Mitt Romney treated his Republican Senate colleagues Thursday afternoon to a taste of home.
Anchoring the provided lunch Thursday were gourmet hot dogs from Provo-based J. Dawgs, which founder and owner Jayson Edwards grilled up personally after flying in from Utah, according to Romney’s press office.
The spread included J. Dawgs’ “Special Sauce,” as well as barbecue beans prepared by Romney’s wife, Ann Romney, and “Graham Canyon” ice cream from the Brigham Young University Creamery to top it off.
Photos from the lunch show servers smiling as Republican senator Mitch McConnell and others loaded up their plates.
(Romney Press Office) Lunch straight from Utah, including Provo-based gourmet hot dogs J. Dawgs, is served on Thursday, July 25, 2024.
Romney’s decision to serve hot dogs — let alone gourmet hot dogs straight from Utah — isn’t necessarily surprising. While running for the U.S. Senate in 2018, Mitt Romney now famously told a group of Utah supporters that “hot dog” was his favorite meat.
“My favorite meat is hot dog, by the way. That is my favorite meat,” he said, according to a report in the Washington Examiner at the time. “My second favorite meat is hamburger. And, everyone says, ‘Oh, don’t you prefer steak?’ It’s like, I know steaks are great, but I like hot dog best, and I like hamburger next best.”
[Read more: Mitt Romney’s unusual food habits — hot dogs, Twinkies, and salmon with ketchup]
Romney concluded the frank-in-a-bun luncheon by sending attendees off with gift bags filled with other Utah goodies. They included “Country Style Raspberry Jam” from Chad’s Raspberry Kitchen in Laketown; a “Go Aggie Bar” from the Aggie Chocolate Factory in Logan; “Squeaky Bee Curds” from Beehive Cheese in Uintah; and “Original Buttermilk Syrup” from Uncle Bob’s Butter Country Syrup in Pleasant Grove.
Tuesday wasn’t the first time Romney has served his colleagues J. Dawgs and other Utah delicacies. In July 2021, Edwards also joined Romney in D.C. to feed a group of Republican senators.
At the time, Romney provided attendees with other Utah-based goods, including Pioneer Chips, chocolate milk from the BYU Creamery, Heber Valley Artisan Cheese, honey, Utah Truffles, Apple Beer craft soda and Montie’s chocolate-covered dried tart cherries.