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 running]
[Guy] 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 trend. We're bringing the most...
Look at the size of that. That's fantastic.
...from coast to coast.
Gosh, that would be good on anything.
The food is so flavorful.
This right, you could have dredged in sand,
I would eat it.
There's New England pickles and pork in Massachusetts.
-Um, yeah, I have to have that. -Outrageous.
Lebanese lamb and cabbage in Midwest Minnesota.
-Wow, that's fragrant. -It's just really special.
And an old-school homie.
One of the OGs of Triple D right there.
Serving up big league barbecue...
It's like a steak on a stick, it's so great.
[Guy]...surprisingly, on the coast of California.
I'm like, "Yeah, let's see if this is the real deal."
-Mmm. -My goodness.
-Just the bomb. -Ridiculous!
[Guy] Familiar faces, new places, and more off-the-hook flavors.
This is "Triple D Nation."
[theme music plays]
[upbeat music plays]
Venice, California.
Gotta love the weather, the beach, the characters,
and the food. But I gotta be honest with ya.
When I think Venice Beach,
I don't think Southern-style barbecue.
Well, that's until I found this place.
And I was glad I did back in 2007,
right at the beginning of Triple D.
All these years later, things look a little
different here. But you know what?
The barbecue, still out of control.
Baby Blues BBQ, wow!
Brisket plate up.
[patron] This is one of the best barbecue places in LA.
They tried to put me on the payroll, I was here
all the time. -[Rick] Four minutes on those wings.
[patron #2] It's like eating your mom's food.
-Just the bomb. -Tri-tip plate in the window.
I grew up in Nashville, and Baby Blues
tastes like home, I would say.
I've been coming here for almost 20 years.
That puts me as the OG discoverer before Guy.
[Guy] I'll give her that.
But I rolled in right behind her to dig into Danny Fischer
and Rick McCarthy's SoCal-style barbecue.
I'm Danny, how you doing?
Danny, Guy, nice to meet you, man.
Rick, pleasure, brother.
[Danny] People ask us what kind of barbecue it is.
It's really hybrid barbecue.
My brother Rick, who looks fantastic, by the way.
Barbecue used to be one of the things
that was east of the Mississippi.
Yeah, we all came from the East Coast,
North Carolina-style barbecue. -[Guy] Right.
Venice Beach, California, is the last place
-I thought I was gonna get a barbecue experience. -Right.
I'm like, "Yeah, let's see if this is the real deal."
Pulled pork sandwich for Guy.
Baby Blues pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw
is a go-to. Perfectly smoked.
So you marinate those pork butts.
What do you marinate them in?
The dry rub that's got about 19 herbs
and spices in it. We rub it into the pork.
For 24 hours, it's gonna start to form a bit of a crust.
-[Guy] How long are they gonna smoke? -About 16, 18 hours.
[Guy] Look at that. -You still got the smoke rings in there,
but yet it's gonna be tender enough to fall off the bone.
Dip a little into that sauce.
This is kind of like pulled pork meets au jus French dip.
[Danny] That's right. [laughs]
[Guy] Mmm.
I always have to feed the camera.
Your pulled pork sandwich and mac and cheese.
The vinegar-based sauce on a pulled pork sandwich.
My goodness. Big, juicy barbecue vibes.
Everybody, when they come in after seeing the show,
they wanted what Guy had. They wanted the pulled pork.
They wanted the beef rib.
Texas beef rib.
Look at the size of that. You can tell how tender it is.
That just falls right off.
That's fantastic.
The beef rib, it's like a steak on a stick -- it's so great.
It's luscious, it's juicy, it's smoky.
There's not a rib in this place that isn't delicious
and perfectly cooked.
[server] And here are your Memphis-style ribs.
-These are Memphis-style ribs. -[Guy] Why do you call them Memphis?
[Rick] It's this style of smoking.
We do a dry rub and smoke them dry.
-You make all your rubs? -Yeah.
We're gonna start with brown sugar, chili powder,
barbecue seasoning, marjoram, paprika,
seasoned salt, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder,
ground coffee, white pepper, dried mustard,
celery salt, ground cloves, black pepper,
turmeric, and nutmeg. I'm just gonna mix it all up.
These are St. Louis ribs.
Dry rub them, let them marinate overnight, smoke them for about
five hours at 250 degrees, grill them to order.
The sauce is our North Carolina style barbecue sauce.
[Guy] Right, so vinegar-based sauce?
[Rick] We start with ketchup, apple cider vinegar,
pineapple juice, brown sugar, brandy, seasoning blend,
Worcestershire sauce, molasses, and tamari soy sauce.
