I'm Guy Fieri
and we're rolling out, looking for America's greatest diners, drive-ins and dives.
This trip...
Thank you. Gosh, thank you.
...we're covering the bases...
Boom, boom, boom.
...with grand slam sandwiches.
It's spicy, it's creamy, it's fatty.
-Hey, wait, wait, wait, I'm right here. -Oh, sorry.
[Guy] There's a you-gotta-go-try a tri-tip in San Luis Obispo.
Overachiever.
A Boston barbecue super stack from a TOC champ.
-It's an indulgent sandwich. -[Guy] Delicious.
And in New Jersey...
If I let this go any longer, they're gonna...
-Our heads are gonna pop off. -...self-combust.
[Guy] ...burger and bacon minus the meat...
That gave me just like this little, "Wait, wait, wait!"
...but plusing up the taste factor.
You're pioneers. It's flavor through the roof.
That's all right here, right now
on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
[opening theme music playing]
I love what is happening in the food revolution.
I mean, I'm right in the center of it,
and I'm seeing people try different ethnicities of food, styles of cooking.
I mean, really embracing it.
One of my favorites is to see what people are thinking about
vegan and vegetarian cooking.
And it's changed dramatically from what I was eating as a kid in the '70s and '80s.
So here I am at Avon-By-The-Sea in New Jersey,
checking out a place where these two nutritionists that have come together
with this plant-based cafe that is just rocking the town.
This is Seed to Sprout.
-Golden. -Chocolate chip.
Everything on the menu is top notch.
Food that's just really soul-nourishing.
[Cara] Got a chorizo hash bowl up.
They're magicians.
They taught me everything I know about plant-based food.
[Guy] And Alex Mazzucca and Cara Duarr
have been the town's vegan ambassadors
since they opened this shop
in 2012.
-Most of our customers are not vegan at all. -[Cara] No.
-Like maybe 10%. -Our top customers
just want to come here for a delicious meal
that makes them feel really good
that they know is loaded with nutrients.
-[Guy] You cater? -[both] Yes.
It's like in harmony.
It's like a doo wop band.
-We finish each other's sentences constantly. -Yeah.
-Oh, this should be just hysterical then. -It's gonna be great.
[Guy] What are we making today?
Our California burger is our number-one seller.
You got a California burger melt.
[woman] It's got the beet burger,
cashew cream and the greens.
When I first had it here, it was like, wow, this is so good.
We're gonna start by making our beet burger patties.
-Shredded raw beets. -Everything's organic.
[Cara] Cooked brown rice.
Diced yellow onion, raw sunflower seeds.
-The nooch. -Nutritional yeast extract.
Garlic, Italian seasoning, tamari.
-You could have it today or tamari. -Exactly.
Extra virgin olive oil.
Agave nectar, sea salt.
A little black pepper.
Pulp it up a couple of times.
[Guy] It does look like ground beef. I'll give you that much.
[Cara] Yeah, it's pretty wild.
A little mold.
There's no mold on that. We're forming it.
[Cara] Zero mold.
[Guy] In the oven at what temp?
[Cara] 375 for 20 minutes.
-Now we're gonna make our cashew cheese sauce. -Okay.
Organic raw cashews, nutritional yeast.
[Alex] A lot of it.
[Cara] I mean, that's where our cheesy flavor is coming from.
And your jokes.
Obviously.
Sea salt. We use filtered water for everything.
Extra virgin olive oil and apple cider vinegar.
-Drop the hammer, Cole. -Boom!
That's all she wrote.
It sets up in the fridge.
-What do you think? -Is it better than yours?
It's better than mine.
[Alex] Oh!
-It's the ACV. -Needs that acid.
Note to self: "Add ACV."
[Cara] We're gonna build our sandwich.
A homemade coconut butter.
[Guy] What type of bread is this?
Brown rice flour, millet flour, flax.
Hit one side with our cashew cheese sauce,
one side with mashed avocado.
Pickled onions on. Tomato.
Our burger on there. Sprouts.
We just like to get everything kind of warm and married together on the griddle.
When you say it, do you have to go...
-I could try not to. -Okay, try it.
I'm telling you she can't.
