Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hey, everybody.
I'm Guy Fieri, and we're rolling out
looking for America's greatest diners, drive-ins, and dives.
This trip...
Holla!
Challah.
...I'm getting a bite...
I'm stacking it up for maximum shove-age.
...of some authentic neighborhood knockouts.
Making it rain up in here.
In San Diego's Hillcrest area...
So, you have Grandma's seal of approval?
Yes.
...the down-home diner...
I mean, that's, like, half dessert, half breakfast.
...serving up round-the-clock comfort.
This is a level of juice
you probably haven't seen on a burger.
In the Tenderloin district of San Francisco...
That's like a Pink Floyd concert, man.
...a gourmet-hot-dog spot...
All for the love of mustard and sausages.
...with a floor show, to boot.
Wow.
And in Portland, Oregon's industrial area...
Fire it up.
...the father-and-son joint making both the meals
and the place straight from scratch.
You're taking hash to another hash-alistic level.
Trying.
You should be proud of that one.
Thank you.
That's all right here, right now,
on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives."
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
[ Sea gulls squawking ]
Man, you have got to love San Diego.
Look at this town --
Great weather, cool people, and unique restaurants.
So, I'm here in the Hillcrest neighborhood
to check out a joint that has healthy, hearty comfort food.
This is the Crest Café.
MAN: This neighborhood is sort of a 24-hour neighborhood,
and that's the same here at the Crest.
He's your crème brûlée French toast.
You can have any dish on the menu
at any time of day.
Butter burger with fries
and a pulled pork with cottage cheese.
[ Bell dings ]
Up. Let's go.
"Wow, what do I want? I mean, that looks good. That looks good."
And it's just like you're amongst family.
FIERI: 'Cause you are.
This joint's been run by the same family since '85,
and today, owners Cecelia Moreno and Chef Ruben Medina are
leading the charge.
You guys are cousins?
We are.
Ruben actually grew up with my grandparents
in San Diego.
FIERI: And Grandma's the one responsible
for teaching Ruben how to cook.
FIERI: So, she came in and saw the recipes
that she taught you how to make, and...
She okayed them.
She okayed them?
Yes.
So, you have Grandma's seal of approval?
Yes.
Even for recipes he came up with all by himself,
like the chicken-apple hash, pumpkin-gingerbread pancakes,
or this straight-up, out-of-bounds sweet treat.
I've got a crème brûlée French toast up.
It's totally just like getting dessert for breakfast.
It's absolutely fantastic.
Let's get into making this.
Heavy cream.
I'm over here just checking the bacon, buddy.
Ricotta cheese.
Honey.
Darling.
Sweetheart.
Vanilla, orange zest.
And this is all gonna go
for the crème brûlée French toast?
Got it.
What are we making?
Crème brûlée sauce.
So, we melt butter, brown sugar.
Then you add the maple syrup.
So, you mix all this till the sauce thickens.
Then you add the vanilla.
Make a nice little caramel?
Yep.
And reduce by about what --
A third.
All right, so, this is done. The whipped cream's done.
Now we make the French toast.
Okay.
What are we gonna use? What type of bread?
Challah bread?
Challah bread.
Holla!
Challah.
[ Chuckles ]
Okay.
The dredge for the crème brûlée French toast.
Okay.
Scrambled eggs.
Heavy cream.
Cinnamon and sugar.
Vanilla extract.
Mix it all up.
Slice the bread.
We're gonna add a little bit of oil.
And then we're gonna let it cook.
So, it gets a little crust on both sides.
Okay, so, we cut it up diagonally.
Then we're gonna hit it with the, uh...
Whipped cream.
Fresh strawberries.
And then the crème brûlée sauce.
That's it, huh?
Pretty good.
I mean, that's half dessert, half breakfast.
It's excellent. Right amount of French toast.
Right thickness of it.
It's not soggy. Not too sweet.
The whipped cream with the ricotta in it...
gives it a richness and a little bit of tang
with the zest of the orange.
It's a great balance.
Good job, buddy.
Thanks, Guy.
Appreciate it.
I'm impressed.
Crème brûlée French toast up.
Have you tried the crème brûlée French toast?
Absolutely.
Ridiculous.
I can't get enough of it.
We never rest on our laurels.
I always like to try new things,
and then I have to see
if he would like to execute it.
FIERI: The results? You got it --
more outrageousness, like this monster.
I have your butter burger.
It's the juiciest hamburger you can ever imagine.
All right, what are we making?
We're making the butter for the butter burger.
So, literally, there's butter in a burger?
Yes. One block.