Dried fruits. Pasilla peppers, dried.
Apples, Fuji apples, oranges.
We're gonna simmer it for over an hour.
Strain out the apples and fruits.
[Guy] Nice vinegar to it. Good smoke.
When you bite into it, it doesn't pull away
from the bone, ridiculous!
-Memphis ribs. -[patron #3] I love the ribs.
They're very tender.
You can have them dry or you gotta dip it in the sauce.
So sweet and tangy and delicious.
They have a perfectly sort of caramelized sauce on the outside,
they sort of punch you in the face with flavor.
All right, give me an update.
[Rick] Immediately after the show, we had lines around the corner.
Is it just you now by yourself?
My original partner is Danny. He moved on several years ago.
I have good people, though.
You're surrounded by great people.
Liz was the server in the first show.
She later became a manager, and now she's part owner.
Menu changes at all?
[Rick] Over the years, we've added tri-tip.
We started adding some vegan items.
Vegans, carnivores, whatever,
we all meet and break bread over the same table here.
[Guy] But things haven't always been so smooth.
-Electrical fire. -Yeah.
[Guy] Coming up, the story of setback...
We didn't have barbecue for like two years.
[Guy]...and rising from the ashes.
I think it's super impressive
that they're still around and thriving.
Two dudes cruise from the East Coast to the West Coast,
following their dreams of Hollywood.
But they end up making Southern-style barbecue in Venice Beach.
Their barbecue is as unique and as true as their story.
But the story I first heard in 2007 ended up taking a turn
when their restaurant went up in flames.
-Electrical fire. -[Rick] Yeah.
In the kitchen, one of the outlets sparked and...
Wiped the whole place out?
Yeah, you know, the kitchen was destroyed
and then the rest was, uh, smoke damage.
-But it's back to business as usual? -Yeah.
After the fire, they took that opportunity to expand
and make the place physically bigger,
and now it's better than it ever was.
I think it's super impressive
that they're still around and thriving.
The vibe's the same, the food's the same.
Some of these recipes have derived from
your father's restaurant and some from yours. -Yeah!
[Guy] And then you guys throw your own little California tweak on it.
-Exactly right. -Smoked wings up.
I always get the wings, a little hot sauce,
little sweet sauce. It's incredible.
[Rick] These are smoked wings.
Just smoked them, or do you smoke them
and then fry them?
Smoke them first and then grill them.
Start with the same dry rub we made earlier.
This tray has holes in it,
so the smoke can penetrate better.
And then we'll put that in the smoker, 250 degrees.
Put them on the grill and crisp up the skin.
Put on the sweet barbecue sauce.
-I love smoke on a wing. -Yeah, yeah.
[Guy] It -- they're so easy. They take smoke so well.
Yeah, we just smoke them for like 45 minutes.
-[Guy] Just kiss 'em. -[Rick] Yeah.
Great wing, by the way. And what sauce is this?
That's our sweet sauce. It's a molasses-based sauce.
Start with our lemon juice, tamari soy sauce,
chili vinegar, Worcestershire, hot sauce,
granulated garlic, onion powder, black pepper,
white pepper, ketchup, molasses.
Stir it all up, chill it, and let it set for a day,
and then it's ready to serve.
[Guy] What was that sauce that you made
that you guys were mixing with five-gallon buckets,
pouring it back and forth? -That was our Triple X sauce.
So this is basically our Triple X bucket.
You can see Triple X. It's designated only for that
because no matter how much you clean it,
it's gonna be hot.
[Guy] And here they are
with their magical bucket system.
-And...[vocalizing] -[all laughing]
[Guy] I'm gonna buy you a bigger bucket.
[Danny laughs]
[Guy] So it does mellow out a little bit.
-Yeah. -Gosh, that would be good on
anything. -[all laughing]
-You still make it? -We do, yeah.
-I didn't today, though. -[Guy] Goodbye.
-Ah! -[Guy] See you later.
[server] And here are your smoked wings.
[patron #4] Chicken just falls off the bone.
-Unbelievable. -[patron #5] Perfectly smoked.
The rub is so good that you don't need to dip it in any sauce.
Memphis ribs, sweet mashed potato salad.
They have all the traditional barbecue Southern side,
cornbread, mashed potatoes, fried okra.
[server] Your pulled pork sandwich, and mac and cheese.
[Danny] That's the mac and cheese.
[Guy] Now, there's four cheeses in the mac and cheese?
