I'm Guy Fieri and we're rolling out,
looking for America's greatest "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives."
[rock music playing]
[Guy] This trip...
Ah! Ah!
...we're pulling out all the stops...
This is the toy I wanna play with.
...when it comes to cooking.
You chef this all the way through.
[Guy] Like in a gorgeous spot doing things differently in Calgary.
I've never seen anything cured in beeswax.
[Guy] A funky joint going above and beyond in Reno.
You're doing things here
that you don't see in a typical barbecue joint.
[Guy] And things are getting fishy in Asheville.
I mean, it's crazy.
[Guy] With an off-the-hook sandwich and Trout Bologna?
This right here should not work, but it absolutely does.
That's all right here, right now, on "Triple D."
[car rumbling smoothly]
[main theme playing]
[car door closes]
On "Tournament of Champions," I have this great chef,
Ashleigh Shanti, who's come and competed.
And she's told me about this restaurant she's got here
in Asheville, North Carolina.
I said, "Next time I'm in town,
I'm gonna come by and check it out,"
because she's doing a shrimp patty,
and she's got, of course, fried fish.
And she makes something called, Trout Bologna,
which I gotta try.
The only problem is I can't remember the name of the place.
-It's, um... -[Ashleigh] Guy, what are you doing?
Hurry up, it's getting cold! Come get that good hot fish.
That's the name -- Good Hot Fish.
Breaded catfish plate for 12.
They take these classics, and they do it in a modern way.
[Ashleigh] Plating that pancake.
[woman #1] It's not just Southern food.
It's fun, it's accessible.
Two orders of pups.
So if you come in here and you see something
on the menu and it looks like it might be a little crazy,
you can trust her. -Yes, you can trust her.
[Guy] 'Cause owner Ashleigh Shanti's accolades
range from James Beard to Michelin.
And when she opened this spot with her wife, Meaghan,
she looked to her roots to anchor the menu.
The women in my family used food as a means of survival.
One of the things that they did was set up fish camps.
Make good hot fish.
Fire a good hot fish sandwich.
Everyone has seen a fried fish sandwich in their life,
but they haven't seen one on this platform.
All right, chef, let's get into tartar sauce.
Mayonnaise, salt, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper,
chopped parsley, quickles that we made.
-Quick pickle. -[Ashleigh] Quickle juice,
garlic, buttermilk.
All right, so this just gets better.
The garlic will bloom inside of it.
-Next up. -Our good hot fish spice blend.
Smoked paprika, garlic powder, white pepper, celery seed,
toasted and ground here. -Got it.
[Ashleigh] Onion powder, kitchen pepper.
Got some allspice in there, nutmeg, all that good stuff.
Cayenne pepper, ground mustard, and herbs de Provence,
because we are fancy around here.
Yes, we are.
Now we're gonna start on this lovely catfish dredge.
We've got this really cool cornmeal, locally grown potato
and Bloody Butcher corn.
No clue of any of those names of corn.
Oh, my gosh, you don't -- what?
[Guy] I'm not that intimate with my cornmeal.
[Ashleigh] All-purpose flour, black pepper, salt,
wheat, dextrose. -[Guy] Pumpkin crunch.
Herbs de Provence. Spice blend we just made.
Light salt on the catfish.
Oh, you said "light." You know you get it.
Light for a chef. Then dredge to fryer.
-[Guy] What are we frying in? -[Ashleigh] Rice bran oil.
We're ready to assemble. Buttered and toasted bread.
We just toast the insides.
Half a pound of catfish. Tartar sauce.
So you get tartar in every single bite.
And then hot sauce.
It's lacto-fermented in house, like local chili.
It's good stuff.
♪♪
Chef, you chef this all the way through.
The soft bread on the outside
is one of my favorite parts of this whole thing.
If you're going through crunchy bread, crunchy fish,
the fish isn't as special.
Tartar sauce, there's some crunch, there's some cream,
there's some spice, there's some acid.
But what has got to happen is that hot sauce.
-[Ashleigh laughs] -This is the bomb!
[server] You got a good hot fish sandwich.
[woman #2] The batter just shatters in your mouth.
It's crispy and perfect.
There's a petition out front,
if you just sign it when you come in.
It's great hot fish, not good hot fish.
Amazing hot fish.
I need hands for the shrimp burger, please.
Ashleigh has been bringing in what a lot of times we think
about as the New South.
You're not gonna find these dishes anywhere else.
Plating the Bologna.
[Guy] Have you had the trout Bologna before?
-I mean, it's crazy. -This really hits.
[woman #2] You just have to come and try it for yourself
to understand why people are so fanatical about it.