Fresh basil, fresh parsley.
Fresh tarragon, fresh garlic.
Cayenne.
A little salt and pepper.
Then we're gonna whisk it all up.
So, the butter's got to be room temperature.
Otherwise, you got yourself a big mess.
That's right.
So, we'll let this set up?
I'm gonna grab some plastic wrap.
Put the butter on the plastic wrap,
and you just roll it.
And then you put it in the refrigerator so it sets.
Right, so it hardens up.
Now we're going to stuff butter in a burger.
This is our herb butter.
Yes.
Take off some of the meat.
Put the butter in the burger.
Yeah, the butter.
And hide it.
And you're gonna cook this on the flattop?
No, on the broiler.
Really?
Yeah.
This is gonna be interesting.
A little more butter?
Yep, a little bit more butter.
And then the cheese.
Once the cheese melts,
then we'll put it on the bun like that.
Then we're gonna add the garlic mayo to the cheese.
Whoa!
Watch this, ladies and gentlemen.
This is a level of juice
you probably haven't seen on a burger.
Making it rain up in here.
[ Chuckles ]
Where's the umbrellas at?
[ Chuckles ]
Wow.
That is juicy.
It has tons of flavor.
That's ridiculous, what you're doing.
When it says, "butter burger," take the dude's word for it.
Nice job.
Thanks.
Excellent burger.
Thanks, Guy.
Ends up being the juiciest thing you'd ever had.
Got a butter burger.
Did they give you, like, a poncho or a parka
that you could just...?
[ Laughs ]
You're scratch-making your food.
You take a tremendous amount of pride.
The only thing that you're gonna have a concern with is
you're gonna need a [Whispering] little bit larger place --
a little bit bigger.
You think?
Yeah.
I don't know. Small's kind of sweet.
Oh, yeah?
FIERI: Coming up...
Let's get into this sandwich.
...we're headed
to San Francisco, California...
Real-deal dogs.
for the old hot dog...
Whoa!
and chicken show.
It should say "Show Chicken."
So, I'm here in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco,
right on the corner of Market and Golden Gate,
to check out a hot dog-joint -- Not just any hot dog joint.
I mean, this is San Francisco.
They love food in this town.
This place, they're scratch-making the mustard,
the ketchup, and the gourmet dogs.
This is Show Dogs.
Wild-boar sausage.
I love hot dogs, so finding a place like this was awesome.
And the all-beef dog.
This is definitely not your average hot dog.
Every dish has a different twist to it.
FIERI: 'Cause owner John Clark isn't just a businessman.
He's a flat-out food dude.
My background as a chef is to make everything in-house.
It's the opposite of fast food.
So, he brought in Chef Seth Carter...
Polish dog. Order up.
...and together, they've created a menu
full of scratch-made sodas, sauces, and sides
to pair with their gourmet dogs and sandwiches,
like this high-end clucker.
Fried-chicken sandwich. Order up.
It is so tasty. It's so good.
We are making the spice mixture
that we use to marinate the chicken
for the fried-chicken sandwich.
So, we have kosher salt. Vinegar power.
Vinegar powder?
Vinegar powder.
Onion powder.
Madras curry powder.
Turmeric.
Garlic powder.
Black pepper.
Toasted ground cumin.
Bring it together?
Bring it together.
We have grape-seed oil.
We're gonna put some of that over the chicken...
Look at that beautiful color on that grape-seed oil.
...and spoon some of the marinade over it.
And then we're gonna mix it up.
How long are we gonna let this marinate?
A couple hours.
We got our marinated chicken.
We're gonna add the salt to the flour.
A.P. flour?
A.P. flour.
Okay.
All right.
Chicken -- We put in the flour.
Get it in the buttermilk.
Flour sticks to the chicken.
Buttermilk sticks to the flour.
And back into the flour.
And that's all she wrote?
That's all she wrote.
We're gonna fry this for about two minutes,
and then we'll be ready to go.
We take the bottom bun,
slather it with our lemon-cayenne aioli
that we make here in-house.
Slather?
Slather. It's a very specific word.
Our house-made coleslaw.
Our pickled ginger that we also make in-house.
[ Whistles ]
There's our fried chicken.
And slather this bun
with our lemon-cayenne aioli again.
And there we go.
Let's get into this sandwich.
Whew!
Shut the front door!
That fried chicken is out-of-bounds.
Yeah.
This is -- Whoa.
There's flavor all over the board on this one.
That's like a Pink Floyd concert, man.
[ Laughs ]
Classic.
It is a classic, but wow.
Yes.