-We... -[laughter]
[Cara] Get after it.
Drum roll...
[Guy] I mean, it's delicious.
The cheese is so creamy and the avocado fits so well.
And the patty's got a ton of flavor.
That bread crushes. It's got great crumb.
-Love it. Great job. -Awesome.
[Cara] And we're ready for the griddle.
It's a very fresh take on a burger.
It's got a little earthiness to it from the beets.
-[Guy] The cheese sauce should be illegal. -It really is.
And it melts like on the burger.
[man] These folks have been at it for a long time.
What it's become is a really awesome and beautiful thing.
I live in New York. I travel down every weekend.
-I'm the first person at the door. -That's awesome.
[Alex] Bacon cheddar melt.
I'm having the bacon cheddar melt.
It's marinated tempeh, caramelized onions
and a cashew cheese sauce. I love it.
-[Guy] What's up next? -Bacon cheddar melt.
First, we're gonna make our marinated tempeh.
-That's like the meat on the sandwich. -That's the meat of it.
Get it in boiling water for 20 minutes,
which kind of turns it into a sponge.
Okay, let's make the marinade.
[Cara] Extra virgin olive oil.
Gluten free tamari.
We're doing it today.
Thank you. Gosh, thank you.
[Cara] Agave nectar, nutritional yeast,
ground mustard, black pepper.
The tempeh is expanded.
-[Guy] Dunk them once. -[Alex] Yep.
[Cara] It's gonna soak up all that flavor.
So here's our coconut bacon.
Dark maple syrup.
Liquid smoke.
Tamari, nutritional yeast, sea salt.
-Pour this over our... -[Guy] Dehydrated coconut.
-Yep. -Yep.
[Guy] You can definitely get the liquid smoke.
Yep, you're gonna eat it like that?
-You'll see. -I'll taste it.
That gave me just like this little, "Wait, wait, wait!
Uh, there's some bacon thing there."
We do sell this on our website and at the front counters.
-People buy it from all over the place. -[Cara] Yeah.
-Bags of bacon. -[spookily] All over the place.
Why did you become crazy Doc Brown from Back to the Future?
"Oh, Marty!"
Now we're gonna roast this down.
[Cara] 325, it goes for about 30 minutes.
We stir it every five to six.
-Now we're gonna build our bacon cheddar melt. -Put it together.
[Cara] We've got our marinated tempeh with some extra marinade.
Get our bread ready.
Butter both sides.
That same cashew cheese sauce.
Caramelized onions.
And then we've got our coconut bacon.
Griddle to perfection.
We've got our bacon cheddar melt.
[chuckles nervously]
[laughing]
If I let this go any longer, they're gonna...
-Our heads are gonna pop off. -...self-combust.
[Guy] It's almost like eating a patty melt.
The key to it, in my opinion...
-caramelized onion. -[Alex] Yes.
The tempeh, wow, what a fantastic medium.
I love the spongy technique.
And the bacon.
The smokiness and the balance that you put together with the marinade,
it's flavor through the roof.
Delicious, very creative.
[Alex] Bacon cheddar melt.
That smoky bacon is a perfect addition to that sandwich.
Tempeh, they do it better than anybody else.
[Cara] Got a kimchi rice bowl up.
Nothing comes close to Seed to Sprout. Nothing.
[Guy] You're pioneers.
-[both] Thank you. -You really--
-And they answered together. -[both laughing]
Coming up, we're visiting TOC champ Tiffani Faison...
Everything she does, she does to the next level.
...serving up delicious southern charm.
It's magic. It's so good.
[Guy] ...and bringing real deal barbecue to Boston.
-Textbook Texas book brisket. -Oh...
So I'm here in Boston with the one and only Chef Michael Schlow.
Now, Chef, I know where I'm taking you.
I just don't exactly know where we are.
-Well, we're in the Fenway neighborhood. -[Guy] Okay.
[Michael] It's an emerging neighborhood.
I know you have restaurants all over around here.
[Michael] Yeah, not too far from here we've got to see Seamark.
I'd love to go see his restaurant,
but right now we're on our way to see the TOC champ,
the one and only Chef Tiffani Faison.
