You know, people are asking me all the time,
"Hey, Guy, that one joint you checked out in that one city
when you were doing Triple D, how they doing?"
You know, I don't know. We should check it out.
[engine revving]
Over the years, I've seen and tasted it all.
This is ridiculous, dude.
But it turns out, it was only the beginning
'cause Triple D joints have been blowing up
and we're going back to see what's cooking.
Like on this trip.
It's a what what of culinary style...
Did you just watch that?
...all across the country.
I didn't see these on the menu when I was there.
-[laughter] -Mm.
They're rolling them in Orlando, Florida.
You can get a bucket of balls, babe.
Grilling them in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Really, don't ever come here.
You will never be satisfied with a grilled cheese you make at home.
And in Denver, Colorado...
That's a good looking rub.
...it's a trifecta of smoking...
Mm.
...frying...
That's the most tot-a-listic.
...and sauteing.
One of the best Triple D experiences I've had.
[man] Pick it up.
[speaking Italian]
[in English] Familiar faces, new places and more off the hook flavors.
This is Triple D Nation.
Orlando, Florida is a melting pot of food possibilities.
I'm thinking mofongo, maybe we're gonna get some ceviche,
could be a Cuban sandwich.
But what my buddy Justin Warner's list didn't include back in 2017
was this one stop meatball emporium.
He's definitely not making that mistake again.
This is The Meatball Stoppe.
Three meatballs. Arancini, crab, polenta.
It serves some of the best meatballs.
You could come here a thousand times
and have a thousand different combinations.
Sausage, pepper and onion. Triple D smash.
I saw Guy come here. I was like, "Oh, man.
That's gotta be the spot for me."
[Isabella] Polenta balls. Order up.
Best kept secret in central Florida, but it's not a secret anymore.
[Guy] That's because I may have spilled the beans
about Chef Isabella Morgia di Vicari and her husband, Jeff.
Although she's not one to keep quiet about things either.
My family owned and operated six Italian restaurants in Orlando since 1972.
We had Sorrento's, we had Napoli's Pizza, we had Nemo's.
We had Pizza Wheel, we have Florentina.
Ma, what did I leave out? Never mind, Ma. Don't answer.
-All right? [chuckles] -Holy moly.
Has she calmed down?
She hasn't slowed down a bit.
[Guy] We go into Triple D there.
Bring Justin Warner with me.
The two of us could barely keep up with you.
-And ask me what the white bean ragu is? -I can't even handle it.
Oh, my gosh. It's my Nonna's pasta fagioli without the pasta.
-Where were you with that one? -[laughs]
Sorry.
Crispy ravioli.
When I would run into people that'd say, "That meatball lady,
she really that much?" I'm like, "Oh, gees.
Bro, you don't even know the half of how much... She loves people."
[speaking Italian]
[in English] You love food.
Where's my fork? I'm starving.
You are so proud to be Italian.
What are we making first?
[Isabella] Nonna's traditional meatballs.
Does Nonna know that you're using all these recipes
and giving them away on TV right now?
All day long, sweetheart.
-Okay, here we go. -[Isabella] Our traditional meatballs.
Fresh garlic. We're gonna add the basil, parsley,
a little bit of water.
All right. Ground chuck.
Ground pork, garlic and fresh herbs.
Now I have eggs, milk, breadcrumbs,
Romano cheese, cayenne, kosher salt.
Here we go. Form the balls with my scoop.
And we'll bake them in the oven for 12 minutes at 400 degrees.
Before we serve the meatballs, we simmer them
in roasted tomato sauce and chicken stock
-for 45 minutes. -[Guy] Okay.
What's this concoction?
-This is creamy polenta. -[Guy] Got it.
[Isabella] And the secret is I hit it with the immersion blender.
Add these beautiful meatballs.
It's really good. It's a cross between light and dense.
I've never had polenta immersioned blend.
-No. No, no, no. -Have you?
-It's a good thing. -[Isabella] Is it?
-Yeah. -It's delicious.
[Isabella] Nonna's traditional over creamy polenta.
Oh, my gosh. It makes you feel like you're back in Italy.
So beyond delicious.
Polenta balls. Order up.
I didn't see these on the menu when I was there.
This is our polenta balls.
-[Guy] Same polenta? -Same exact polenta.
