Hey everybody. I'm Guy Fieri and we're rolling out,
looking for America's greatest Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
This trip...
Oh, you have got to be kidding me.
Things are on fire in Flavortown.
Real deal. Outrageous.
With wild dishes blowing up your taste buds.
This is like a flavor bomb from another planet.
Like tucked away tacos in Mobile, Alabama.
That's culinary rockstar.
International street food in Calgary, Canada.
That's in the top five best Indian dishes I've ever had.
And Chef Eric Greenspan is riding along in Los Angeles...
It's all in the feels, man.
...for a crazy U-turn into a vegan oasis.
That's a great dish.
-Plant based, not plant based, I don't care. -I don't care.
That's all right here, right now on Triple D.
[theme song playing]
So I'm here in Los Angeles with the one and only,
the man about the food scene,
the one and only, Eric "Greedy" Greenspan.
All right, buddy, tell me. What is hot in the LA food scene these days?
[Eric] American cheese, of course.
It's 'cause he has American cheese company. Well done.
-[laughing] -Okay, what else?
[Eric] Smash burgers, hot chicken sandwiches,
-plant based. -Plant based.
And do you know where I'm taking you right now?
Do you know where you're taking me?
-This guy is blowing up the vegan game. - [Eric] Ooh.
This is Nic's On Beverly.
[cook] OG almost up.
One of the best vegan restaurants in Los Angeles.
-[cook] Barbeque coming up, chef. -Love it, I love it.
It's good comfort food without the guilty feeling afterwards.
[cook] Mushroom plate.
Your boyfriend says he's going to take you to a vegan restaurant.
-What do you think? -I don't want to go. [laughs]
-Right? But-- -I like meat.
[Guy] Well, look out because Nic Adler's been known
to make converts out of carnivores
with his next level plant based plates.
-What year did you become vegan? -'98.
I didn't start for ethical reasons
or sustainability reasons
I actually just felt better being plant based.
-Can I tell you something? -Please.
I live down the street. I'm not looking for a plant based lifestyle.
What I love about this place is that it's just a fantastic restaurant.
Bolognese, table 30.
[man] This lamb bolognese tastes better than any lamb I've actually ever had
[chuckling] and it's not actually lamb.
My mind is blown.
We're doing a rigatoni for our lamb bolognese.
We got a little semolina pasta flour, salt.
Mix for about a minute,
and then we're going to add our palm oil.
Turn it on, and then we're going to slowly add the water.
-Mix for about ten minutes? -Yes.
Let it rest and then start the extrusion.
Look at that beautiful pasta.
-Next up. -Now it's time to make our bolognese.
We're using plant based lamb product.
This is pea protein, it's got pomegranate.
Now that the lamb is browned, we're going to take it out
and we're gonna put some onions in here.
-[Guy] Carrots. -[Nic] Fennel.
Copious amounts of garlic.
Glazed with white wine.
-[Nic] And then we add our meat back in. -[Guy] Okay.
[Nic] San Marzano, a little bit of plant based whipping cream
put some bay leaves in there, fresh chiles,
nutmeg, some black pepper, a little bit of salt,
and let it simmer for about 90 minutes.
Drop the pasta in the water here.
Lamb bolognese.
Veggie stock here. We're going to add a little fat.
-[Guy] It's hydrogenated oil. -[Nic] Yes.
So this is the Follow Your Heart parm.
There is no way that is not real parmesan.
Wow.
[Nic] Then we're gonna go ahead and put our pasta in there.
Put that right there.
[Guy] I mean, it looks so unctuous, right?
Put a little of that parmesan on there, a little olive oil here.
Finish off with a little fennel pollen.
-Here you go. -[cackles]
Woah. That's a great dish.
Plant based, not plant based,
-I don't care. -I don't care.
The pasta is spot on.
The texture of the black sheep, it's meaty.
The acidity inside from the tomato
and then the tang and the funk of the cheese,
I would be here once a week to eat that dish.
-I'll come back tonight. -Outstanding.
