As a restaurant consultant, John Scheible has made a career out of opening up new restaurants. To date, Scheible has helped launch 56 restaurants, most in the Washington-metropolitan area. Joe Eiginger, on the other hand, made his career, like many in the Dulles Corridor, in the IT business. Until late last month, Eiginger had never opened a restaurant. Now, both men are two of the area's newest restaurateurs and culinary neighbors in an increasingly revitalized downtown Herndon.
On Oct. 28, Eiginger, with help from his long-time friend Jim Klenk, opened "Joe's Dog House," across from the Old Town Hall on Lynn Street. With all the chili, kraut and cole slaw a true hot dog aficionado could ever want, Eiginger, an Ohio native, says he is trying to bring the Coney Island-style dogs to Herndon. "When I looked around the area," the 46-year-old first time restaurant owner said, "I couldn't find a good decent hot dog anywhere. So here we are and here I am."
Eiginger signed the lease for the old Millennium Bank property in April, and in September, the bank was gone and the new owner began renovating. "I had always wanted to open a restaurant," Eiginger said. "I just never dreamed it would be selling hot dogs."
Joe's will have an official grand opening celebration on Saturday Dec. 7 at 10 a.m. with "dollar dogs" served all day.
<b>THE ROADS THAT</b> led them to their respective restaurants are as different as the food each establishment serves. Eiginger, a 22-year resident of Herndon, had tired of the daily grind in the IT business and he says he was anxious to try something new. He says he has always done the majority of the cooking in his family. "My job just wasn't fun anymore and it hadn't been for a long time," Eiginger said.
Eiginger doesn't have to do it alone anymore. With the help of two full-time employees and seven part-timers, Eiginger is free to experiment with all different kinds of hot dogs. "We get people from all over the country and they all have a different idea about what makes a perfect dog," he said. "People from Wisconsin want something different than people from New York."
If Eiginger is the novice, Scheible is the seasoned veteran. With everything from the Boxer (a hot dog with authentic Coney Island Chili) to the German Shepherd (a hot dog topped with Sauerkraut), Eiginger is looking to expand the area's definition of hot dogs. With everything from barbacoa de pato (spit-roasted duckling) to carne asada 'chayote' (iron-seared bronzed beef), Scheible is looking to expand the area's south-of-the-border taste buds away from the traditional Mexican food found in the area.
<b>BEGINNING LATER </b>this month, and perhaps as early as Friday, Scheible, along with his three co-owners, will open the "Chayote Smokehouse Catering Co." in the old-"Black-eyed Pea" location across from the Pines Center in downtown Herndon.
With a staff of around 70 employees, Chayote, which is named for a green pear-shaped Central American squash, has a chef, Bobby Vickers, an executive chef and two sous chefs.
"Whether the town of Herndon likes it or not, I think it is turning itself into the little ethnic Adams Morgan of Northern Virginia," Scheible said. "There are a lots of different Mexican restaurants in the region. We are not one of them. We are like nothing around here and people are just going to be blown away."
Chayote borrows on the Latin barbacoa experience, Scheible said. Whether residents prefer seafood, beef, lamb, pork or chicken, Herndon's newest upscale restaurant uses age-old authentic cooking techniques found in Central and South America. Fish and meat are rubbed with spices and cooked slowly for hours over hardwood embers. Meals can be complemented with homemade breads, family-style breads and their trademark barbacoa sauces and rubs. With dishes from Cuba, Argentina, Mexico, Chayote Smokehouse promises to broaden the Latin American cuisine landscape in and around the Herndon and Reston area. "The place that was here before was serving 300 covers a day, so I think people will be used to the location," Scheible said. "But, to take nothing from any restaurants in the area, they are not used to the service. We are promoting the whole dining experience, not just the meal."
<b>FROM A TASTING MENU</b> to whole suckling pigs, Chayote's menu is large and full of authentic-style Latin American cuisine. "Nobody can match our variety," Scheible said. And from the chilidog to the Polish Kielbasa, Joe's menu is loaded with an affordable array of hot dogs, hamburgers and French fries. "Nobody does dogs like we do," said Eiginger.
With its bar, stocked with rare Mexican beers, Argentinean wines and 35 types of rum and tequila, Chayote markets itself to the 25 to 60 year old crowd, said its owner. "We're not going for the geriatric set, they won't be able to handle the spices," Scheible said, laughing. "Of course, we won't turn anyone away."
With its pictures of actual dogs, from Herndon and Hollywood, and its inexpensive, but varied, menu, Joe's is "perfect for the whole family," its owner said.