And this is Sweet Cheeks.
Four-piece fried chickens, guys.
Three in the window all day. Let's go!
I drive two hours to come here because the food is so good.
[man] The pulled chicken tray.
[woman] We moved here from Texas,
and then we found Sweet Cheeks and it's like coming home.
[Guy] That's because Tournament of Champions champ
and Triple G vet Chef Tiffani Faison
is bringing legit southern flavor
up north to New England.
I've known Tiffani for a long time,
and she's good at everything she does.
Is it a southern menu or is it barbecue?
Both. My mom was from the south,
and this is the food my mom cooked.
When I was homesick, there was nowhere I could eat in Boston
that hit all the, like, home-heart notes that I wanted.
[Guy] What are we gonna cook?
-Fried chicken? -Oh, I love fried chicken.
Four piece with the broccoli.
You can't get this fried chicken anywhere else in Boston.
The meat is really tender and it's seasoned beautifully.
Okay, what are we making, Chef?
A spice rub for our chicken. Salt, chicken powder.
Chicken powder is my favorite.
[Tiffani] Sugar, brown sugar,
onion powder, garlic powder, mustard powder,
cayenne, smoked papri, ancho chili, black pepper.
-[Guy] Got it. -Smells good.
[Tiffani] So now we make the dredge.
Flour, the spice mix that we just made, a little extra salt.
Very lightly flour this chicken.
We just want to cure it in the flour
and take a little bit of the moisture away from the chicken.
-And how long is this gonna sit up? -Twelve hours.
-What's our next step? -[Tiffani] The batter.
Start with some buttermilk, eggs, pickle juice, hot sauce.
-Our chicken rub that we made. -[Guy] Okay.
[Tiffani] So all these guys go into the bath.
This is our same dredge again?
-[Tiffani] Exactly. -[Guy] Okay. Okay, I like this.
[Michael] And what's the trick to getting that good bark?
Keep the liquid on it. You don't let it drain too much.
I want all these little crunchies.
That's fine. We don't knock it off.
I like how you're doing the dry hand, wet hand.
And then I fry my hand and then I dip my hand in ranch.
-And then I just, like, eat it off of my fingers. -[laughing]
-[Guy] How long will this take to cook? -[Tiffani] Eight minutes.
[Guy] And tell me about your mom's famous...
-Broccoli cheese casserole. -[Guy] Broccoli cheese casserole.
-It outsells mac and cheese. -No way.
It is literally cream of mushroom soup.
We put eggs in it. There's mayonnaise.
Mix it together. Diced onions. Broccoli.
-Blanch the broccoli ahead of time? -Yeah, ahead of time.
Tons of cheddar cheese, some cracked black pepper.
Pour this mix into a pan and we cook it for 45 minutes, about 350.
Top it off with some like crumbled crackers,
and then bake it again for another like five minutes.
It's magic. It's so good.
Let's put it together.
[Tiffani] Chicken out of the hot tub.
Then we put our shake on top of it.
We have regular shake and then we have hot shake.
-Oh, I can buy the shake? -You can buy the shake
[Guy] Favorite piece of chicken?
I'm gonna go with a thigh.
[Guy] I am all the thing about the wing.
Look at the crunchy niblet biscuit buttered stuff.
-Mm. -That's delicious.
[Guy] Really juicy. I mean, look at that. It's crying.
-Drippy chicken. -Come on, bring the kids down for some drippy chicken.
That's great, right?
-[Tiffani] You don't like broccoli? -No, it's delicious.
What's delicious about it
is the ratio of everything else to broccoli.
[laughter]
Four-piece mild in the window.
What's your favorite thing on the menu?
Oh, the fried chicken for sure, hands down.
I think it's the breading. And like just the light fry.
The broccoli casserole has got great cheesy flavor.
[man] Buttermilk biscuits.
Is that a bucket of biscuits that just came by here?
It is. With honey-whipped butter.
It's like dessert. It's amazing.
-[Michael] I love these... -Buttermilk biscuit.
-Biscuit is nice, light, flaky. -Isn't that great?
All right, hanging out with the one and only gangster,
the Tournament of Champions champ herself,
Tiffani Faison, Michael Schlow in Boston.