[Danny] Yes, it's a four-cheese mac and cheese.
That's a monster noodle. What's the crunch on top?
I see some cheddar, some breadcrumbs.
[Danny] Uh, the crunch on top is Parmesan breadcrumb.
[Guy] Nice and creamy. Lot of big flavor.
Mac and cheese is money.
You cannot go wrong with anything on the menu.
Baby Blues Barbecue, I will be back at this place for sure.
They've translated over two decades to maintain
what Guy thought it was special so long ago.
-You're awesome, brother -- miss ya. -You are too.
One of the OGs of Triple D right there.
And speaking of OGs...
Dude knows what he's doing.
...up next is a spot serving Lebanese to Minneapolis
for over 50 years.
We've introduced the whole city to Lebanese food, I think.
[Guy] And it hasn't changed a bit.
[patron] The flavors are wonderful
and keeps you coming back for more.
Here on Triple D, we're all about classic American joints.
And the great thing is, the way we eat today,
well, that means from everywhere.
Chinese, Mexican, Italian, you name it.
And it doesn't stop there.
Back in 2009, this family-run Lebanese joint in Minneapolis
was also on my radar.
And now, it's on everyone else's.
This is Emily's Lebanese Deli.
[rock music plays]
[Ron] Lamb shish kebab.
Emily's is a great restaurant, family-run for generations.
-Chicken and rice. -[patron] I saw this place on Triple D.
This is the best Lebanese place in the area.
You won't be disappointed.
It feels like you're in a family member's home.
[Guy] Specifically, the Awaijane family,
with owner Ron carrying on what his mom, Emily,
started back in '73.
These are recipes that my mother learned from her mother,
and that probably went back a few generations.
My mom was a really good cook,
and what she wanted to do was introduce people to our food.
The food is so flavorful and just different than
anything else that I had ever had before.
[server] Lamb shish kebab.
Guy had the kebabs, and the kebabs are always good.
[Ron] What I do is just start with the whole leg
and disassemble it. -Boy, you really know your...
I mean, look at this.
You're getting the optimum portions of the lamb,
cleaning them up, and then making the best cubes
that you can get for the kebab. Dude knows what he's doing.
So that's enough to get a couple kebabs started?
[Ron] Yeah, four pieces of zucchini -- onion now.
So it's a four, double up, three, double up.
[Ron] And then you can put three on top of that.
Nice hot char broiler.
Let them sear on the one side, flip them over, and then baste them.
-[Guy] So this takes... -[Ron] About five, six minutes.
So this will get served with what?
[Ron] Plated with rice. Piece of bread, pull it off.
Split it open so you're not getting all bread.
-Grab a piece. -[Guy] Edible napkin.
Mmm, that's great, man!
-Let the meat shine through. -Yeah.
Every time the show aired,
we'd have a surge of shish kebab going on.
What would your mom have to say today,
seeing that the Food Network's here?
-Would she be happy? -Oh, yeah.
After he was on Triple D, it was a lot more busy.
They've grown a lot, but the menu is still the same.
The flavor is still the same.
In the world of Lebanese food, is this legit Lebanese?
-[patron #2] Definitely. -[Guy] This is it?
Yes.
Lamb shank for table seven's up.
I had the lamb shank today. That's my new favorite.
We've preseason these shanks with salt and pepper.
Add them to a hot pan.
After those are nice and brown, we're gonna pull them out.
We're gonna add garlic, infuse the oil,
and we're gonna add onions. Water, lemon juice, some garlic.
Salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, tomato puree,
tomato paste, now we're gonna add the shanks.
Let 'em slow-cook until they're fork-tender.
And then reduce the sauce until it's nice and thick.
And add some butter. That's that.
Then we plate 'em over a bed of rice.
-We're gonna ladle some sauce. -Lamb shank.
The meat is super succulent and falls right off the bone.
-It has this delicious sauce. -Good eats?
-Uh, excellent food. -[Guy] Now what else have you had here?
-Tabbouleh. -No fool-y when you eat the Tabbouleh.
Oh, not at all, man.
The flavors are wonderful and keeps you coming back for more.
Meat pies for table four.
[patron #5] I love the flaky crust with the meat pie.
It just pairs nicely with the ground beef in the middle.
Let's get it on. Meat pie filling.
We're gonna start with some ground lamb, ground beef.
-[Guy] And brown up. -[Ron] Brown up.
We're gonna drain this off.
[Guy] So that drains the fat out of it.
Down with some onions. All those onions?
-[Ron] Yep. -[Guy] Wow.
