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June 30, 2009

Before his vows, Red Sox owner chows at Rondogs

By Paul Leighton

BEVERLY — Red Sox owner John Henry's wedding on Saturday included the usual trappings of wealth and privilege.

There was the private ceremony aboard his 164-foot yacht. The lavish reception in the outfield at Fenway Park. The A-list guests in black tie and designer gowns. And the stop at Rondogs in Beverly for a hot dog with sauerkraut.

OK, that last one might need a little explaining.

On Saturday afternoon at about 3 o'clock, just hours before Henry's much-anticipated and highly publicized wedding, the groom himself and his three groomsmen pulled up in a Mercedes Benz at Rondogs, a hot dog stand located in a former gas station at the corner of Rantoul and Elliott streets.

Dressed in white tuxedo shirts and bow ties, the four men ordered a full complement of Rondogs' gourmet hot dogs. Henry and Red Sox chairman Tom Werner both got the "Suzie," a hot dog with homemade sauerkraut named after Rondog owner Ron Brown's wife.

The other two groomsmen, Red Sox vice chairman David Ginsberg and nightclub owner Ed Kane, ordered a foot-long hot dog and a regular Rondog.

The bill came to $23, and the multimillionaire foursome left a "generous tip," Brown said. Henry enjoyed the experience so much he ordered four Rondogs T-shirts.

Now that we know what they ate, how much they paid and how much fun they had, we come to the most important question: What on earth were they doing at Rondogs?

"We're world famous over here," said Brown, the man who put the "Ron" in Rondogs.

Realizing a fuller explanation was required, Brown and his daughter Nicole, the stand's manager, offered more details. They said Henry and his yacht, the Iroquois, stopped outside Beverly Harbor to pick up some wedding guests, including relatives of bride Linda Pizzuti of Lynnfield.

The Browns say Henry and his groomsmen came ashore on a smaller boat near the Jubilee Yacht Club, hopped in a waiting Mercedes Benz with a driver and headed for Rondogs.

Brown said someone must have recommended Rondogs, but he doesn't know who. His on-duty staff — cooks Paul Drinkwater and Chuck Bulger and waitresses Chloe Brown and Erica Piza — were too busy serving the men to ask questions.

Someone — Brown suspects the Mercedes driver — snapped a picture of the Henry party in front of Rondogs that ended up on Boston newspaper Web sites. Brown said one customer showed up for lunch yesterday because he saw the picture.

Ron and Nicole Brown were sad they missed the big event, but Henry would love their reasons. Nicole, who has a Red Sox tattoo on her ankle, was in Loudon, N.H., watching Henry's NASCAR racing team.

Ron was dropping off his son at practice for his Beverly Little League team — the Rondogs Red Sox.

Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or by e-mail at pleighton@salemnews.com.

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Before his vows, Red Sox owner chows at Rondogs
by By Paul Leighton , , Tue Jun 30, 2009, 06:00 AM EDT
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