-Cheese and fish, yeah -- mmm. -It's controversial.
These are bellies from our rainbow trout.
Kosher salt, white sugar, onion powder, garlic powder,
white pepper, ground mustard, coriander, celery seed,
kitchen peppers, and our good hot fish spice blend.
Rub it all over this trout.
Make sure that they get nice and cured.
[Guy] Four hours.
[Ashleigh] Rinse it and let these dry overnight.
We add a handful of ice.
We want to keep this cold, cold, cold, just to make sure
that that fat emulsifies. Add it to a Bologna press.
-I'm impressed. -[Ashleigh laughs]
It's gonna go in a little water bath
and into the oven for around 45 minutes.
You're not gonna take that Bologna out of the crust until
it's completely cool. -[Guy] Not gonna mess with it.
I'm in the trust tree with you.
-We're here, dude. -Yeah.
-[Ashleigh] We do about an inch thick. -[Guy] Onto the flat top.
[Ashleigh] Yep, yellow mustard.
-Give it a flip. -[Guy] American cheese skirt.
[Ashleigh] Every good Bologna sandwich has to have some mayo.
-Sliced white onion. -[Guy] Coming over hot.
-What is the slaw? -[Ashleigh] This is hot slaw.
So unlike coleslaw, which I know is not "cold-slaw."
-Wow! -Listen.
"Cold."
-I said it's not cold. -Ah, ah!
You good now? Cool.
♪♪
Get in there, yes.
[Guy] The hot slaw is fantastic.
And you need it, 'cause this is rich.
Imma be honest with you.
I don't like it. I really like it.
It's really creative.
It has all the reminiscence of Bologna.
It's got great texture to it.
You need the bright cleanliness of that onion to cut it.
-Yeah. -[Guy] Love the toast.
The American cheese is the right cheese.
You know what really is the kicker?
That mustard sear on there.
You just need a little bit of that punchiness.
-[Ashleigh] Yeah. -This right here should not work,
but it absolutely does. -It does.
Trout Bologna?
It's fresh, flavorful.
Trout, it's caramelized. It's nutty.
Really well-balanced.
If food had, like, colors, it's just like
explosion of colors.
Oh, hi, best interviewed guest ever!
[server] Hush puppies and slaw.
No one is doing this simple food in such
an intentional way.
It's always on point.
This is such a treat for Asheville to have a chef
of your caliber here doing something really fun.
-I'm yelling in your ear. -What?
I can't hear you, because this one's completely gone
at this point. Chef, thank you for having me.
-Yeah. -Delicious.
[Guy] Up next, a buzzy spot in Calgary, Canada.
Walk me through the world of beeswax.
Serving up beauty...
I wanna have a party in here.
...and a feast.
This is some of the best lamb I've had on "Triple D."
You're outstanding!
[main theme plays and ends]
[rock music playing]
So I'm here at the Central Memorial Park
in Calgary, Canada, and I'm looking for a restaurant.
Now, it's supposed to be this really incredible restaurant,
and they say the view of the fountain area is just
amazing, but it's not just that.
The chef is scratch making everything, and even more
than that, he's dry-aging lamb in beeswax.
Oh, I gotta check this out. Oh, there's the little sign.
It's right here. Park by Sidewalk Citizen.
All right, guys, order in. Lamb tartare, duck breast.
We find this place, and now it's our favorite
place in the city.
[Stefan] Tomato salad and pita.
It's Mediterranean cuisine, and it's very unique.
In-house pasta with langoustine.
The space is incredible.
It just puts you in a mindset to just have
a fantastic experience.
[Guy] 'Cause right here, next to the oldest park in Calgary,
owner Michal Lavi and Chef Stefan Gusztak have opened
this out-of-the-box oasis where food and style meet.
The genesis was to create a community hub, a green space
in the middle of the hustle-and-bustle.
It's a menu that is meant for sharing.
-Everything scratch. -Everything scratch.
-OK, what are we cooking? -Our dry-aged lamb plate.
The only way I could figure out how to dry-age without losing
too much product was to use the beeswax.
The beeswax dry-aging, I've actually never heard of that,
and it does something to the lamb
to just make it so good.
All right, walk me through the world of beeswax.
This is new to me.
All right, this is our raw beeswax.
We've gotta melt it down.
We're gonna start with dipping the leg, then we're
gonna do the rib and the sirloin.
You'll see it'll solidify about a quarter-inch thick.
We have a designated fridge over in our solarium.
I saw when I walked in.
[Stefan] For the legs, it'll be three weeks.
For the ribs, it's only a week.
And for the sirloin, from like a week to two.
And then when we're done...