-So when this polenta's done, we reuse it. -Yeah.
I've never seen polenta as a meatball, and it tastes great.
Start with boiling water, veggie stock,
stick of butter, kosher salt, milk.
Let this melt just a little bit.
Add our fine cornmeal.
The key is you've got to keep stirring until this is perfectly creamy.
Add Pecorino Romano. We are ready to go.
So I have cornmeal and I'm gonna add kosher salt, cayenne pepper.
I have onion powder and garlic powder.
Just give that a mix.
Just gonna take this creamy polenta, add this mozzarella.
Now we're gonna make the balls.
We're gonna dredge.
Four minutes in the fryer.
They're nice and golden.
This is the roasted tomato sauce.
Fresh Pecorino Romano, fresh Italian parsley.
And these are our creamy polenta balls.
The creamy polenta. Good amount of cheese in it.
This is delicious. Nice and light and airy.
Here are your polenta balls.
It's like Italian grits.
Creamy on the inside, and it's crispy on the outside.
We have a five ball sampler.
What's new in the world of meatballs?
I mean, meatballs with these people are not just meatballs.
-[Jeff] Thirteen of 'em. -Thirteen.
We got 13 balls now.
Two arancini, one crab.
Lots of different choices.
I love their buffalo chicken meatball.
The one that I love is the crabcake. Really delicious.
-[Isabella] Or... -Okay, or?
You can get a bucket of balls, babe.
-A bucket of balls. -[Isabella] Oh, yeah.
-Not just at the driving range anymore. -No, no, no.
[Guy] And coming up...
The lentils is the real kicker to this.
...I'm about to get a taste of what's filling up those buckets.
-Hold onto your boots for this one, babe. -Okay.
This is something to write home about.
So I'm here in Orlando, Florida right off of the 408.
Right between the Space Coast and the theme parks.
[Guy] Where Chef Warner and I got a very thorough explanation
of Italian cooking.
You know, we really are the non-traditional
traditional Italian restaurant.
I can get behind non-traditional traditional.
[man] Drop me four fried eggs, please.
Somebody's having a party and they can get a bucket of balls.
They can get Nonna's, they can get the polenta.
-People all the time ask me which is your favorite? -[Guy] Which is your favorite?
-That's what I was saying. -[Isabella] All right.
My favorite is definitely the veggie meatball.
It just melts in your mouth.
-So now we're into vegetarian meatballs. -Yes.
We got carrots, mushrooms, white onions,
red onions, garlic, celery.
I'm gonna roast these 400, about 30 minutes.
[Guy] Now we're going to the food processor.
-I'm a little skeptical with this. -Yes.
I've had more bad vegetarian meatballs than I've had good.
[Isabella] I'm gonna puree half the vegetables with basil and half a parsley.
Okay. Beautiful cooked lentils.
-Mental with my lentil. -[Isabella] See?
We're gonna throw this in.
Add the egg, lemon and oil mixture.
Oregano, kosher salt, breadcrumbs and Romano.
Four hundred, 12 minutes, darling.
-Pesto, fresh Italian parsley. -Bon appetit.
They're super tender.
-There's a creaminess to it. There's a... -Silky.
-Yep. -Silky.
This is something to write home about.
Thank you.
Chicken marsala over creamy polenta.
-What's this one? Holy moly. -This is the chicken marsala meatball.
If you love mushrooms, you'll definitely enjoy that dish.
So break it down. How do you make it?
[Isabella] Add the basil and the garlic,
oregano, black pepper, kosher salt, garlic powder.
Gonna add the milk, Pecorino Romano, eggs.
Bake it 400, 12 to 14 minutes.
Now we're making the rich marsala sauce.
Mushrooms, garlic and the onions minced,
cayenne, kosher salt.
We're gonna mix this up. We're going right into the oven with this.
Four hundred degrees. Thirty minutes.
Now we're gonna add tomato paste,
butter, beef stock and a little bit of cornstarch.
Marsala. Back in the oven. Thirty minutes.
Over creamy polenta.
-[Guy] Okay. -Hold onto your boots, Guy.
That's Nonna's.
And that meatball is tender, it's not dense.
You've got a great panade in there.
-Delicious. -Grazie.
[server] Chicken marsala over polenta.
You can tell they really took time to actually make that sauce.
