Working Man's Kitchen gears up for opening day at Sneinton Market with pizza dogs

The pizza dog viral sensation needs little explanation - a hot dog crossed with a pizza. It's not an outlandish way-out-there combination but no one was doing it in Nottingham until Working Man's Kitchen cottoned on to the idea.

If you've been to the footy - Nottingham Forest that is - you might have had one from WMK's food truck at the City Ground's fanzone. But now street food trader Paddy Sneath is branching out with a bricks-and-mortar site at Sneinton Market where the popular scoff will be on sale to everyone.

The unit, on Avenue A, will also be selling pizzas topped with pepperoni, cheese and tomato, and tomato, olive oil and basil, plus sides of mac 'n' cheese and caprese salad (tomato, mozzarella, basil and balsamic).

Instead of a hot dog bun, the £8 pizza dog is created out of pizza dough topped with tomato and cheese - 80 percent mozzarella for the creaminess and stretchiness and 20 percent cheddar for a touch of saltiness - and a 9in frankfurter. After being baked in a super-hot oven for around three to four minutes to create a crispy base, it's served with crispy onions, American mustard and ketchup.

A photo of the pizza dog went viral after it was posted on the social media pages of Footy Scran, resulting in around four million views. It put it on the map, leading to a boost in trade.

Paddy's surprised no one else in Nottingham has thought of it before. "Hot dogs have been around forever, so has pizza. I think people have never really seen it and with it being synonymous with football, going on Footy Scran, it's so simple to have one of them in your hand and a beer at football and it kind of just worked.

"Everyone loves pizza, everyone loves hot dogs and it's just putting the two together. I don't get bored of eating them. In this oven they go really crispy. It's a Neapolitan/New York hybrid. It makes a great pizza."

For now there's not a pizza dog alternative for vegans or vegetarians because Paddy's yet to find a suitably-sized meat-free frankfurter but it's something he's exploring.

Working Man's Kitchen might have Paddy, a former pylon painter, at the helm but it's a real family affair. He and his wife Amy, who live in Clifton, have spent virtually every waking minute transforming the empty unit over the last few weeks. There's seating for 16 inside and one of the tables has sentimental value as it belonged to Paddy's grandparents.

"It's good, it already feels like home. We're really happy with it. We've been here a lot, every day for four or five weeks, to get it how we like it. I'm looking forward to getting going," said Paddy.

In the future, there's plenty of scope to add a twist to the pizza dog. Last year for Oktoberfest, Paddy served German currywurst sausages with sauerkraut and pickles. "We could do a slow-cooked brisket one or a Christmas dinner one with pigs in blankets, a gravy base, mozzarella - I think I'm doing to do that this year."

Soft drinks are on sale at WMK but perhaps the perfect accompaniment is a beer - and handily Neon Raptor's tap room and brewery is opposite. Drinkers can eat their pizza dogs in the bar or take their pints over to the Working Man's Kitchen.

At weekends, the couple's eldest daughter Caitlin, 15, will be pot washing and cleaning tables. Their youngest daughter, Willow, 11, has special needs, which is why Paddy and Amy, a former teaching assistant, will be running pizza-making workshops for schools and colleges attended by SEN pupils from Monday to Wednesday.

Details of SEN Sundays will be announced soon, giving families with special needs children a non-judgemental place to eat. "We are doing a booking system for that. We know what it's like taking our daughter somewhere and when we get there it's busy, there's a big queue and we can't get in and then it's a meltdown. We want to avoid that. It's simple and easy for people to know where they're coming and have no issues," said Paddy.

WKM will open on Friday, October 25, from 4pm to 10pm, Saturday 12pm to 10pm, and Sunday 12pm to 6pm. The three WMK trucks, including one which sells fried chicken and loaded fries, as well as pizza dogs, haven't been at the City Ground so far this season but Paddy hopes they will return next year.

He said: "We've spoken to the company that do all the catering side at Forest and they've said when we're ready to go back the door is still open. It will be at least in the New Year."