After more than four decades and countless hot dogs served on the Morristown Green, Sophie Hsieh has encountered a new ingredient in her venerable street-food business:
A commissary.
The longtime “Hot Dog Lady” says she had never heard of one until the Morristown Division of Health informed her this summer that state regulations require her mobile food operation to use an approved commercial facility for food storage, equipment cleaning and other servicing.
Now town officials say they are working with Hsieh to satisfy the state requirements so one of Morristown’s most familiar faces can keep slinging franks on the Green.
“There is some misinformation circulating regarding Sophie’s Hot Dogs, and we want to set the record straight: Sophie’s Hot Dogs remains open and operating on the Green, and the Town is actively working with Sophie to help navigate state health requirements to ensure she can continue serving the community for as long as she wants to,” the town said in a statement provided by Town Administrator Jillian Barrick.
For Hsieh, who has operated her cart at the Green since 1984, the regulatory wrinkle comes on the heels of another calamity.
Earlier this month, a vehicle struck and damaged her cart as she was towing it home from the East Park Place side of the Green.
The community responded by raising more than $17,000 to get her back in business.
A LETTER AFTER 42 YEARS
Hsieh received a July 16 letter from Morristown Health Officer Tina Mereos informing her that the New Jersey Department of Health requires mobile food vendors to operate from a commissary or servicing area.
Such facilities can include licensed commercial kitchens, restaurants or other approved locations where food and supplies are stored or handled and where vendors can clean equipment, dispose of waste and refill water tanks and ice bins.
The letter said the Morristown Division of Health did not have a commissary agreement on file for Sophie’s Hot Dog, which is classified as a Mobile Food Class 1 operation.
Hsieh was given a 60-day grace period to provide proof of a commissary, along with a recent inspection report and health department license or satisfactory placard.
The notice caught her by surprise.
For decades, Hsieh said, she has stored her supplies at home and cleaned her equipment there.
“I got a new license in May. I get a new license every year. The inspector came here to check in in June, and I got this letter in July,” she said.
“And then I got in the car crash.”
The commissary requirement is not a newly enacted state rule. New Jersey’s food-safety regulations governing retail food establishments trace to 1972. State rules for mobile food establishments have been revised and tightened over the years, including changes specifying requirements for servicing areas and commissaries.
Those requirements prohibit home food preparation and storage for mobile vendors and call for servicing areas with facilities for such tasks as cleaning equipment, disposing of liquid waste and storing supplies.
Hsieh said none of this had been an issue during her many years of annual licensing and inspections.
She also was surprised to learn that her July letter had circulated on social media, where it prompted concern about the future of her business.
“I had no idea,” Hsieh said. “I didn’t know, because I don’t really go to social media. I don’t have a TikTok, I don’t have Instagram, whatever.”
She said she had used Facebook in the past because “it was easier to show my picture to my sister, because she lives in Taiwan.”
As of the weekend, Hsieh said she still was working with Morristown officials to determine how she could comply. She said officials had indicated that additional time could be arranged if necessary.
Hsieh also contacted William Valbuena of the Colonial Grill, the mobile food operation that parks next to her and already uses a commissary. He sent her a photo of the commissary agreement form she needs to complete.
One possibility would be arranging to use a local restaurant or other approved commercial kitchen as her base of operations.
A ROUGH SUMMER — AND A HELPING HAND
The regulatory issue might have been enough excitement for one summer. Then came the crash.
Hsieh hitches her cart to her car at the end of the workday. As she was leaving the Green, a vehicle crashed into the cart, damaging it beyond use.
Hsieh’s customers and friends weren’t about to let that end a Morristown tradition.
Glenbrook Brewery launched a GoFundMe campaign on Aug. 7 with a $10,000 goal to replace the cart and cover related expenses.
“Sophie has spent years serving up great food, creating memories, and being a familiar face in our community,” the organizers wrote. “Now it’s our turn to support her.”
The response sailed past the goal: As of this weekend, 417 donations had generated $17,320.
Hsieh said she did not even know about the fundraiser until after it had been started.
She suggested getting a smaller, older replacement cart.
Her supporters had other ideas.
They bought her a new one, slightly larger than its predecessor, for nearly $4,000.
The outpouring was another measure of the affection Morristown has developed for a vendor who has occupied essentially the same patch of downtown real estate since Ronald Reagan’s first term.
Hsieh was 29 when she and her late husband emigrated from Taiwan to Argentina, where they opened a Chinese restaurant. They arrived in Morristown in 1983, and in February 1984 she began selling hot dogs near the entrance to the historic Green.
Competitors have come and gone. So have a McDonald’s, Burger King, Gap, Radio Shack, Dress Barn, Shoe Town and four department stores.
Sophie stayed.
Through blustery cold, summer heat and decades of downtown change, generations of customers have found her near the Patriot’s Farewell fountain with hot dogs, spicy sausages, chili, sauerkraut, onions and a smile.
Asked in 2024 whether she was contemplating retirement, Hsieh said she had no plans to pack up the cart.
“I just like to come out and see people,” she said then.
Morristown officials say they are working to make sure a commissary doesn’t change that.
Kevin Coughlin contributed to this report.
Morristown has a long history of people stepping forward in pivotal moments.
When you chip in to Morristown Green, you’re helping your neighbors stay informed, strengthening our civic backbone, and carrying on the spirit that’s defined this town since its earliest days.
Rally for local news.