-Thank you, sir. -I'll take it to go.
Lamb bolognese, three minutes out.
The texture on that "lamb," it was amazing.
And it was like, the perfect pasta noodle.
It like, carried everything together.
Legit bolognese.
If I didn't tell you it was vegan,
-would you be able to tell? -I had asked.
Good friends of mine, the Scanlans here.
These guys probably have never been to a vegan restaurant in their life.
I have to correct you.
You sent me to the vegan deli in Minneapolis.
-The Herbivorous Butcher! -[laughing]
[woman] This spot is so calming and welcoming and inviting.
And right in the heart of West Hollywood.
I don't know what you're talking about.
How is this an oyster mushroom
and it's fried chicken at the same time, okay?
This has got to be one or the other.
-Pick one! -[laughing]
This guy has one of my favorite channels on TikTok.
It's called Bistro Huddy.
[shouting]
[Guy] So his name is Drew Talbert. He plays all the characters.
I know your wife is a vegetarian.
What would she think of Nic's On Beverly?
This would go right into our list
of like, go-to vegetarian places in LA.
Blading a 'Sota pizza.
All right, don't go anywhere. We're hanging out at Nic's On Beverly.
We're going to fight over the pasta
and when we come back, we're going to make something delicious.
We're going to make something.
-[laughing] -We're going to make something.
Goodnight, everybody! [laughs]
-[bleep] -It's like someone kind of like
taking different instruments
but making it sound like Metallica.
-Okay. -Okay?
-Yeah. -And someone used the bass cello...
-And a kazoo. [laughing] -Yeah, and a kazoo.
[bleep]
Welcome back, Triple D
hanging out with the one and only Eric Greedy Greenspan
and we are at Nic's On Beverly, a complete vegan restaurant.
Falafel burger!
It doesn't feel like vegan food.
It's not copping out. It's really, really tasty.
Lion's Mane 'Sota pizza.
I had the 'Sota pizza and it was fire.
It really like, got the essence of LA, tacos onto a pizza.
And they have this smokey sauce on it. [exclaims]
-Now we're into-- -Lion's Mane 'Sota Detroit salad pizza.
We are making our pizza dough,
a little water, our starter, the yeast.
We're gonna add in our sugar, salt.
-The type of flour we're going with here? -[Nic] AP flour.
Let it run until it forms a dough ball.
-[Guy] We're going to let it rest. -About an hour.
[Guy] Portion it, and then let it rest overnight.
-What are we into now? -We're doing in a 'Sota style Lion's Mane.
Lion's Mane is a mushroom.
We're going to put three of these bad boys in here.
We're going to add a little bit of butter in.
-Press these. -[Guy] Okay.
-Next step. -We're gonna make the marinade.
-[Guy] Guajillo chiles. -[Nic] Arbol chiles.
-Onion here... And some cumin. -[Guy] Garlic.
-[Nic] Salt. -[Guy] Vinegar. Orange juice.
Can't get me enough Guajillo chile.
-Now we're gonna emulsify the oil in? -[Nic] Yep.
I love the orange juice in that.
-Wow. -[Guy] This looks dynamite.
It's gonna really go into the mushroom here.
All right, so we're going to do this on both sides.
[Nic] Finish 'em off on the grill.
This is a morita salsa.
Roasted tomatoes, onions, and garlic.
-Which chiles do we have steeped? -The moritas.
[Guy] A little chile arbol in there as well?
Vinegar, finish it off with some salt.
Drop the hammer!
Fresh cilantro in there. And we're good.
-So what do we got left? -Put it all together.
So we start with our plant based cheese.
-[Guy] Is this their mozz? -[Nic] Their mozz.
And then we add our jalapenos in here.
Oil, crisp up in the corners here.
And then we're going to put this in the oven
about 550 degrees, ten minutes.
-The Lion's Mane -[Guy] Look at that thing, dude.
It's like having a pork chop.
[Nic] We're gonna lay this on top here.