[Stefan] It just cracks like an egg.
[Guy] Wax on, wax off.
Been waiting to say that my whole career.
[Stefan] You can kinda see
it'll be a little bit more tacky,
a little bit more dry. -Yeah.
Now, why don't we just grab every spice you own?
[Stefan] This is the marinade for the leg.
-Sumac... -[Guy] Sumac.
[Stefan] Cumin, fenugreek, black pepper,
coriander. -Coriander.
[Stefan] Allspice, clove, cardamom,
smoked paprika, cayenne, ginger...
[both] Cinnamon, turmeric.
[Stefan] And the nutmeg.
Little bit of olive oil, and we'll let it sit overnight
to two days. -Next one.
Lamb rib, smoked paprika, fennel, cumin,
coriander, cinnamon, black pepper,
Turkish red pepper. Hit it with the spice.
And last but not least.
[Stefan] Marinade our sirloin. Chipotle.
We have a fig jam, and then we have olive oil.
We're looking to get skewer-sized portions.
And how long will that marinate?
-[Stefan] Overnight. -[Guy] What are we working on?
Red pepper jam.
On the side for this entire experience?
Yes -- we're gonna take our onions,
garlic, canned red pepper,
brown sugar, sherry vinegar. -OK.
And then we add a little bit of red wine.
Crank it on the burner.
We want it to be dark-red, candied, purée it.
All right, all the meats cook off at different temperatures,
different times. -Correct.
Different ways.
[Stefan] Roast the ribs at 350 for 17 minutes.
We got our lamb leg here, all grilled up.
And we rest our ribs and lamb sirloin skewers inside
pomegranate gastrique and get it on the grill.
[Guy] Tell me the story on the fries.
We hand-cut them to make it even more --
Of course we do.
Gonna season our fries with salt, parsley, za'atar.
-That was a good fry. -[Stefan] Ribs here first.
-Our sirloins and lamb leg. -Special medium rare.
A little bit of olive oil. Turkish onion.
Sumac, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil.
And then the two dips.
That's the red pepper jam and the garlic sauce
is really good too.
That's the biggest lamb platter I've ever had.
[Stefan] That's for two people.
♪♪
[Guy] That is ridiculous tender, mmm.
If you're gonna have a lamb rib...
The dry rub on it is masterful.
Not two bites are the same.
One you get with a dip, one you don't.
One you finish up with an onion,
one you get with a fry.
And you're getting different textures.
That's a feast, bro.
I've never seen anything cured in beeswax.
This is some of the best lamb I've had on "Triple D."
Lamb plate up.
There's like a mix of crispy and tender.
With the beeswax, it actually has this really subtle flavor.
-Nobody else is doing it. -[Guy] I've never seen it.
Just absolutely brings it to life.
Duck and fig tartlet.
The art that they perform in the kitchen is something
that's reflected in the space.
The ceiling looks like a beehive.
I wanna have a party in here.
You can enjoy this food more because of the architecture.
It's just absolutely amazing
what they're putting together here.
What are we gonna make when we come back?
Uh, we're gonna be making our falafel.
You've gotta come here just for the falafel.
See you in a bit.
[music ends]
We put everything under the sun.
Only thing we didn't put on there was cocoa powder.
-We could. -Don't challenge him.
Don't challenge him.
Welcome back. "Triple D" hanging out
in probably one of those beautiful "Triple D" joints
you've seen right here in Calgary Park
by Sidewalk Citizen.
Pasta, service, please.
I don't think there's another restaurant
in Calgary like this.
Anything what you order, it's delicious.
A few falafel. Let's get it rocking.
Oh, the falafel, wow.
It's just a delight.
I know you won't do falafel normal.
Walk me through it.
[Stefan] So we're gonna use beluga lentil, red lentil,
and dried local chickpeas.
And we're gonna soak them overnight.
-[Guy] No canned chickpea for you? -No.
-It changes the texture. -Look at it.
Did you see him almost wanna cry?
-Yeah, totally, [laughs]. -[Guy] OK.
-Parsley, cilantro. -[Guy] Lemon juice, garlic.
Cumin, and salt.
We don't want it to go too fine.
And we're going to ball that up and fry it?
Yes, so we're gonna make our chuma.
It's a hot sauce.
So we're gonna add our fermented peppers, lemon.
We do the segments. Garlic, caraway seeds, sugar.
I don't handle heat very well, so I don't want it too spicy.
-You're Canadian. -Yes.
[Guy] All right.
This is intended to be used as a hot sauce?
Yes.
But a mellowed-out Canadian hot sauce?
-It's still too spicy for me. -Pancake syrup?
-Yeah, way too spicy. -Mayonnaise?