[Ron] They're gonna shrink down to nothing.
We're gonna brown some pine nuts.
Give it a toss.
[Ron] Just a little oil just to coat 'em.
-Wow, that's fragrant. -[Ron] A little lemon juice.
Salt, pepper, nutmeg, just a touch.
-A little bit of cinnamon. Now the onions. -Mm.
-[Guy] Now we start to put it into the dough? -[Ron] Exactly.
Gather it in the middle on top. Pinch it off.
Make it a wonton. Same, just different.
-[Ron] My mom would be proud of you. -I'm not doing too bad, huh?
[Ron] Yeah, perfect.
[Guy] And we'll bake 'em for how long?
[Ron] Take about 20 minutes. And they come out golden-brown.
[Guy] Wow, just eat 'em as is?
-[Ron] Just like that. -[Guy] Mmm, great flavor.
Great dough. Little bit of spiciness to it.
You can tell I didn't like it.
All I left were the corners.
Some meat pies.
I actually married into a Lebanese family,
and this was our first date,
and we have been coming here ever since.
[patron] Obviously, they're doing something right.
-The food's wonderful. -Now, what's this bad boy?
Those are cabbage rolls or malfouf.
It's got rice and a little bit of meat and the traditional
flavors of Lebanese cooking.
We're gonna make some cabbage rolls.
Start out by blanching the cabbage.
While these are blanching, we'll mix the stuffing.
We've got rice, lemon juice, salt, pepper,
cinnamon, and nutmeg. This is the house-ground lamb.
These are blanched.
We're gonna let them cool, and then my wife adds
the stuffing, rolls them, and then layers them in a pot.
She adds salt, a little chopped-up garlic.
Add the water, boil till the rice is tender
and meat is at temp. -[server] Cabbage rolls.
I love the cabbage rolls.
The way it's wrapped, all the different ingredients
just pair really well, and it's really good.
How many people do you think you introduced Lebanese food
to for the first time?
We've introduce the whole city to Lebanese food, I think.
Emily's has been here for so long, way before I came around,
and it's just really special. -Congratulations.
Coming up in Falmouth, Massachusetts...
That is crunchy like a potato-chip crunchy.
...a spot that's really in a pickle with their menu...
There you go, pile it right on.
...which, in this case, is a good place to be.
That's sophisticated right there, man.
All right, gangster.
[Ben] You got an order of pickle chips.
So I'm here in Falmouth, Massachusetts,
in a small little town that, during the on-season,
they've got like 200,000 people here.
In the off-season, it's more like 30,000 people.
But back in 2015, I visited this funky little joint
on the main drag.
It brings in a crowd no matter what season.
Now these days, they're busier than ever.
This is the Pickle Jar Kitchen.
Two village green for table seven.
[patron] I saw the Pickle Jar Kitchen on Triple D.
Everything's so vibrant, fresh. It's really top-notch.
We got the Greek salad.
I fell in love with their breakfast,
and then one day I came for lunch,
and it's just as amazing. -[server] Loaded fries.
The owners, they're like the heart and soul of this town.
That would be Ben and Casey Gallant,
and their friend Elizabeth Lay,
who don't let their seaside location dictate their menu.
Typically, when you come down to the Cape, you think seafood.
Now we find a joint that's calling themselves Pickles.
We aren't like your typical Cape Cod restaurant.
We don't serve fried clams.
I need a pickle chip for "Triple D Nation."
I love everything here, but it's hard for me to pass up
the pickle chips. They're so good.
Let's get after this.
[Kevin] We're gonna start with whole, Kirby cucumbers.
You gotta nip the ends off, the blossom ends.
-Ends to a crunchier pickle. -That makes a crunchier pickle?
Yeah, enzyme and a blossom end.
Something about that leads to a squishy...
-A squishy, mushy pickle? -Nobody likes a mushy pickle.
-Let's start the brine. -[Guy] Water.
White distilled vinegar, salt, and a little bit of sugar.
-We let the salt dissolve. -[Kevin] Yeah, fresh dill.
So these will get loaded up.
[Kevin] Now we're gonna throw in our whole juniper berry,
dill seed. -Dill seed.
Tellicherry peppercorns, yellow mustard seed.
-Got it. -[Kevin] Whole coriander seed.
Coriander, very nice.
Jalapenos with and without seeds, and some fresh garlic.
The brine's gonna get poured over the top.
[Guy] I like it.
[Kevin] Throw them in the cooler for about three days.
I'm gonna eat some pickles.
That is crunchy like a potato-chip crunchy.