-Our morita salsa. -[Guy] It's Mexican, it's Italian.
Now it's a raw salad on top.
[Nic] Cilantro, onions and lime juice.
Dude, this is like a flavor bomb from another planet.
-Dude. -That cheese is no joke.
That is cheesy and gooey.
It's all the feels, man.
[Guy] The crust is nice and light.
The morita sauce is not overly spicey.
And the Lion's Mane, wow, what a crazy topping that is.
I'm gonna be making so many Lion's Mane things now.
[chuckling] It's gonna be crazy.
-[incoherent mumbling] -[laughs]
Those will be my final words.
A 'Sota pizza coming out, chef.
[woman 2] That crust is like a pillow.
You just want to snuggle into it.
The cilantro, the lime, the mushroom, it's a beautiful marriage.
I think it's terrific.
The barbeque chicken pizza here.
It will open your mind
to a more creative aspect of food.
[Guy] This is another planet.
Real deal, brother. Real deal. Outrageous.
-I'm coming back tomorrow. [laughing] -Bringing your kids here.
Up next, we're headed up to Canada...
Another knockout dish.
...to get our hands on big time Indian street food...
How do you attack it?
...that's hard to set back down.
There are very few things in this world
that have that much flavor, that much texture.
That's outstanding.
I'm back here in Calgary, Alberta,
on First Street at First Street Market big Food Hall.
And you know what? We're talking about Indian food.
Not Northern Indian, which everybody really knows.
I'm talking Southern Indian, the street food, the handheld food.
I hear there's two buddies that are in here
and they're knocking it out and they're scratch making it all.
This is Saffron Street.
Dropping rotis on the flattop.
You first bite into it and you're like, wow, you're somewhere else.
One samosa chaat.
Pulls at a lot of heartstrings for a lot of folks.
And it's simply delicious.
[Guy] But certainly not simple 'cause the complex flavors
Rahul Kanojia and Jesse Mann are bringing to this food hall
come from a complete Indian adventure.
My parents have a restaurant that's been in the city for over 30 years.
-An Indian restaurant. -Okay. Northern or Southern?
-Northern Indian restaurant. -Okay.
[Jesse] I saw him doing South Indian street food,
and I thought I need to learn how to make this food.
And then, we had this opportunity to have this place here.
These are your samosas.
It has bold flavors and it seems very authentic.
Dosa coming up.
Dosa's absolutely the way to go.
It's a crepe filled with potato and onion.
You have sambar on the side and coconut chutney.
There's just so much flavor.
-What's the dish we're gonna make? -Masala dosa today.
-Masala is a stuffing that goes inside the dosa. -[Guy] Right.
[Rahul] So now we are making a dosa batter.
Sona masoori rice in the water for a few hours.
-These are the black lentils. -They don't look black.
[Rahul] We wash it and then break it so they're white.
-Fenugreek seeds. -[Guy] And you're going to puree that?
-[Rahul] Yeah, we have a special grinder for that. -[Guy] Okay.
[Rahul] It's called wet stone grinder, specially from India.
The average person has this at home?
-Yeah. -What?
[Rahul] Add water just to start the spinning process.
Oh, you have got to be kidding me.
-How long is this going to run? -[Rahul] 15 to 20 minutes.
[Guy] So we do the rice, then we mix the two together?
And then, we ferment it again for 12 hours.
The next morning, we add salt. It has to sit in the fridge.
In a few hours, it'll be ready to hit the griddle.
-What are we working on now? -The chutneys.
But the coconut one is a special one.
This is our desiccated coconut.
-[Guy] So it's like dehydrated coconut almost. -[Rahul] Exactly.
Green chiles, super spicy.
Cumin seeds, ginger garlic paste.
Salt to taste.
The roasted chana dal, it's like a lentil which is roasted.
Water.
-So it's like a smoothie. -We're gonna do a tempering for that one.
So that's a hot pan.
-Canola oil. Mustard seeds. -Wow, just this by itself.
This is urad dal.
-Dal is just another word for-- -Lentils.
