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I'm Guy Fieri, and we're rolling out
looking for America's greatest diners, drive-ins, and dives.
This trip...
[ Imitates siren ]
Flavor jets.
...it's a one-stop shop in the city by the bay.
Get in on that. Come on. Release the jaw.
That's right. "Triple D" the San Francisco way.
Show me the goods.
First up...
Fire up the chicken stock.
...an East Coast deli...
Do you have license to matzo ball?
...serving up family recipes from Baltimore.
I want to see a Guy Fieri bite on this thing.
There you go!
Next, a stop at a food-truck park...
And there's more.
...where one state-of-the-art kitchen on wheels...
This is wild.
...is kicking out killer Asian combos.
This right here is pretty odd, but I like where you're going.
Then it's over to the Mission area...
It is awesome.
...for some straight-up, down-home Southern comfort.
Succulent.
Have I ever used that word on "Triple D"?
That's all right here, right now,
on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives."
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
So, I'm here in beautiful San Francisco, California.
Now, you've heard of Fisherman's Wharf, right?
Okay, good, 'cause we're not going there.
We're going like 3/4 of a mile south on Polk Street
to exactly what you'd expect to find here in San Fran,
an East Coast deli.
This is Miller's.
I love the corned-beef sandwich.
Get in on that. Come on. Release the jaw.
Best pastrami I've ever had.
Big sandwich. Like, bigger than my face.
I want to see a Guy Fieri bite on this thing.
There you go!
The best deli on the West Coast.
FIERI: 'Cause owner Robby Morgenstein...
Could you get me a pastrami Philly?
FIERI: ...comes from a Baltimore bloodline
or blintzes and bagels.
My grandparents were kosher caterers.
All of my cousins have delis.
So when he started this place in 2001,
his very loving mom handed over all the family recipes,
including this deli classic...
I got the chicken-noodle soup with matzo balls.
...that's been in Robby's family for generations.
The matzo-ball soup is delicious.
Matzo balls.
Do you have license to matzo ball?
I got a grandmother and a mother.
God rest them.
Rose and Rae made matzo balls.
Rose and Rae. Fire up the chicken stock.
A little bit of olive oil.
Some mirepoix -- a couple of big onions, celery, carrots.
A couple of big chickens.
Those are big. Those look like San Francisco pigeons.
A big thing of parsley.
[ Whistles ]
A fistful of peppercorns.
And some bay leaf.
A lot of water.
All right, how long is this gonna go?
Come to a boil, bring it down to a simmer --
about 90 minutes.
Strain it, shred the chicken,
and while that's working, we're going to --
Make some matzo balls.
Matzo meal, some salt,
a little bit of white ground pepper.
You want to mix that up real good.
That's all the dry. Now you got all the wet.
So, for each cup of matzo meal, you got four eggs.
1/4 cup of schmaltz per cup.
So, what's the schmaltz all about?
Schmaltz is flavored chicken fat.
You're gonna mix that together.
So, all the wet.
Look at this.
That's all she wrote. So we let this set.
Then, after it forms up --
Just gonna take, you know, an inch.
And how long will they cook?
They're gonna cook about 45 minutes.
A little bit of schmaltz.
Some mirepoix -- onions, some carrots, some celery.
They're all nice and sweated out.
We're gonna throw the chicken stock on top
and then let it cook down for about 30 minutes or so.
Now that's cooked down. Now what?
Now we add fresh, shredded chicken
from the stock and then the matzo balls.
And then we get a little bit of cooked egg noodles.
Let it get nice and hot.
That's correct.
Word to the bird.
Here we go.
One.
A little bit of stuff on top.
[ Whistles ]
Boy, look at that.
Look how hearty that is. Tender matzo balls.
That's the key right there.
Mmm.
Simple, to the point, but I'll tell you something.
Out of the matzo balls that I've had,
that is one tender, delicious, flavorful matzo ball
with great chicken stock.
Well, thank you.
Matzo-ball soup.
Having been making matzo balls for over 40 years myself,
this one's delicious.
MAN: I tell everybody who's an East Coast transplant
they got to come here and try it for themselves.
FIERI: 'Cause the menu's chockful of East Coast flavors
with no West Coast compromise.
MAN #2: Everyone likes to Californian-ize everything,
and Miller's is not California.
FIERI: Nothing's been lost in translation,
whether it's the whitefish platter,
the brisket french dip, or this East Coast classic...
Potato Latke Delight.
...loaded with killer pastrami and corned beef
that's shipped in from Detroit.
They're the best. It's to die for.