The crunch from the chicken and the saltiness to it is
just perfectly in balance.
That is an awesome fried-chicken sandwich.
Mmm!
Thank you.
It should say "Show Chicken."
[ Laughs ]
Here's the fried-chicken sandwich.
Out of the chicken sandwiches I've had,
this is, by far, my favorite.
Pretty redunkulous.
Yeah.
This chicken I almost ate off his plate
'cause it's so good.
FIERI: And while the food is definitely the star here,
it's not the only show in town...
MAN: The entertainment.
It's just going down all the time?
Oh, yeah. It's a great part of town.
...'cause the windows in this triangle-shaped joint
give a 180-degree glimpse
of some of San Francisco's finest...
Yo!
This is a very, um, flavorful neighborhood.
Lively.
...which makes it the perfect backdrop
for their funky dogs,
like this North-African sausage...
MAN: Here's your lamb merguez.
...topped with a custom-made mustard.
It's delicious.
All right, Chef. So, what are we making?
We're gonna make our house-made Dijon-style mustard
that we're gonna use on our lamb-merguez sausage.
Got it.
The first thing we're gonna do is
we're going to take our raw, organic,
yellow mustard seeds.
They're going to soak for about two days.
We're gonna pour them into our little dish here.
We've got champagne vinegar.
We've got our Chardonnay.
Chardonnay?
Chardonnay.
Raw, organic sugar.
Organic garlic powder.
And, of course, our kosher salt.
Mustard needs lots of salt.
Stir this up.
Here we go.
[ Blender whirring ]
We will let it cure for a day or so.
Then we'll blend it again.
Mmm.
Exactly.
A lot of work just for mustard.
Oh, it is.
All for lamb sausage.
All for the love of mustard and sausages.
So, we've made the mustard.
Now it is time for the sausage.
We're gonna cut our bread
so we can fit the merguez in there.
We're gonna toast that bun.
We're gonna grab a sausage.
FIERI: Onto the grill.
Onto the grill.
Look at that bad boy.
This is the lamb sausage.
Moroccan spices, lamb,
a little pork.
We've got our house-made mustard.
FIERI: Twice-blended.
The twice-blended Dijon-style mustard.
We've got our fig chutney.
And top it off with a little bit of wild arugula.
Served with some pickles.
House-made?
House-made pickles.
Of course.
Whoa!
Got a little kick there.
Yep.
You need that chutney.
Now I understand the chutney side of things.
You got a kick from that sausage.
Mustard's perfect -- right on point.
But that sweetness of the Mission-fig chutney
really comes in and saves the day.
Otherwise, your palate would be getting rocked.
Balance. Yeah.
Mmm. Nice bun.
That's a gourmet dog, man.
Excellent. Nice job.
Thank you very much.
I need a lamb merguez.
I really thought when I came down here
I was gonna get a great dog, which I did.
Chicken sandwich is out-of-bounds,
and the window show is unbelievable.
Come with a sense of humor and an open mind,
and it's great.
FIERI: Up next...
WILSON: It goes in for a month.
A what?
A month.
We're headed to Portland, Oregon...
Magic.
for old-school recipes...
Man has hash issues.
...treated with some real respect.
Dig in with your real military surplus
from World War II.
Actually, that knife cuts.
I'm here in northwest Portland, Oregon,
right by the industrial area.
Now, here's the idea --
You cruise into an area like this,
and you find out where the local workers are eating.
That's when you get the real-deal grub,
and I hear one of those joints is right here
at the Industrial Café and Saloon.
Western with sweet-potato fries up.
Pure comfort food.
Chipped beef on toast.
It's not a fancy restaurant, but you can come here anytime.
FIERI: Before shift, noon whistle, or even quitting time.
WOMAN: There's a lot of manufacturing that goes on
right here in the neighborhood.
Galvanizers, heavy manufacturers.
FIERI: Guys like Russ and Hawley Hubbard,
a father-and-son team who run the shop across the street.
RUSS: I am a builder/developer,
and we decided to build apartments here,
and I thought,
"Well, this area needs a nice restaurant."
FIERI: So, in 2004, they took matters into their own hands.
Russ built the joint.
Hawley machined the interior,
and Chef John Wilson created a menu for hearty appetites.
It's pretty much all for the working class around here.
FIERI: Which sticks to their DIY attitude.
We make all of our own food in-house.
We raise our own beef.
FIERI: What's the name of the cattle ranch?
Lucky Tough Land and Cattle.
[ Cow moos ]
FIERI: So it's no surprise they build a corned-beef hash
from the ground up.
You make your own corned beef for the corned-beef hash?
