meat” eater. Whenever possible, I try to eat local, sustainably-raised meats — meats that I hope came from a happy animal. It’s an eating ethic that I’ve become pretty fond of.

There are a number of times when I bend my own rules, because rules, of course, are meant to be broken. Eating dinner at other people’s homes or trying foods while traveling are my top two reasons for throwing out the rule book.

That said, it’s always nice when I find a place that thinks like I do, and my most recent darling is Dot’s Delicatessen in Fremont, a neighborhood eatery that makes their own sausages, smokes their own bacon and sells locally farmed meats. Hallelujah, these people speak my language.

I’m in the middle of a big move, and my kitchen is packed in unnamed boxes (oh, hindsight). So, I poked my nose in Dot’s on a whim and found a deli that offers the old-timey tradition of sandwiches, hot dogs and beer with the elegance of steak frites with bernais and house-made pâtés.

Dinner, courtesy of Dot’s, was a simple affair, but just unbeatable: smoked Mexican-style chorizo, crusty baguettes, bright green Napa Valley olive oil and a cup of tea.

And no, there’s not a photo of dinner because the only plate I’ve unpacked is a lime green hand-me-down with a polka-dotted butterfly on it and a mug covered in hearts. You’d think this blog was written by a My Little Pony fanatic. Which it’s not. Pinky swear.