Red chile whole, curry leaf.
-We just pour it in here. -[Guy] And now we're going to mix it together.
We're going to make the curry that you're going to dip the dosa in.
It's called sambar.
The oil, the mustard seeds, green chiles.
-Coriander seeds. Crush it in your hand. -Coriander seeds.
Red chile, give it a good stir.
-Curry leaf... -[Guy] Chopped onions.
[Rahul] The ginger garlic paste.
-We add all the spices in here. -Okay.
Coriander powder, turmeric, red chili powder, kashmiri.
Once the spice is cooked, add water, tomato, yellow lentils.
[Guy] Cooked and ready to go.
-Salt, sugar. Let it boil for 15 minutes. -And that's it.
So we are making the masala. Hot pan, canola oil.
-[Guy] Mustard seeds. -[Rahul] Mustard seeds, green chiles, red chiles.
A lot of curry leaves in this place.
[Rahul] Onions, ginger garlic paste, turmeric now.
-And this is our very special masher. -Very special masher?
Nobody has it here. They all borrow from us.
-Here in the whole Food Hall? -Yeah.
We put the potatoes now.
[Guy] Special masher's happening right now.
Salt, cilantro.
This one is ready to scoop out for the dosas.
Our tomato chutney, coconut chutney that we made,
the sambar that we just made.
For dosas, you got to season the griddle first.
-Oil, spread it all over. -Okay, so we're making it non-stick.
You season it with a little bit of onion. I like that.
This is a fermented batter.
That's it. A little bit more oil.
The dosa masala that we made right here.
-And then we just fold it. -Look at the size of this thing.
How do you attack it?
-Rip and dip. -Rip and dip?
There are very few things in this world
that have that much flavor, that much texture. That's outstanding.
The coconut, tangy, subtle, delicious.
The sambar is a little bit sweet.
The tomato chutney is more like a salsa.
And then, you get the meatiness and the body from the potato.
That's in the top five best Indian dishes I've ever had.
Three minutes on the first bill.
I am crazy about the masala dosa.
It's light and fluffy. It's got the crispy edges and stuff like that.
It's just a really vibrant kind of contrast between the two chutneys.
You go to India, you walk on the streets there.
Like, there'll be ten dosa vendors all competing against each other.
And all of them will have their own unique spin on it.
It just takes me back to home.
[Rahul] Two kati roll chickens up, chef.
My go-to is the chicken kati roll.
It's like a flatbread rolled into its own unique recipe of chicken.
It's amazing to have a bite into it.
-What are we gonna do next, chef? -We're making the kati roll.
We marinade the chicken, add red chile powder,
turmeric, coriander powder, soy sauce.
Let me guess. Ginger garlic paste.
Dried fenugreek leaves, salt to taste.
-Mix it. -[Guy] What do we do next?
We make the chutney for it. It's like a tamarind chutney.
-Oil, the ginger garlic. -[Guy] Got it.
Some red chile powder. The spice we make in house.
Fennel seeds, cumin seeds and coriander seeds.
Date and tamarind pulp.
-Jaggery, it's like sugar cane extract. -Wow.
[Rahul] Once it comes to a boil, refrigerate it.
All right, so chutney is done. And the last thing we do is make the dough.
All-purpose flour, salt, baking powder,
sugar, baking soda, oil.
Just give it a good mix here. Add the milk, water.
After two hours, we punch it again.
-And then, we portion it. -[Guy] And roll it out.
We're gonna make chicken next.
Some oil, green chiles, sliced onion,
fresh red chile powder, turmeric, coriander.
Sauté. Tomatoes, soy sauce.
Then the marinated chicken. Toss, toss, toss.
Dried fenugreek leaves and fresh cilantro. Salt.
-Look at that. -Super flakey.
We just add a little bit of veg.
Cabbage, carrots, green peppers.
We add our chicken, spicy chutney,
plain yogurt, dried mango powder. We call it chaat masala.
And then, we roll it, serve it with some mint chutney and tamarind chutney.
