Hawaiian-Inspired Hot Dogs are Middletown's Newest Food Truck Fare

Middletown is home to its fair share of food trucks selling gourmet grub — everything from the Whey Station's artisan grilled cheese sandwiches to Ron's Kitchen Mobile Food Truck's more exotic fare, like herb-roasted pork BLTs, lamb gyros, bacon cheeseburgers and fajitas.

You've likely seen the shiny stainless steel hot dog vendor car parked on Court Street around lunch time. That's Brown Girl And Round Guy Grinds owner Roger Rinaldi, a lifelong resident of Middletown and retired city of Hartford heavy equipment mechanic, who had his grand opening July 6. 

Rinaldi, who turns 60 this year, says ever since he was a kid, he always wanted to have a hot dog cart. "My uncle had one and I always loved that clanging noise and the smells of Yankee Stadium."

With the distinctively colorful Tiki Mondays through Saturdays, Rinaldi, the "round guy, so named for his admitted less-than-svelte figure, offers customers affordably priced Mucke's frankfurter specialties like the Tiki dog, whose bun is Hawaiian sweet bread. Toppings include New York-style onions, roasted red peppers and sauerkraut.

The island influence comes from Rinaldi's girlfriend Dana Ugbinaba, a native of the island of Oahu, (the brown girl) who helps him sell dogs on Saturdays. "Grinds," Rinaldi says, doesn't refer to grinders or coffee. In fact, it's Hawaiian for "grub."

She thinks Rinaldi's second career is "awesome." 

"He's a social kind of guy and loves making friends," she says. Rinaldi's three children, now in their mid-to-upper-20s, stop by to help out whenever they can. His son, the social media savvy one in the family, helps out with posting pictures on the Brown Girl And Round Guy Grinds Facebook page. 

He hawks his dogs across the street from Ron's Kitchen, but says they're not in competition.

"He makes completely different food like hamburgers. It works out perfectly that way. Sometimes he even sends me over some lunch." 

Culinary talent runs in the Rinaldi family, as his daughter Daniella is the pastry chef at Trump Towers in Chicago.

Middletown has had various hot dog vendors over the years. Three years ago, Rough House Food Truck's original incarnation was a Nathan's hot dog cart near the Middletown courthouse and during the summer of 2011, EDogs sold wieners at the corner of Grand and Main streets. And some may even recall the gal whose bikini-clad figure undoubtedly boosted her hot dogs sales years ago in Middletown.

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