Too spicy.
[Guy] Run it through the strainer.
-What do we make after this? -Green tahini.
-Similar process. -I've never made tahini.
Introduce me to it.
Toasted sesame seeds, dill, cilantro as well,
parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, water, salt.
Are we gonna run this through the strainer also?
[Stefan] We are.
That's not tahini that you get out of a can.
-No. -[Guy] That's great.
Falafels are done.
[Stefan] Toss them with salt and za'atar.
Plate it on crème fraîche, pickled onion, za'atar,
sumac, and Marash pepper.
Now, we're gonna take the sauces that we strained.
And then just go... [makes explosion sound]
[Stefan] Pretty much.
Za'atar and parsley.
♪♪
When I read about the way you were making falafel,
in particular the fact that you were making your green
tahini and your chuma, I'm like, "This is an appetizer."
Ball them up, fry them, and here you go.
You make it 100% more difficult.
I didn't know that falafel could taste that chef.
You're outstanding.
[server] Our falafel here.
The flavors are rich and yet
not over-complicated.
It was very mouthwatering.
[Guy] Do we eat falafel with a fork and knife?
-How do you eat it? -With my mouth.
[all laughing]
[server] Cod collar.
I think every Calgarian, anyone around that's visiting,
should come eat here.
[Guy] I would come here every day for a month and just say,
"What's next?" I don't care what you put
on the menu, I would order it.
-It's great. -Thank you.
You really killed it. Killed this.
[Guy] Coming up in Reno, Nevada...
The dude likes to party.
...we're piling on the pork-strami.
I am devouring it.
[Guy] And a comfort-food classic.
That takes me back to my childhood.
A-plus, bro.
[main theme plays and ends]
You know, one of the things I always say on "Triple D" is,
"Don't judge a book by its cover."
But I gotta be honest, I pull up to this "Triple D" joint,
and it looks like a big corporate restaurant.
But I'm here in Sparks, Nevada, just about two miles
from downtown Reno, and people are telling me
this guy, he's really into competition barbecue,
makes great barbecue.
He also has a menu doing breakfast, lunch,
and dinner that's not barbecue, and this is your kind of place.
We'll see. This is BJ's Barbecue.
Western burger, order up.
When I come here, it feel like family.
It's like I'm going to my grandma's house.
They're making everything by scratch.
I need a three-meat beef chicken link mild.
[man #1] It's different than any other barbecue place I've tried.
They've been around a while.
[Guy] Specifically, since the late '80s.
Then owner Jay Ranthmann's parents bought the place
in the '90s, and he's still keeping
that family spirit alive.
-Your whole family works here? -[Jay] I have my mother.
My daughter-in-law runs the office, both my sons,
and my wife works expo.
[Guy] What type of barbecue would you call this?
I call it "Nevada-style."
We're doing brisket, pork butts, we're doing ribs,
we're doing chicken, but then we add new things,
like pastrami pork style.
The pork-strami sandwich was fantastic.
The texture is different.
It's very soft. Melts in your mouth.
Put the habanero mustard on there.
Just hit the spot just right.
[Jay] So now we're gonna make our smoked
pork-strami sandwich. -Pork butt, no bone.
[Jay] This is gonna go in the tumbler for eight hours,
and then we're gonna submersion brine.
Take our cure, pickling spice, kosher salt, pink salt.
Add this to our water.
We'll leave it in there for four days.
You're doing things here that you don't see in a typical
barbecue joint. -I watched a lot of "Triple D."
Really good, man.
Black pepper and granulated garlic, and then it
goes right in the smoker.
Two and a quarter for about four hours,
and then it gets steamed.
You can see the steam coming off of this.
[Jay] Let's pull some slices on it.
[Guy] Look at all that juice.
-It's just coming out. -Ah!
[Jay] That's my pork-strami.
That's our pork-strami, Big J.
[Jay laughs]
When the room goes quiet,
you know you did it right. -I'm trying to go quiet.
I'm sorry, I'm talking.
-Mr. Chatty Cathy over here. -I'm excited that you love it.
I don't love it, honestly. I am devouring it.
OK, pickled peppers. ACV, water.
[Jay] Sugar, pickling spice, salt, red onion.
And once it comes to a boil,
we're gonna add it to our peppers.
24 hours in the cooler, ready to go.
[Guy] What's the game plan with the mustard?
[Jay] Habanero mustard.
We use a dried habanero,
parsley for some color. -[Guy] OK.
[Jay] Water.
I'm excited.
[Jay] So now we're gonna make our kickin' fries,
and we're gonna start by making our pork butt.
-What's the method on that? -Straight dry rub.