So, a beautiful piece of brisket here.
Pickled-corned-beef brisket.
And what are we gonna do with it?
So, this puppy goes in.
And start it in some cold water to cover.
We're just gonna simmer it off for 3, 3 1/2 hours.
Some bay leaves, a little bit of pickling spice.
A little more pickling spice. No more salt.
It's already had the brine.
Cook this for 3 1/2 hours. Transfer to the steam oven?
Yep.
All right, so, we're now making the latkes.
A lot of manufacturing potatoes,
all shredded up, and a lot of eggs --
more than you would think.
Okay.
And then this is something you got to do with your hands.
You get caught doing this with your foot,
people are gonna tweak out.
That's probably true.
A little bit of granulated garlic,
some onion powder, a good amount of salt, black pepper,
and we're gonna mix that up.
And then just enough matzo meal.
If you put too much matzo meal in, you got a puck of lead.
And that's it.
So, on the griddle.
[ German accent ] On the griddle.
Now we scoop them out.
Nice big piles.
[ Normal voice ] Cook them up on both sides?
You're gonna mark them on both sides,
then we're gonna take them to the deep fryer.
Pastrami.
Corned beef all cooked up, ready to go.
We're just gonna trim it up.
Grab your latkes.
A couple of latkes.
Start on the point.
So, every time an order comes out,
you're cutting it to order?
We cut it to order.
How much do we give people?
Oh, easily.
This is more than that.
[ Whistles ]
And then the pastrami.
Whoa!
A little bit of sour cream and fresh applesauce.
Go.
So, the proper method of eating this
would be to --
You get a big chunk of everything,
and then you dip it down into the applesauce
Got it.
The latke is nice and crispy but tender on the inside.
The corned beef is dynamite,
but the one that I really got to try -- Wow.
That's some great pastrami.
That dude goes bananas.
Unh. Excellent job.
Thank you, man.
Really. Dynamite.
Potato Latke Delight.
MAN: I'm never disappointed with ordering it.
It's amazing.
MAN #2: My mother makes good latkes,
but now Miller's latkes are the standard.
Sorry, Mom.
I mean, here's the thing I love about it.
It's using great product.
Scratch-making the items you can,
and you have it in a funky environment.
Feels like you're in an East Coast deli.
I'm an East Coast deli guy.
Every bit.
Take me to Flavortown.
...we're headed to a food truck
that's parked in the heart of town...
Wow. Ooh, that's good.
...for a totally unique Korean/Japanese concept.
This is something I have not seen before.
The San Francisco food-truck scene is alive and well.
I mean, they're corralling up in food-truck parks like this,
and you never know what kind of style and combination
you might discover, like this funky truck,
where they've got Korean and Japanese reinvented.
This is the KoJa Kitchen.
MAN: Chicken kamikaze combo!
I've never come across anything like this before.
MAN: KoJa Kitchen for April.
Definitely nothing that you would expect from a food truck.
MAN: Short-rib KoJa.
Kind of like a burger but definitely not a burger.
FIERI: Stuffing Asian flavors into a rice-cake bun
fits that description,
a crazy concept that Alan Tsai came up with in 2011.
Then he convinced his buddies Eric Thai, Mike Hayashi,
and Hip Leun
to go all-in on a state-of-the-art truck.
I'm impressed, man.
I've seen some cool stuff in my day, but this is -- Wow.
It's Korean/Japanese.
I'm having the short-rib KoJa. Very unique, very original.
There's a rice patty on the outside,
tender short ribs on the inside.
Absolutely delicious.
So, what are we gonna make?
Now we're making our signature marinade for our short-rib KoJa.
Soy sauce, sugar -- a lot of sugar.
Some mirin. Japanese cooking wine.
We got some sake.
Just a little bit of water.
I'm gonna power it up.
We're gonna boil it up nice and easy.
Let it cool.
Now our next step?
We're gonna make our root mixture.
And this is all part of the marinade?
Yes. Korean shingo pear.
This is something I have not seen before.
Okay.
Onions. And we're gonna add some kiwis.
This right here is pretty odd,
but I like where you're going.
Add some garlic right in,
and we're gonna fire this thing up.
Take me to Flavortown.
Now we're gonna combine it. We're gonna add --
So that's our soy and our sugar and the mirin and the sake.
And water. Next, the fruit puree mix.
We're gonna add some lemon. Fresh lemon juice.
Black pepper, sesame oil.
Mix it up.
Ooh, that's good.
These are toasted sesame seeds.
Let's give it a nice whisk.
