Extreme Makeover: Hot Dog Edition.

Venezuelan native Alonso Roche and his brother, Alvaro, are set to open Bold Bite, a hot dog restaurant, in Ben & Jerry’s former location on Fairmont Avenue in late May or early June.

“Hot dogs are something I’ve really been interested in for a while,” he said. “When I was growing up in Venezuela, one of the things I would do was go out and eat hot dogs in the street.”

In addition to the childhood memories hot dogs bring back, Roche said he hopes the simplicity and creativity of the food will attract a range of customers.

“I thought, why not do something that combines these two things, like the traditional hot dog, with something more intricate and more fun?” Roche said. “We could have a place with regular hot dogs and also have great homemade sausages so you can kind of build your own thing.”

Roche said he hopes to attract the teenage boy demographic, among others. Junior Steven Goldberg said he’d probably visit Bold Bite, although it’s not in his favorite location of Bethesda.

“It seems like an interesting idea,” he said. “I think that that side of Bethesda doesn’t get as much traffic as the other side, so they might have some trouble getting initial business.”

Bold Bite’s menu will have franks, homemade sausages and a long list of toppings and sauces, ranging from an arugula pesto sauce to matchstick potato chips.

“I think everyone grew up with their own way of making a hot dog,” he said. “Each region of the U.S. has a different hot dog. In Latin America, virtually every country has their own topping for hot dogs. So I said, ‘Let’s just bring it together and give people the freedom to build their own thing.’”

Though Roche has traveled around the world and pursued a film career, he says cooking has always remained his passion.

Roche’s father first introduced him to cooking when he was 12-years-old, and he interned as a pastry assistant in Venezuela at 17. When he moved to D.C. in 2000, Roche immediately looked for cooking opportunities.

“I moved to D.C., and I decided to change careers,” he said. “I started looking at schools, and one of the schools that I looked at was L’Academie de Cuisine. I went over there, I took a look and went through orientation and I loved it.”

After graduating from L’Academie in 2003, he worked at Bethesda’s Persimmon, another American-style restaurant.

Ultimately, Roche hopes Bold Bite will have an enjoyable atmosphere and be a restaurant that residents will want to frequent.

“I hope to build something that people are going to want to eat at,” Roche said. “It’s a great opportunity, and I want to build something fun, something that I’m proud of and where the food will speak for itself.”