The following article appeared in a recent issue of the Tennessean. Hope you enjoy it.  -Steve

By Dessislava Yankova

When a Sumner resident arrived at a friend’s house for their first date, she saw two tables covered with food.

“I asked, ‘How many people are coming?’ and he said, ‘Just you,’” Jennifer Shofner recalls. “We had four meats. There was enough food for 20 people.”

It turned out that Shofner’s date and now-husband Jesse has a passion for food and cooking that after years of practice recently materialized into a hotdog stand as part of the venture Top Dawg’s that also offers catering.

Having watched people their age — mid 50s — lose corporate jobs in the volatile economy, the pair wanted to establish something on their own that could bring financial security and help others.

“We’re competing with people who just got of school, and they can pay them half as much,” Jennifer Shofner, 56, said. “The way the economy is going, we’re not expecting any retirement. And we wanted something that we can do in our retirement years that we can enjoy.”

“People our age are having such a hard time finding a decent job,” Jesse Shofner, 55, added. “And if this grows, why not share it?”

If the enterprise — that now runs from the lot in front of Woodard Bonding Co. on Smith Street in Gallatin across from Sumner County General Sessions Court — develops, the entrepreneurs hope to establish a franchise that would create extra jobs and smiles.

“We’d like to see how many people wave at us in a row,” Jesse Shofner said. “You’d be surprised how many people would wave and smile back. It makes my day.”

Chef pursues lifetime culinary hobby

In hearing the enthusiastic couple speak of the enterprise, a listener can’t help but surmise the venture seems easy and relaxed as though it is more of a profitable hobby than a job.

The pair, however, had to work their way through a number of life and professional experiences before they got to where they are now, and they acknowledge that their work is far from over.

For almost 20 years, Jennifer Shofner worked as a mortgage lender, driving almost 70 miles to Brentwood and back each day. In July, she quit that job to manage finances for Top Dawg’s using QuickBooks software.

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Note from Steve: Don’t run out and buy Quickbooks – I’ve got a special surprise coming which will help you with your bookkeeping. It’s ten times easier than learning Quickbooks. Keep your eyes peeled…
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For just as long, Jesse Shofner’s music business involvement included everything from writer to record promoter until the quickly saturating and cutthroat industry pushed him to pursue his lifelong culinary hobby.|

After working as a chef for several years in Nashville, Jesse Shofner opened the Hendersonville-based Bo’s Kitchen and Catering Company in 2003. For four years, he delivered up to 100 mostly luncheon meals — casseroles, sandwiches and soups — to anywhere between 35 to 50 area businesses daily. Working those 12-hour days didn’t seem to bother the food enthusiast.

“I like (holidays) just because of the ability to sit on a table filled with food,” said Jesse, who fixed 60 Taquito enchiladas for his four guests over to watch a football game this past Saturday. “With any event, for him is not about the event, it’s about the food,” Jennifer said.

Since Sept. 8, Top Dawg’s first day on the street, Jesse Shofner has shared his zeal not just with family and friends but also with any hungry resident craving a hotdog at lunch Mondays through Fridays between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. except on rainy days.

The Polish Dog has been most customers’ favorite so far.

“You can put anything you want on it, but most people like grilled onions, peppers and mustard,” Jesse said.

The recommended specialty selection is the Chicago Dog with all-beef grilled frank, spicy or yellow mustard, sweet relish, onions, tomatoes, banana peppers, celery salt and a dill pickle.

“Unless you’re from Chicago, you wouldn’t know what it is,” the chef said. “It’s wonderful.”

“It tastes like a salad hotdog to me with all the fresh vegetables and everything,” Jennifer added.

Cookies, too

With all dogs, clients can choose from a variety of soft drinks or water while first-time customers get a free chocolate chip cookie.

One new customer is Ashton Pangburn, of Gallatin, who stopped by on his way home Monday after seeing the stand earlier in the day.

“Mmm…it’s really, really, really, really good,” said Pangburn upon biting into his Chicago-style dog, followed by a promise that he would return.

Tammy Carrol, who works next door in Medial Billing Partnership, stops by just about every day.

“It’s like a bite of New York right here in Tennessee,” Carrol said. ‘The hotdogs are nice and fresh and juicy, and I love the daily conversation.”

‘It’s been an adventure’

Launching the venture, however, has at times seemed like a giant jigsaw puzzle for the Shofners, whose biggest pieces have been conforming to various city and county regulations. Finding a place was the hardest obstacle, as the cities of Gallatin and Hendersonville do not allow portable businesses to operate on city or county property.

Wanting to be situated in a busy area, the pair approached numerous entities with a request to locate their stand there. Eventually, the owners of Woodard Bonding Co. gave them a home – in their lot.

Being a catering vendor, Top Dawg’s also needed to have a commercial kitchen. The prospect of building such a kitchen would have involved too much of an investment for a single hotdog stand. So the couple started knocking on doors until a local church offered them a rarely used spare facility.

“We’ve been ricocheting around on the discovering path,” Jennifer said. “It has been an adventure.”

Because of health regulations, Top Dawg’s does not offer dairy products that run the risk of spoiling quicker than other products. While simple in concept, the stand with its accompanying grill as an accessory allows the venture capitalists to experiment.

“There’s a limit to what we can do, but in that realm we can still be creative,” said Jennifer, who plans to add specialties such as a Mexican salsa dog. “Sometimes less is more. You can do anything with a dog.”

Business delivers within walking distance

Perhaps the trickiest part since opening the business has been setting up and taking down the booth —about 30 minutes each time — but “we’re getting better at it every day,” Jennifer said.

The rest is a song. “Then we crank up the radio to old-time classic country and rock, and we wave at everybody,” Jesse said.

“And we love the people,” Jennifer added. “We meet people from all walks of life, and it’s wonderful to give them a hotdog and watch them enjoy it.”

Not having done any major advertising yet, Top Dawg’s has already gained some regulars from surrounding businesses, which, if within walking distance, can also enjoy a delivery. Jesse Shofner was nicely surprised when he handed out some business cards to general session employees, who referred to him as the Hotdog Man.

“It’s all fun, fun, fun, and it’s American,” he said.

Original article at The Tennessean

P.S. The Shofners are using a “Big Dog” cart from Ben’s Hot Dog Carts.

Click here for free hot dog cart lessons by email.