Yes.
Fire it up.
A little kosher salt.
Some curing salt, here.
It has maple syrup and brown sugar in it.
Peppercorns. Pickling spice.
Pickling spice itself.
Coriander.
Clove?
Yep.
Allspice.
A bunch of bay leaves.
Chili flakes.
And fresh garlic.
Gonna let this all simmer, steep for how long?
For about an hour or so.
And we have a brisket.
We trim a lot of the fat off.
We're gonna brine it?
Yes.
How long is it gonna brine?
It goes in for a month.
A what?
A month.
FIERI: Then roast it off in a 400-degree oven
for about two hours.
And now we're gonna begin making our corned-beef hash.
Do it.
[ Machine whirring ]
I should try that.
Throw some potatoes in here.
That's good corned beef.
[ Machine whirring ]
That's corned beef dusted with potato.
Caramelized onions and some peppers.
Green onions, roast garlic,
a little secret ingredient -- nutmeg.
You're taking hash to another hash-alistic level.
Trying.
Salt and some ground pepper.
Now, is this gonna be cooked on a flattop?
I have a special, little hash pan
that I've been seasoning over a few years, now,
so it's really nice -- getting nice and crispy.
Man has hash issues if he's got
his own little, special hash pan.
[ Dramatic music plays ]
Nice crispiness on that.
Good-looking hash, kid.
Whoo! Lookit! Here they come!
Your favorite.
And there we go.
Oh, look!
[ Chuckles ]
[ Chuckles ]
Dude, that's some good hash.
A little caramelized garlic in there.
Yeah.
Roasted garlic in there.
So, you're getting that texture.
It's not all corned beef.
Then you get the tenderness
of the onions and the bell peppers,
a little bit of the green onion.
Get that freshness.
And just enough potatoes to legitimize it.
That's real-deal hash.
Nicely done. And you know what made it?
That wicked little skillet.
It's got a nice outer crust.
WOMAN: You get the taste of the meat
without overpowering everything else.
This showcases the industrial area.
The steel's all around you.
This is your doing?
Yeah, most of the steelwork here is.
We went into Dumpsters and picked the gears up.
I would give him a sketch and say, "Let's build it."
So, you're a Dumpster-diving, restaurant-owning father
of a metal-working wizard?
Yes.
FIERI: Add "lover of stick-to-your-ribs food" to that list.
Chipped beef up.
And when we come back,
we're reconstructing the classic working-man's meal.
That's one of the most gourmet chipped beef I think I've ever had.
FIERI: We've got the Camaro parked
at the Industrial Café and Saloon in northwest Portland,
a place that more than lives up to its name.
Hash up.
Here, you've got Chef John Wilson busy working
with the stick-to-your-ribs dishes...
Western with sweet potatoes.
...including one that's a stand-out shout-out
to the working man.
Chipped beef up.
You don't see chipped beef on toast very often.
FIERI: All right, what are we on to now?
We're gonna slice up our chipped beef here.
A locally sourced beef product that's dry-aged, smoked.
It's smoky.
Okay, next up?
We're gonna make the cream sauce for it.
A little oil here, shallots.
Get some chopped garlic. Fresh rosemary.
Who's the tattoo?
It's my grandpa.
He got that exact tattoo in World War II.
I like it.
Add our cream in here.
Let all those herbs steep there in that cream.
Let it simmer for about 20 minutes or so.
We got some roux.
And then after that's all done, you're gonna strain that?
Yeah, we strain it all out.
We got our sourdough toast.
Got bubble magic over there.
Just let all that cream sauce soak up into that sourdough.
A little green. That way, it's healthy.
Paprika.
Dig in with your military surplus.
Real military surplus from World War II.
Actually, that knife cuts.
I'm stacking it up for maximum shove-age.
How's it stack up?
It's great.
Chewiness of the sourdough.
Nice little cream sauce.
Salty smoked beef.
Stick-to-your-ribs.
Yeah.
That's one of the most gourmet chipped beef
that I think I've ever had.
You should be proud of that one.
Thank you.
It's got a nice, little comfortable richness to it.
It's just one of my favorites. I love it.
[ Indistinct conversations ]
Brother, this is a New York City bar.
I mean, this could be any club in L.A. in a heartbeat.
It's not a rough, redneck bar.
You find single women in here. [ Chuckles ]
"You'll find single women in here."
I love it.
So, that's it for this edition
of "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives."
If you want to check out some of the recipes
for the joints we visit, go to foodnetwork.com.
I'll be looking for you next time
on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives."
[ Whistling ]
[ Laughter ]