Talk about a fish out of water.
Barbecue here in New England.
[Tiffani] Fresh brisket's coming out of the smoker. Let's go.
-You get the brisket. -The burnt ends and then the sauce.
Don't go anywhere. We got more coming up.
We have regular shake
and then we have hot shake.
Will you shake it for me?
I will shake it for almost anyone if they pay me.
[laughter]
Welcome back to Sweet Cheeks in Boston.
Hanging out with my good friend Chef Michael Schlow
and the one and only TOC champ Chef Tiffani Faison.
She really is the champ.
Everything she does, she does to the next level,
and then also has to just throw her little redheaded twist to it.
Table with farm salad.
It's amazing that Chef Tiffani
was able to bring flavors of the south up here.
Very authentic barbecue.
Big Papi in the window.
Today I had the Big Papi.
It's sliced brisket, fried onion rings, pickled jalapenos.
[man] Mixed with the burnt ends,
Big Papi is a legend here in Boston.
So the sandwich held up to its name.
We're making a sandwich called the Big Papi.
There's a baseball player in this area.
-Like the ball? -Yeah, and the guy and the thing.
-Oh, the touchdown. -Yeah, touchdown, that's it.
When it comes to brisket...
-Do not risk-- -...I really I think you have to go prime.
Don't mess around.
We score it all the way through,
-salt it and pepper. -And liberally.
I'm surprised, though, that you're using a pre-ground pepper.
[Tiffani] It's a mix of pre-ground and toasted and ground.
-I can't get it to like the consistency that I need... -Right.
...to get the bark.
Told you there was gonna be a little redheaded trick in there.
-That I will steal. -[laughs]
[Tiffani] Straight to the smoker.
-[Guy] What kind of wood? -[Tiffani] White oak, for about 12 hours.
About 180 degrees.
We bring it out. We, like, wrap it and we cool it.
We'll slice it and preserve a portion of it for our burnt ends.
-We're doing burnt ends from this? -Yes!
-[Guy] Cubing it out. -Any of our brisket scraps
just go straight into the burnt ends--
[Guy] We don't like to call 'em scraps.
-Any of our, um... -End pieces.
-...the angel's share. -I like "angel's share."
[Tiffani] We cover it in our barbecue sauce.
Let that sit in the oven for about 25 minutes.
[Guy] All right, let's go. Barbecue sauce.
[Tiffani] Worcestershire sauce, white vinegar,
apple juice, ketchup, yellow mustard,
-add a little bit of molasses. -[Guy] There you go.
[Tiffani] Brown sugar, ancho chili powder.
-Paprika, cayenne. -Cumin?
Yep. Dried mustard, coriander, onion powder, garlic powder,
freshly ground black pepper.
And we let this simmer for about 45 minutes.
Once it's ready, we add pineapple juice and citric acid.
What else goes on this Papi?
-Jalapeno goo. -Jalapeno what?
-Goo. -Oh, we got to make some goo.
[Tiffani] Smoked jalapenos, caramelized garlic and onions,
mayonnaise, salt, cream cheese.
-On here. -[blender whirring]
Maybe if you had arthritis, you could smear it on there and make it feel better.
Honestly, I would smear this on anything.
-That's delicious. -At Flavor Town Chiropractic, we recommend...
[both laughing]
-Sore shoulder? Arthritis? -Goo.
Apply the goo.
-[laughs] -Really good.
-Delicious. -Love it.
We're going to start building our Big Papi.
-[Guy] Look at that. Gorgeous. -[Tiffani] Thank you.
-Oh, the brisket. -[laughing]
Slather our jalapeno cream cheese. while you put some on
-[Guy] Why don't you put some on? -[laughs]
I'm going to give you guys obviously like the best piece of the brisket.
-Look at that smoke ring. Huh? -Oh, yeah.
-[Tiffani] That goes right on the bottom. -[Guy] Oh!
[Tiffani] Burnt ends, nice and crispy, nice and saucy.
Onion rings, pickled jalapenos.
If you're gonna name something the Big Papi,
it better well live up to it in this town.
-[Michael] Look at that. -It's an indulgent sandwich.