Sugar, kosher salt, black pepper,
paprika, granulated garlic, cumin.
-Any resting period? -[Jay] Straight into the smoker.
-[Guy] Got it. -[Jay] 195 degrees for 16 hours.
And what is this concoction?
[Jay] Fresh French fries, cheddar cheese, sour cream,
green onions. -[Guy] The pulled pork we made?
[Jay] Our house barbecue sauce.
And now we're gonna build our pork-strami sandwich.
-Pork pastrami. -[Guy] What's on the bun, chef?
[Jay] Garlic butter.
It's got a little sherry, a little Worcestershire,
peppers, red onion, toasted bread.
Put our Gouda right up the middle.
I'm in the mood for Gouda.
[Jay] Pastrami, peppers and onions, habanero mustard.
♪♪
[Guy] That honestly competes
with some of the best pastrami I've ever had.
And I'm not kidding you, it's giving me goosebumps.
This pickled pepper, pickled onion, spicy mustard
is the 100% compliment to this.
You look at these fries.
This should steal the show on any given day.
And they're dynamite. But people that love pastrami
are gonna lose their minds.
That's an A-plus, bro.
Pork pastrami sandwich for ya.
-It has a spice. -Great texture, great flavor,
and the peppers and onions just make it perfect.
Needs no introduction -- my beautiful wife, Lori,
and Jen and Nikki. Ladies, do you know these two?
-[laughs] Yes, we do. -Oh, my God.
[Guy] Two of my best friends, that's Ariel and Dustin.
Welcome to what happens behind the scenes of "Triple D."
[Jay] Chicken fries in the window.
Pulled pork on crispy French fries.
[man # 2] It's important to be unique and good,
and that's exactly what this is.
I have your breakfast burrito with grits.
[man # 3] If you can't find something on the menu you'd like,
something wrong with you.
There's something wrong with you.
[Jay] Chicken fry going down.
I like the chicken-fried steak.
What takes it over the top is the gravy.
Not only do we do barbecue, but we do a really good
breakfast menu and chicken-fried steak.
Walk me through it.
We got our eye of round to have some already sliced up.
All-purpose flour, white pepper.
-[Guy] Old bay. -You got it.
Now we're gonna make our seasoned breadcrumbs.
All-purpose flour, corn flakes, garlic powder.
-Onion powder? -[Jay] Black pepper and kosher salt.
This is the toy I wanna play with.
Can you pop it open just so we can admire it?
-Ha! -So we do it four times.
Right into the flour.
Egg wash, breadcrumbs,
and that's our chicken-fried steak.
[Guy] Love it.
So now we're gonna make our buttermilk biscuit.
Flour, baking powder, salt, sugar.
-[Guy] Baking soda. -[Jay] Cold lard.
-The dude likes to party. -Butter, buttermilk.
And then we're gonna knead it, roll it out,
cut out our biscuits. -How long, what temp?
-320 degrees, 17 minutes. -Gravy time.
[Jay] Butter, bacon fat, all-purpose flour.
Basically, make a roux, milk.
-[Guy] Some onions. -[Jay] Black pepper, garlic powder.
[Guy] Kosher salt, white pepper.
[Jay] Ground cooked bacon, cooked chopped sausage.
Got it.
[Jay] Now we're gonna plate our chicken-fried steak.
Fresh applesauce we make in house, our home fries,
in our country gravy. -On the bottom.
[Jay] Our chicken-fried steak.
Biscuit, come back with another ladle.
♪♪
[Guy] That takes me back to my childhood.
The breading ratio to meat is dynamite.
That tenderizer is all the difference in the world.
The gravy's silky.
You put more lard and butter than I've ever seen anybody put
in a biscuit. -[Jay] That's the right way.
-[server] Chicken fried steak. -This is our good buddy, Jimmy.
He runs the audio for us on a bunch of our shows.
-So, what do you guys think? -That's phenomenal.
Even just a biscuit and gravy just by itself is good.
-Right? -I've got a three-meat combo.
-Everything is good. -[Guy] Don't worry.
You have none of that on your face.
I would definitely tell everybody that you don't wanna
miss out on the opportunity to come here.
This is down-home family.
[Guy] This is a gift to Reno, man.
Well, I appreciate that.
[Guy] There's two items down on the menu.
About 78 to go.
So that's it for this trip, but don't worry, there's plenty
more "Triple D" joints all over the country.
I'll be looking for you next week
on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives."
If you ever come in and they say, "We don't have
chicken fried steak," it's because that's broken.
Yeah, no, I would agree.
Or somebody in a red Camaro stole it with a big bronze hog.
Might know where to land.