SWISS, the airline owned by Lufthansa Group and the flag carrier of Switzerland, is now serving a hot dog in first class. And it’s not just a hot dog. It’s a hot dog with a video press release.
In collaboration with Winterthur hot dog brand Frau Hund, they are offering:
Let us introduce you to this very special hot dog served with apple chutney, garnished with red coleslaw, a drizzle of sour cream, sprinkled with walnuts, and garnished with cress. It is only available this summer in Swiss first class, from June 3rd onto September 1st.
That’s no ‘drizzle’ of sour cream. That’s a cry for help:
Fine dining with a hot dog? Only in SWISS First. 🌭😉
Meet Bastardo, crafted together with Frau Hund and served with all the care and elegance of a First Class meal, because why should classics be any different up here? Available all summer long, at 35,000 feet. ✈️ #flyswiss pic.twitter.com/vd3FTSJfZV— Swiss Intl Air Lines (@FlySWISS) June 27, 2026
Somewhere, Lufthansa is serving caviar and SWISS is asking whether you’d like walnuts on your airborne tube meat.
The specific hot dog is the “Bastardo”: Puntbier sausage, coleslaw, apple chutney, sour cream, and roasted walnuts. SWISS says Gate Gourmet first considered Frau Hund’s “Deutsche Dogge,” but decided something lighter would work better onboard. They had to adjust the bun cut because the hot dog kept tipping over on SWISS First porcelain. It is available in SWISS First on all flights departing Switzerland.
This is a seasonal SWISS First ‘Anytime Dining’ item, so they don’t expect first class passengers to eat this for their main meal. And there’s a role for comfort foods to play. But they’re still serving a hot dog with sour cream in first class and it’s called ‘The Bastardo’.
Before the pandemic American Airlines served hot dogs in international first class. So Swiss is trying to be like American, only worse because of the sour cream.
You can’t redeem miles for most Swiss first class flights unless you have elite status in the Miles & More program, but this seems like a reason not to earn status with Miles & More?
A hot dog in first class? Good Lord. At the very least make it appetizing, sour cream?
Looks great. But occasionally I like a dog.
No bastard wiener for me hard pass
Didn’t know Lufthansa owned Swiss glad I canceled my flight with them
And people think we Chicagoans do ridiculous things to hot dogs. I’ll give the Bastardo this: there’s no ketchup on it.
Hilarious name. If there was ever any award availability anymore via Aeroplan, that’d be swell. Looking forward to their cabin upgrades, too.
@O’Hare Is My Second Home says:
“And people think we Chicagoans do ridiculous things to hot dogs.”
Only people who have never tried a real Chicago Dog – heaven on earth. Not from Chicago but I love ’em along with deep-dish pizza.
And for the doubters and the haters, don’t knock a dressed-up hot dog until you’ve tried it – recently had a Sonoran hotdog and strangely enough, pintos and mayo really work; so much going on that a wimpy hot dog bun doesn’t cut the mustard, takes a man-sized bolillo-style bun to make it all work.
Give me a couple of Chicago dogs instead of the typical F meal, I probably be happy. An Italian beef would be better, but the messiness probably rules it out. This, like the Sonoran dog, doesn’t sound like I’d like it. But, since I haven’t tried either, who knows. I’d try it, but would be unwilling to order it fir the risk I wouldn’t like it an go hungry.
Doesn’t seem from its list of ingredients that its anything like a traditional “hot dog.”
Agree w/ O’Hare II for once. The hot dog was invented in Chicago and we know what to do with it. “Would you like walnuts on your hotdog?” what?
Thank Gary Leff for letting me know that, when I squint, the Frau Hund “Bastardo”—which, let’s be honest, sounds like a hot dog with a criminal record—is available when jetting on SWISS First on their flights departing from Switzerland until September 1, 2026. This gourmet tube steak makes me feel like I’m starring in my own culinary soap opera. It reminds me of something I could find at Wienerschnitzel, the legendary American chain where hot dogs outnumber humans in California, Texas, Guam, and Ecuador. (Yes, Ecuador! Even the llamas are confused.) Wienerschnitzel, by the way, was called Der Wienerschnitzel until 1979, presumably because even the hot dogs got tired of explaining the name.
you cannot fault them for the name