And now we drop in the meat.
We've got a nice short rib.
Mix this up, give it a nice massage.
And we're gonna marinate it overnight.
So, we've got our marinated meat. Now what step?
We're gonna make the garlic-seasoned rice buns.
We make it in these custom-made aluminum press.
That's awesome.
First, we have to oil the molds.
This is a garlic-seasoned rice.
We're gonna oil the top, as well,
just to make sure it doesn't stick.
While I'm doing this -- Get it nice and flat.
There we go.
Let it cool for about 5, 10 minutes.
And this is the patty that is made in the KoJa burger?
Awesome.
We're gonna put it on the grill.
Ready to go. We're gonna built a KoJa.
Check that just -- Ow, hot.
Plate it.
Some sesame slaw on top of it,
a nice chunk of meat, katsu aioli,
and our second patty.
Oh, the meat's out of bounds.
You fold it up.
We're gonna put it in this little pouch right here,
just nice presentation.
We add some more of the katsu aioli on top of it.
A little bit of toasted sesame seed.
Bite in.
It's outrageous.
The meat's out of bounds.
A little on the sweeter side, not as spicy.
It's like a rice bowl but not being in a bowl.
The little bit of lettuce that goes along with it
is kind of like the vegetable or the cabbage
that you would normally get in a rice bowl.
The rice, with its crunchy texture,
adds something you don't get in a rice bowl.
This is Asian street food at its best.
This is wow.
Mmm! Awesome!
Very savory.
A little spice to add a little kick in it.
It has a great rice cake to it, and the meat is tender.
I can't -- I'm speechless. It's that good.
MAN: Real-deal food.
The food and the people and the truck --
I think it all comes together.
They've created something that I've never seen anywhere else.
This is the only KoJa that I know of in existence,
like, on the whole planet.
FIERI: You did the truck right.
High-tech, putting all these components --
These dudes are all that and then some.
You guys are the bomb, man.
KoJa Kitchen -- You got to check them out.
Coming up, we're headed to the southeast side of the Mission...
I like where this is going.
...for a Southern comfort spot
where the living's always easy.
It's not very good.
You should probably put it all in the trunk of my car,
and I'll get rid of it for you.
You have got to dig San Francisco.
I mean, all the cool little areas,
the neighborhoods, the districts.
Well, here I am in the southeast side of the Mission District
to check out a joint that started in the '30s
as an Italian restaurant in a garage.
Well, fast forward to 2006,
and now it's a funky little joint
that's serving up some killer Southern comfort food.
Oh, that's right.
You got to come kick it at the Front Porch.
Table 7, Frito pie.
Bucket of chicken.
BOY: The fried chicken is awesome.
This is my favorite restaurant.
Crawfish étoufée fries.
I know the food in my city.
And you say that that is it.
This is the only game in town.
FIERI: For honest to goodness southern food,
thanks to friends and business partners
Josey White and Kevin Kline.
We were always talking about,
"This neighborhood needs one more funky little joint."
This place became available, and she gave me a call.
And the two partners brought in
comfort-food-cooking chef Matt Marcus...
Mac and cheese, table 7.
FIERI: ...to introduce down-home favorites
to the city by the bay, like this Southern staple.
Shrimp and grits in the window!
My favorite thing on the menu.
Okay, what are we gonna make first?
First, we're gonna make grits
for our shrimp and grits.
We're gonna start with whole milk...
Equal parts?
Equal parts. And unsalted butter.
And we're gonna just let this come to a boil.
And then we're gonna add our stone-ground grits,
fresh-ground black pepper, and plenty of kosher salt.
Grits need a lot of salt.
I agree with you. I agree with you.
So we'll let these cook down.
Yep.
So, our grits have cooked for 45 minutes.
The last thing we want to add is sharp cheddar cheese.
[ Whistles ]
Next up, we're making?
Creole seasoning.
Start with kosher salt,
black pepper, white pepper,
cayenne pepper...
[ Whistles ]
...paprika, dark chili powder.
I like where this is going.
We have coriander, cumin,
and last is ground mustard.
And we just whisk this all together.
And that's it.
Red-eye gravy.
Okay, so let's get into it.
We're gonna start with some canola oil...
rough-chopped shallots.
A lot of them.
A lot of them.
Garlic... and andouille sausage...
a generous portion of our creole spice that we just made,
and we're just gonna cook this down a little bit.
We want those spices to kind of toast.
So, from there, we're gonna add Worcestershire sauce...
Tabasco.
A lot of it.
Hence.
