When Tania Harrison was laid off from her software engineering job last year, she got a brilliant idea. Why not open a vegetarian hot dog stand downtown, use the cart to post her resumé--and those of her laid-off friends--and land a new tech job? Then she could pass the cart on to another jobless techie.

Unfortunately, Seattle health codes prohibit veggie dogs in mobile carts, so Harrison, who's 49 and originally from Russia, had to find a permanent location. Cyber-Dogs opened late last summer, and Harrison has officially abandoned the tech job hunt. Her cozy orange-and-red space is a great backdrop for Harrison's charged-up personality and her diverse menu. Don't worry if you can't decide between curry or "tuna" salad, since Harrison's more than happy to let you taste everything behind the counter first.

So does everyone get that friendly sampling session when they walk in?

"Oh yeah, totally! I have slogans--my marketing brilliance--'No pressure to buy, but pressure to taste.' If I didn't need the money, I would love just feeding people for free. I feel so guilty charging money."

Why vegetarian hot dogs?

"I had this idea when I came to this country [27 years ago]. I thought there was no healthy fast food here, and so I was thinking of doing something quick and healthy and inexpensive."

It took me a while to discover this place--I didn't notice at first that the "dogs" are veggie.

"I have to have a sign that says "100 Percent Veg" or something. But on the other hand, the rednecks sometimes come in and don't want to [eat a veggie dog], and then I win them over as customers anyway. When people do discover me, they're very loyal and are excited that they found us."

How do you come up with all of these toppings?

"I've been throwing things together, and my belief is that if you put good ingredients together, it's going to be good. We did a tuna melt special that's so popular, I'm going to add it to the menu, and 'meatloaf' is going to be the next new one. I just get friskier and friskier."

What else does Cyber-Dogs offer?

"Internet [access], and I do informal computer consulting. Oh, and I'm doing matchmaking! I matched up a guy with one of my customers and now they're getting married! I kid you not. And you know what--there was no business angle to it. Well, only that their firstborn was going to be named after me.

"I am having the absolute time of my life. My whole life, I was almost a slave to all these [software] companies. I was so loyal, and it never paid off. Now I'm loyal to my customers."

Interview by Amy Jenniges