It's like an Indian burrito with like, nine salsas.
I love the sour to the heat to the sweet to the tangy.
The wrap, think of the flakiness you kind of get from a croissant.
Another knockout dish.
Chicken kati roll.
The kati roll packs a punch.
It's got a lot of complexity in flavors.
It's just this perfect harmony of spices. It just makes me happy.
Prawn vindaloo thali.
Saffron Street definitely has my heart.
You really love being a chef.
I think you're the kind of guy that cooks dreams come true.
-Thank you. -Chutney king.
Coming up, a funky little setup in Mobile, Alabama...
Hanging out in the front yard of a coffee shop with a taco truck.
...where the tacos are top notch...
I'm gonna be honest with you. That's outstanding.
...and twisted.
Winner winner, potato sweet bean chicken dinner.
So folks, I am in Mobile, Alabama in DeTonti Square,
which is the oldest neighborhood in the city.
And I am here to check out a joint that is a crazy combination.
They got a coffee shop with a taco truck in the front yard.
And from what I hear, the chef is making really crazy combinations.
I mean like, putting it down. You ready?
This is Front Yard Tacos.
Carne asada for Claire.
Front Yard Tacos is super unique.
-Tots coming up. -[Roy] Perf.
How did you guys find this place?
[woman] I've been getting coffee for a while.
And then, the truck popped up.
[Guy] The coffee came from owners Clair and Tim Gautreaux
but once the new partner, Matt Morris got in the mix,
what was once strictly a java joint became a full-on fiesta.
You two started this? This was your hot mess?
-Yes. -[Tim] That's it.
-You jumped in? -I was a regular at the shop.
Tim and I decided we would team up and do some fun stuff.
And you thought this was the path?
Hanging out in the front yard of a coffee shop
-with a taco truck? -Heck yeah.
[Guy] And chef slash musician Roy Durand is working to bring all that funk to fruition.
B'n'P taco for Collin.
The B'n'P has maple soaked black beans,
sweet potatoes, and the Not Ranch, of course, pulls it together.
If you're coming for breakfast, get it with eggs.
If you're coming for lunch, get chicken.
-All right, what are we making first, chef? -B'n'P taco with chicken.
We're going to be doing our house seasoning which is a liquid spice.
-It's what we call-- Well, we call it that. -Liquid spice?
-It's not liquid at all. -Just make up names
-that don't really mean what they are? -[clears throat]
I created this recipe at a restaurant that was called Liquid.
And now, it's ironic. So...
Now it's ironic? That's the name of it now?
-Yeah, that's it. -We'll be here all week, folks.
Thanks for tuning in. All right, let's see it.
[Roy] Start with salt, black pepper, brown sugar,
cayenne, garlic powder, paprika,
the onion powder, chile powder, Chinese five spice.
-Chinese five spice? -Yep.
Now we're going to put this on our chicken thighs.
Some canola oil, season it up pretty well.
[Guy] All right, season that. Let it go.
We usually like to let this go overnight.
[Guy] Grill it off.
-What are we working on next? -Black beans.
Onions, bell pepper and our celery.
-Now we're going to make our chipotle adobo sauce. -Got it.
[Roy] Put our garlic in, chipotles and adobo.
-Soy sauce. -[Guy] Okay.
[Roy] Apple cider vinegar. Mustard powder.
And then, our house seasoning.
-[exhales] -[laughing]
Pour this in there.
-Next up? -We're going to go ahead and throw our black beans in.
And this is maple syrup.
Fried sweet potatoes that are peeled and diced. What's our final step?
So we're making our sauce that goes on. It's called Not Ranch.
-That's the name of it? -Yes, sir.
Start off with white vinegar, cayenne pepper, dill, some sugar,
-black pepper. -[Guy] Got it.
[Roy] Salt, and then garlic.
It has a variety of things that would be in Ranch.
-Yep. -Maybe the dill.
Blue Plate mayonnaise, add that sauce to it, Greek yogurt in there.