We do chicory coffee here...
and chicken stock.
That you make yourself, of course.
Absolutely.
We're gonna bring it to a boil,
let it simmer for about 45 minutes.
So, now we're on to start our shrimp and grits.
A generous ladle of the red-eye gravy that we just made.
As if it's not spicy enough,
we're gonna add a little bit of our creole spice
and a little bit of butter.
And we're gonna add our wild gulf shrimp.
And we're just gonna finish poaching them
right in the red-eye gravy here.
Soak up all that great flavor.
I am dying to taste that sauce.
So, I'd say these guys are done.
[ Imitates siren ]
Flavor jets.
All right, so we have our nice creamy, cheesy grits.
We'll do our shrimp right on top.
And the reduced red-eye gravy with all the sausage and...
...fixin's.
[ Gruff voice ] Then I put the fixin's on there!
And last, we have to add green onions.
And there you go.
[ Normal voice ] Let's just get right into this right now.
This isn't exactly how I know red-eye gravy
to be where I'm from,
but I will tell you it is awesome.
Got a little coffee kick.
I mean, it's rich.
Grits are cheesy.
The andouille is spot-on.
Everything going on in this is outstanding,
but really the crescendo is those fresh shrimp.
I mean, succulent.
Have I ever used that word on "Triple D"?
Oh, my gosh.
Killer dish.
Cool. Glad you like it.
WOMAN: The shrimp and grits.
The spicy shrimp and grits were amazing.
The grits themselves are great.
You can eat them with a fork, which, to me, is the true test.
It's got that spicy sausage, which I just wolfed down.
The Front Porch makes you feel at home.
WOMAN #2: I love the rocking chairs.
They remind you of your childhood,
and you know if there's a rocking chair,
you're gonna have a rocking time.
FIERI: And speaking of a good time,
we're giving you a soda-soaked steak.
Dr Pepper short ribs.
FIERI: Y'all come back now, you hear?
FIERI: "Triple D" is at the Front Porch
in San Francisco's Mission District,
where if rocking chairs don't pull you in,
the rocking food will.
Dr Pepper short ribs.
They melt in your mouth. They're absolutely awesome.
Dr Pepper? Yeah! Let's do this.
All right, so, we're gonna season
our boneless beef short ribs
with a little bit of salt and fresh black pepper.
Super-hot sauté pan.
Canola oil.
And we want to get a nice sear on these guys.
Sear-iously.
Thank you very much.
Now we're ready to start the braise.
We're just gonna go straight into a hotel pan here.
Mmm. Smells great already.
We're gonna do mirepoix,
which is a rough chop of carrots, celery, onion,
fresh thyme...
bay leaves...
chipotle peppers in adobo sauce...
homemade chicken stock...
and then a lot of Dr Pepper.
We don't call it Dr Pepper short ribs for nothing.
[ Grunts ]
So, we just want to make sure it's all covered.
350 for four hours.
All right, so we're ready to plate up a short rib.
Take one of these guys.
Yep.
We're gonna season this with a little bit more black pepper.
A little more kosher salt.
Mount it with a little butter at the end.
It's gonna help it thicken up,
as if it's not already rich enough.
It's just gonna make it a little bit more rich.
So, we're just gonna let that reduce back there.
All right, so, we have celery-root puree.
A nice spoonful.
Beautiful.
Sautéed mustard greens, our short rib,
and the Dr Pepper braise right on top of that.
And last but not least,
a little fresh-grated horseradish.
I love fresh horseradish.
It's not very good.
You should probably put it all in the trunk of my car,
and I'll get rid of it for you.
[ Chuckles ]
The short rib is so tender that it's just falling apart.
You just have to help it with the fork a little bit.
The celery-root puree is a great medium
for the whole dish.
The fresh horseradish, along with the mustard greens,
adds a nice contract to this braising liquid
that's been reduced.
And the Dr Pepper is just this nice round flavor and -- Mmm.
Every little piece you did here -- killer.
I mean really killer.
Cool.
And the Dr Pepper short ribs.
Juicy, it's tender, and it's flavored amazing.
You can just take your fork and just break it right apart.
It's just so soft.
FIERI: Small, little kitchen,
and a chef with a lot of personality.
It's awesome.
Cool. Thank you very much.
Enjoyed it.
So, that's it for this road trip, but don't worry.
We've got plenty more joints to find all over this country.
I'll be looking for you next time
on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives."
Sorry. I forgot.
I have to cook with my special friend here.
This is Eddie.
Wow.
This just went from fun to really creepy.