[Guy] All right, here we go.
-[Michael] Mm. -[Guy] Mm.
That's amazing. It's spicy, it's creamy, it's fatty.
-Hey, wait, wait, wait, I'm right here. -Oh, sorry.
Oh, you're still talking about the sandwich.
Still sandwich, yeah. That is great.
I mean, the brisket is textbook Texas book brisket.
Oh, we'll take it.
[Guy] I mean, it is juicy. Look at that. Love the bark.
I get the texture of the black pepper,
the flavor of the black pepper.
The burnt ends are spot on, candied and crunchy.
Wow, the barbecue sauce, money.
-[Guy and Michael] The goo. -[Tiffani] Goo.
I love the jalapenos in there.
That is one of the best sandwiches I've ever had.
-Come on. -I'm dead serious. It is so good.
[Tiffani] And up two more Big Papis.
[man] The brisket was tender.
The onions and jalapenos go together like champs.
That meat is just unbelievable.
You have to finish the whole thing.
Don't you worry about that.
Please drop pasta for mac and cheese.
You truly can't be sad when you're at Sweet Cheeks. It's great.
Rockstar. Legendary.
-Delicious, delicious. -Thanks, boss. Appreciate you.
So nice to see you.
-[Guy] Coming up... -All right. You ready?
Are you ready?
...a funky joint in San Luis Obispo, California...
-Have you ever seen a restaurant like this? -No.
...all about choosing your own culinary adventure.
If you didn't name the place Taste!,
you would have just named it Flavor Bomb.
It's like what goes off in here.
I'm here in San Luis Obispo, California, on Broad Street,
right between the airport and downtown.
You know when you go to the south and you get a meet and three?
Well, this joint I'm gonna check out, husband and wife team,
they're doing the meat and three in just their own way.
Let's see, they've got Brussels,
they've got fries, they've got salads, sliders,
mac and cheese in all different ways,
and you can get one, two, three or four items on a plate.
I mean, it just makes me hungry thinking of the combinations.
This is Taste!
Find me. Cheeseburger in Paradise.
If you can't decide what you want to eat, come to Taste!
The menu has everything you could ever want.
Two Tips o' Argentina going down.
[man] You can do like a mac and cheese,
you can do a burger, you can do a salad,
and you can mix and match and make it like your own dinner.
[Guy] Because owners Gretchen Lemiere and her husband Scott,
well, they know a thing or two about picky eaters.
I can't decide what I want to eat. Ever.
So here, you can get a little bit of everything.
Not one plate's the same.
Oh, my gosh.
It just became our family business and our love.
I got a quartet up.
Whenever I'm traveling elsewhere,
I'm like, "I just want to go somewhere like Taste!
where I can get a bunch of different things."
Warm up the flatbread for the kofta.
The lamb kofta is amazing.
It has a variety of Mediterranean spices.
With tapenade and the hummus, which are both made in-house
So we're starting out with our lamb koftas.
-So first, we're gonna make our spice blend. -Okay.
[Gretchen] Red onions, cilantro and parsley,
salt, toasted coriander, cumin,
granulated garlic, chipotles and adobo.
-That we did blend up beforehand. -Ooh!
[Gretchen] Then we're gonna kick it up.
[Guy] Mixed into the ground lamb.
[Gretchen] Divide it into portions for grilling time.
[Guy] What comes with that?
Hummus, tapenade and our homemade flatbread.
-We make-- -Overachiever.
[Gretchen] So we're now going to make our flatbread dough.
Warm water, yeast, sugar. Let it do its thing.
All-purpose flour, allspice, salt, parsley and tarragon.
Give that a little whirl.
-Go ahead with our happy yeast water. -The yeast water.
-[Guy] Okay. -[Gretchen] Olive oil.
Let it sit and proof away.
Roll it out and throw it on the grill.
-What else are we gonna make? -[Gretchen] Our hummus.
Hummina, hummina, hummina.
[Gretchen] Chickpeas, tahini.
Sesame oil, garlic, lemon juice, water, salt, paprika.
That's it.
Delicious.
What's in the olive tapenade?
[Gretchen] Olives and garlic.