And the way that it melds in with the actual meatball,
it's an explosion in your mouth.
Absolutely delicious.
Crispy ravioli with the roasted tomato sauce.
Anything you can imagine in terms of good Italian food, you can get right here.
You're doing meatballs in a way that I haven't seen...
-[both] Anywhere. -[Guy] Yeah.
And I think that you probably even have room to grow with your crazy imagination.
-You guys are awesome. -Grazie, love.
If you're having a bad day, just come see her.
Ah, grazie.
[Guy] And coming up in Denver, Colorado...
That's ridiculous.
...a neighborhood joint...
That's about as righteous as you'll find them.
...serving not so standard bar food.
Over medium egg if you're smart.
[Guy] It was 2013,
I was in the Highlands neighborhood of Denver, Colorado
at a joint that I apparently had a lot to say about.
I'm here to check out a joint that I hear has the most real deal, off the hook,
outrageous bar food you could find.
And those superlatives still apply.
This is Highland Tavern.
Frank's wings tossed for Triple-D Nation.
I saw it on Triple D and this place is now, like, a favorite of mine.
When Guy came the first time, I was here.
This is by far one of my favorite sandwiches around.
They've done a great job at maintaining the quality of the food.
It's neighborhoody, but it has, like, gourmet food almost.
[Guy] That's because Brian Sommatino and Andy Stutz
brought in a fine dining chef to take the menu up a notch back in 2006.
Is that what you guys wanted this to be?
Neighborhood bar, really great food.
There's no reason to not have good quality food.
Jeremy McMinn was our original chef.
He brought so much to the table. Really put on the map.
-We're gonna make our Bombshell. -Get it going.
[Jeremy] Trim this guy up. We're gonna cut this in half.
There we go.
Kosher salt, some brown sugar, white sugar.
Some pink salt, get some honey going into this.
Dump our water in here.
Sashay bag.
Bring this up to a boil.
I really like how this cleans out the system.
[Jeremy] Cool this down with some ice.
-[Guy] You gonna let this brine for seven days? -[Jeremy] Ah, 15 days.
-Fifteen days. -[Jeremy] Fifteen days.
-[Guy] Wow, this thing's gonna be neon pink. -[Jeremy] Yeah.
Now go with the dry rub?
Granulated garlic, ground coriander, ground black pepper.
Give this a little stir.
It's a good looking rub.
Now how long is this gonna go here on the big chief?
[Jeremy] About four hours.
-[Guy] Like a glove. -[Jeremy] Top loader.
This is super premium.
You're corning the beef in your restaurant
and then taking the pastrami by doing the rub
and smoking it and then steaming it for service.
I mean, when people see this, [whistles] lights out.
Big smoker coming your way.
We would do three briskets at a time.
We've got a bigger smoker, got a bigger oven.
-Now we're doing four times the amount of sandwiches. -Four times.
So we're in the thick of things now.
[Jeremy] First, we're gonna butter and toast our rye bread.
Drop our pastrami, put our Swiss cheese down.
Pastrami jus.
That will steam. Rye bread gets a little brown mustard.
-Goes on the sandwich. -Look at that.
[Jeremy] Plate this up over here.
Over medium egg. If you're smart.
[crickets chirping]
Gets a little slaw.
-It's the Bombshell. -Wow.
Mm.
I've eaten at some of the greatest delis in the world
and that's about as righteous as you'll find them.
[man] Bombshell.
The Bombshell sandwich is delicious.
It is packed with meat.
I was the chef when Guy was here
and the food is just like I left it, it's amazing.
Bowl of green chili.
We've had Luis for about a decade now
and Luis brings his own recipes and flavors.
And yet, we still have Jeremy's K-town rib tips.
The K-town ribs, the spices are just delicious.
I will just make a rub for the brined pork ribs.
I'm starting with the Korean chili flakes,
garlic powder, cumin, coriander, ginger powder,
sesame seed, mustard powder and black pepper.
Okay.
Just so like this on top.
Throw in the smoker for four hours.
Okay, so after that, just put a little bit of water down.
Braise in the oven for two hours.
This is the meat. Cool it overnight.
Cut the small pieces.
Put the ribs on the pan.
After that, put the K-town barbecue sauce.
Onion, garlic, ginger, black pepper.