Now we're ready to make our B'n'P tacos.
-Our chicken thigh. -I like it.
Cut up for us, corn tortillas,
sweet potato, black bean has that we did earlier.
Now we got our chicken.
And normally this taco actually gets eggs on it.
-You put eggs on it? -Yeah, it's a breakfast taco,
but we're doing chicken 'cause we know that--
Way better with chicken.
Our Not Ranch, pickled onions, cilantro.
I'm gonna be honest with you. That's outstanding.
The chicken is really seasoned correctly.
The Not Ranch is slamming.
But the beans and the chipotle
-and the maple... -Yep.
...mixed with the creaminess of the sweet potato. [claps]
Winner winner, potato sweet bean chicken dinner.
-You got it. There it is. -Did you see the way it flowed?
-All right, we got the B'n'P. -[woman] Thank you.
Beans and potatoes, it's just like your grandmother's shepherd's pie in a taco.
-It's sweet and savory. -Amazing.
Yeah, I can't believe he makes all those flavors out of a little trailer.
The Not Ranch, I could literally drink it with a straw.
Is Roy a better musician or chef?
Oh, that's a tough one. He's masterful at both.
And what kind of musician are you? What do you play?
Guitar, I play drums, and a singer, songwriter for our group,
and then I also just do pick up gigs.
-You do all that currently while you chef here? -[sighing] Yeah.
Two Tikis on flour.
The Tiki taco is my favorite.
Brussel sprouts and the tamari glaze,
it just takes you to the beach.
-What else you got? -Tiki taco.
We're gonna work on our tamari sauce.
-Are we gonna have it today? -Yep.
-Um, so... That's funny actually. -[laughing]
Start off with our oil, ginger, crushed garlic,
tamari soy sauce, star anise, brown sugar, white sugar.
-And a little hoisin. -Orange, limes and lemons.
That is all going to cook down
-then you would definitely have to strain it. -Yeah.
-Corn starch to tighten it up? -Yep.
-Next step. -All right, so it's our pineapple ginger slaw.
-[Guy] Okay. -[Roy] Start with vinegar, ground ginger,
salt, brown sugar, and our liquid spice.
And then, we'll add our pineapple, green and purple cabbage.
-All right, chef. -So we're doing a miso mushroom aioli.
Rice vinegar, miso paste.
-Just button mushrooms that are sweated down? -Yep.
[Guy] Roasted garlic.
[Roy] And as it's blending, we'll go ahead and add our chili oil.
[Guy] This gets folded into mayo,
-and then it's ready for service? -Yes, sir.
We'll fry our brussel sprouts and toss them in tamari sauce.
We'll take our flour tortillas, mushrooms and onion,
brussel sprouts, pineapple ginger slaw,
-got our miso aioli... -[Guy] Yep.
-...and we got our crema, jalapenos, green onions. -[Guy] Beautiful.
Your flavors are great. That is such a mature taco.
It just texturally compelling.
The bitterness of the brussel sprout contrasted to that tamari,
and then the pineapple slaw,
that's in the higher echelon of tacos I've had on Triple D.
There's a Tiki tacos for you.
The Tiki taco is great. The miso aioli,
it's like a soy sauce, teriyaki kind of deal going on.
The seasonings are so bright and phenomenal
and it just hits your palate so well.
Got a club taco for Tori.
This is where you come and hang out, drink coffee, eat tacos and do our work?
-Mmm-hmm. -Yep.
Can I have that office?
I feel so lucky that I get to come here every day.
Are you a better cook or better musician?
[laughs] I feel like they're...
You should have platinum records then. That's culinary rockstar.
-Well done, brother. Well done. -Appreciate it.
So that wraps this edition of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
If you want to get some of the recipes from today's show,
go to FoodNetwork.com.
I'll be looking for you next week on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
And you have so much passion about this.
I mean, you really love being a chef.
Of course, yeah. This is my dream.
Well, you used to be a chef, at least.
-[laughs] -Now he's just a TV chef.