And then we use a little bit of the olive brine.
There you go.
-Let's build it. -All right. You ready?
Are you ready?
[Gretchen] We got our warm flatbread and our meatballs.
I like to make a little sandwich.
-[Guy] You think this is my first rodeo? -Now you're doing it.
Typically, kofta isn't that flavorful.
Delicious, juicy, nice char,
delicious flatbread, just even by itself.
Solid hummus, tangy, not too olive-y, too garlicky tapenade.
So if that's the precursor to the rest of what I'm expecting,
I gotta put on a seatbelt.
Here is the lamb kofta.
-The lamb is super tender, seasoned really well. -It's excellent.
-[Guy] You ever seen a restaurant like this? -No.
[man] Big menu, lots of choices.
Any thought of Scantron?
[Gretchen] Dirty Bird slider going in the window.
Seventy-six menu items.
Somebody here has problems.
Have you ever had anybody do the math?
How many different combinations?
No, we've talked about it, though.
If I do my calculations,
and I'm kind of known for my numbers,
I'm gonna say there's, like,
6,765,201.
Off the cuff. I could be off by one or two.
And a quartet with sweet potato fries.
Tip o' Argentina lamb burger.
Like if you can't find something on the menu,
-you got problems. -You got problems.
Three minutes on the Tip o' Argentina.
If you're coming to San Luis Obispo, you need to try a tri-tip.
[man] It's really a staple for this area.
It's kind of a leaner cut of meat.
Gretchen does such a killer job with their seasoning
that I always get that sandwich when I come here.
-What are we into now? -Spice blend for our tri-tip.
One of my favorite cuts of meat.
[Gretchen] Kosher salt.
Black pepper, seasoned salt, steak seasoning.
-Sugar. -Wow.
Granulated garlic and dried parsley.
This is my secret seasoning.
-We won't tell anybody. -Now it isn't a secret anymore.
We won't tell anybody. Nobody's gonna know.
Let it sit for a couple hours.
[Guy] And we're gonna grill this first?
[Gretchen] Yep. So we're gonna mark it off, let it rest.
And what else goes on this slider?
-Chimichurri. -Chimichurri!
[Gretchen] Cilantro and parsley, white onion, garlic,
Chili flakes, dried oregano.
-Red wine vinegar, lemon juice. -Okay.
[Gretchen] Salt, black pepper.
-[Guy] Extra virgin olive oil. -Olive oil.
-Chimichurri's done. -What else we got to put with this?
Garlic aioli.
Mayo, kosher salt, white pepper,
granulated garlic, fresh garlic, lemon juice.
If you didn't name the place Taste!,
you would have just named it Flavor Bomb.
-[Gretchen] Flavor. -It's like what goes off in here.
The tri-tip is marked,
and now we're gonna take a slice.
-Against the grain. -Yep.
-And throw it on. -I'm gonna add a little bit of our house seasoning.
Toasted brioche.
[Gretchen] Garlic aioli, chimichurri,
tri-tip, tomato, fresh greens,
and then we're gonna serve it with our crispy Brussels.
[Guy] Tri-tip's cooked perfectly.
Chimichurri is full of flavor.
Aioli's spot on.
This Brussels sprout concoction.
Balsamic, bacon, goat cheese.
Boom, boom, boom.
You're gonna be happy with having four or five big bites of the tri-tip.
And then something else.
So I see some of the method of the madness.
-I still think it's madness. -[laughing]
-[Scott] The Tip o' Argentina. -Tri-tip's amazing.
I love the creamy garlic aioli,
and it just all really balances nicely.
Salmon salad.
It's just a family favorite from the kids all the way up to the grandparents.
I can only imagine when you get another wild hare
what ends up on the menu.
[laughing]
[Guy] You're a blast.
Was that a road trip or what?
But don't worry.
There's plenty more joints all over this great country.
I'll be looking for you next time on Triple D.
-How much is that? -Fifteen-- 16 bucks.
It was 15, and then you looked at me and it went 16.
We just had a menu change.
Wait, Kim.
-It's $15.50. -See, right--
Now it's down to $15.50.
On sale today.
Just for you, Guy.