Sesame oil, sugar, soy sauce,
and our cilantro sauce.
This is the honey. Apple juice, gochujang chili paste.
Now I just cook for two hours at medium.
This will coat all the meat.
This is, uh, kimchi.
Napa cabbage, water, put the salt altogether.
Put in the cooler for 24 hours.
Strain all the water, mix it altogether ingredients.
Chopped garlic, Korean chili flake, lime juice, green onions.
This is the gochujang chili paste.
Mix it altogether.
Throw it in the walk-in for 10 days.
This is the K-town ribs.
The K-town ribs are really, really good.
They have a bite and they are so tender.
[man] They just come off the bone. The kimchi in there.
I actually like taking the pork rinds and put a little kimchi on it.
The pork rinds here are amazing.
We're gonna make the chili lime salt mix.
We got our lime salt, ground chili flake, chili powder.
A little mix.
-Season 'em. -[Guy chuckles]
That's ridiculous.
-[Jeremy] There you go. -Look at that.
[crunching]
-Dude, you killed this. -[Jeremy] Thanks.
[server] Pork rinds.
All the food here is good.
Where are those tots that Guy loves so much?
The tots are one of my favorite dishes
and that's what drew me in here.
Out of all the house made tots that I've had,
mine included, that's the most tot-a-listic.
We still make the tater tots, the pork rinds all from scratch.
That's who we are and that's not gonna change.
Tavern dip in the window.
The building we're in is an old Coors brewing building?
Built in 1901 by Coors.
[man] It was a great place before Guy showed up and after that,
it's gotten better and better and better.
One of the best Triple-D experiences I've had. That's saying a lot.
And coming up...
Perfectly golden brown, awesome crunch texture to it.
...a grilled cheese truck in Charlotte, North Carolina...
-The meltiness or that... -Meltiness.
...is now a permanent place
with even more outrageous options.
It's about as close to a grilled cheese as I am an astronaut.
Back in 2016,
I was looking for this one food truck in Charlotte, North Carolina.
It kind of sounds like it's a Mexican food truck,
but people tell me, "No, it is the real deal grilled cheese."
Now they've traded a food truck for a food hall.
Where they're serving up grilled cheeses in ways you've never seen before.
This is Papi Queso.
Got a Pig Mac coming up.
Papi Queso makes really elevated and gourmet grilled cheeses.
Buffalo chicken grilled cheese in the window.
They put things in them that I would never think to put in there.
[Brian] Mushroom gruyere.
Guy Fieri really reignited the grilled cheese phenomenon here in Charlotte.
[Guy] And the big cheese behind that melty movement
is Chef Brian Stockholm, along with his wife Shelley.
What makes a grilled cheese?
The texture between the crunch and that ooey, gooey center
-and then the meltiness or that... -Meltiness.
[sensual music playing]
We were trying to find a food that everybody could relate to.
We just didn't realize how much everybody really loves grilled cheese.
There's no other grilled cheese like it.
The way they combine it and smash it, it's just cooked perfect.
One of my favorite grilled cheese is the Pig Mac.
[Guy] This doesn't look like the beginning of grilled cheese.
We're gonna make the rub for our pork.
Salt, brown sugar, sugar in the raw.
-Black pepper, espresso. -Espresso.
[Brian] Cocoa powder, cayenne pepper.
Garlic powder, a little cinnamon, ground coriander seed,
ground cumin seed.
Next we're gonna rub the butt and we'll take it straight to the smoker.
220 to 230, 10 to 12 hours.
-[Guy] Butt's done. -We're just gonna pull it.
We're gonna hit it with apple cider vinegar.
ACV, man.
[Brian] And then we make an espresso barbecue sauce.
Awesome. Look at that.
I can't believe the sandwich will be good at all with that going in it.
[Brian] Butter our bread.
It's a little whipped European butter.
[in posh accent] We're gonna put some European butter upon it.
Just a touch of mayonnaise.
-Cheddar cheese. Reserve macaroni and cheese. -[Guy] Okay.
A little bit of fresh herbs. Our caramelized bourbon onions.
Pulled pork and then just a little touch of that espresso barbecue sauce.
Did you just watch that?
That is the most organized setup of a grilled cheese
-I've ever seen. -Thank you.
It's perfectly golden brown.
It's got awesome crunch texture to it.
-A little finishing salt. -Of course.
Look at that.
-Give me a moment. -[chuckles]
That's ridiculous, dude.
Don't ever come here.
You will never be satisfied with a grilled cheese you make at home.
[Brian] Pig Mac up for Triple D Nation.
If you've had the Pig Mac, you would for sure love the Texas Cheesesteak.
Has the same rubs as the Pig Mac. It's the best.
We're gonna make the rub for the brisket
that goes in our Texas Cheesesteak grilled cheese.
We have our base rub that we did with Guy.
We add a little ancho pasilla and dried New Mexico red chiles.
Give that a mix.
We're just gonna rub our brisket.
We're gonna smoke it at 250 overnight for about 18 hours.
Dice up our brisket, a little oil.
Brisket goes down, Vidalia onions.
Poblano peppers, salt and pepper.
Start with our beautiful pain de mie.
Garlic aioli, provolone cheese, white American for creaminess.
Add fresh herbs.
Peppers and onions. Then that beautiful brisket.
We're gonna take it to the grill. Five minutes on each side.
Plate it with some of our beautiful house made pickles.
Ready to go.
Texas cheesesteak.
[man] It's got this really good smoked tender, juicy brisket.
The garlic mayonnaise is fire on it.
Brisket's one of my favorite things. It was perfect.
This is about as gourmet of a grilled cheese truck I've ever seen in my life.
It is, but at the same time, we still want it to still be a grilled cheese.
-Yeah, yeah. That's good. Just keep lying to yourself. -[chuckles]
Papi Queso makes nothing simple.
-[server] Mushroom gruyere and pickles. -[woman] Thank you.
-Really? -[Brian chuckles]
[Guy] It's about as close to a grilled cheese
as I am to an astronaut.
-A little tomato soup to dip it in. -Oh, stop.
Out of all the grilled cheese I ever had, that's the peak.
And the soup. You're dangerous.
After the exposure of Triple D, everything just blossomed.
It put us in a whole other level.
They got so popular they moved to a food hall.
Now they have their physical location.
[Brian] We opened our new restaurant, Harriet's Hamburgers,
in the same food hall. It's literally a few steps down.
Man, that is a platinum album right there.
-I could hear that playing on the Flavortown station. -[chuckles]
Coming to the food hall, we kept all the original sandwiches.
And then we continued to just add to those.
We've got it all the way up to seven now.
There's really nothing you can't do with grilled cheese.
They've got the Mac Melt, the Bacon Jalapeno.
The Bacon Jalapeno is sweet from the pepper jelly
and a little bit kick from the jalapenos.
It's just a really good sandwich.
We're going to make the pepper jelly for the Bacon Jalapeno.
So we're gonna start with a mixture of peppers.
It's a good mix of sweet and spicy peppers.
Add the cane sugar, champagne vinegar, citric acid.
Put it on a low simmer for about six hours.
And it gets to a nice, thick jelly.
Pain de mie, aged white cheddar cheese,
sharp white American cheese,
pepper jelly, red onions,
fresh jalapenos and then little cheese curds.
Now we add the bacon.
Take it to the grill.
Five minutes on each side.
Order up. Bacon Jalapeno grilled cheese.
[man] You get the ting of the jalapeno,
saltiness of the bacon.
And then in comes the pepper jelly to save the day.
That's what makes that sandwich.
Walking in. Mushroom Gruyere, tomato soup.
Brian is a highly trained chef.
Bringing all his training to something seemingly so simple,
but he amps it up.
Makes it very special.
[Guy] Dude, you delivered.
Out of bounds. Watch out for this guy.
[bell ringing]
New ticket in.
Pork neck green chili for Guy.
So that's it for this road trip, folks.
That's the arancini coming out.
Walking in. Guy's favorite.
[all exclaiming]
But we'll be catching up with more familiar faces and places...
All right, gentlemen.
Here are your polenta balls.
-Enjoy. -Thank you.
I did not forget the cannolis this time!
[laughing] Bye.
...next time on Triple D Nation.
-Go ahead. -[both] Mix the dry ingredients.
[crew laughing]
[beatboxing]
-Those dry ingredients, ingredients. -Dry, dry, dry ingredients.
-Wicky, wicky, wooky. -[chuckles]