[Kevin] We're gonna dredge them up. Got flour, cornstarch.
-[Guy] 350? -[Kevin] Three to four minutes.
Nice golden-brown,
served with a Tellicherry peppercorn ranch dressing.
[Guy] Oh my gosh, dude.
This right here, you could have dredged in sand.
I would eat it.
Outrageous!
[Ben] Guy trying the pickle chips,
it obviously blew up our business.
Almost every table was ordering the fried pickle chips.
-Enjoy. -Everything on the menu is really good.
And we've got the Town Hall sandwich.
The Town Hall's one of my favorite dishes.
Perfectly cooked roast beef, pickled onions on it.
-Perfect sandwich. -We got our inside round here.
This is the pastrami spice, our house-smoked salt,
yellow mustard, black mustard, juniper, coriander,
dark brown sugar, ground black pepper and ground allspice.
Now that we have it coated, we're gonna get this
in the oven at 400 degrees for two hours.
Slice it nice and thin for the Town Hall sandwich.
Toast up that rye bread, drizzle the Dijonnaise,
Jarlsberg cheese, roast beef, pickled red onion we made
with coriander, black peppercorn, star anise,
and our clove.
Put that all under this muslin bag.
In our pot, we're gonna put water,
red-wine vinegar, sugar and salt.
Let it boil for about ten minutes.
Pour it over the onions, warm. Put them in the fridge.
They'll be ready to go in about three to five days.
Ready to plate.
We got a Town Hall sandwich.
[patron #3] The roast beef is perfect medium rare.
You must have at least a pound of meat on there.
There's so much. Couldn't be any better!
What's the specialty of the house?
Oh, we do a lot of, you know, uh, barbecue pork.
The open-faced barbecue.
[patron #4] I saw the open-faced barbecue sandwich on Triple D,
and I was like, "Mmm, yeah, I have to have that."
[Guy] Barbecue in Cape Cod.
-Not smoked, just braised pork butt. -OK.
[Kevin] Looking at our pulled pork here.
Let's toast up our cheddar scallion scones.
[Guy] Those look awesome!
Braised liquid in the pan, and a little Spanish onion,
jalapeno peppers, green peppers,
and poblano peppers. Grab some of this pork here.
There you go, pile it right on.
[Kevin] A little drizzle of Barbecue sauce.
Gloss it up.
Throw our scone on the plate here.
Drop this right on top of the scone.
Top it with smoky cheddar sauce.
Drizzle of barbecue.
And some house pickled red onion.
There you have it.
[upbeat music plays]
There's not just a pulled pork sandwich.
He's got a lot going on with the fresh baked scone.
You make the sauce.
That's sophisticated right there, man.
The open-faced barbecue,
it was hard to pry that plate out of his hands.
All right, gangster.
[Ben] We're trying to keep the structure of the menu the same,
but continuously creating new dishes.
Nobska, table five.
I really love the Nobska. All the ingredients are fresh.
The cured salmon has such a good flavor.
We will now cure our salmon for the Nobska Light wrap.
Smoked salt, Spanish paprika, Hungarian paprika, celery seed,
star anise, smoked paprika, juniper berry,
coriander, and, uh, ground black pepper.
Light sprinkle of this.
Next, we're gonna do the pastrami spice.
And I'm gonna flip these.
Put a heavier coat of the smoked salt.
A little bit lighter on the pastrami spice.
We're gonna let it cure for seven days,
and then it'll be ready to go.
Start with lavash bread, salmon in there.
We got pea shoots, carrots, chopped cucumbers,
pickled fennel, one of the many types of pickles we make here.
Mixed greens, house-made chia yogurt dressing.
And we're gonna roll it up.
Here's the Nobska Light wrap.
The salmon has a really nice, salty, rich flavor to it.
It's amazing.
[Ben] We got an order of pickle chips.
They're a great restaurant. They stand the test of time.
You're really going after it. It's different, it's refreshing,
it's creative, and you guys treat it with a lot of respect.
I think that's why you guys are doing so well.
Enjoy, guys, can I get you anything else right now?
Smoky cheddar sauce. Shanks are up.
So that's how it goes. I started Triple D...
Throw me some knuckles on that.
...and you made "Triple D Nation."
-Thank you. -[Guy] Don't worry.
We got a lot more to check out.
That's hot! I'll see you next week.
Hey, it's dripping out!
Well, that's 'cause there's a crack in there.
-I know, but it's dripping. -[Danny] Yeah.
[Guy] We're gonna leave it be then.
-Is that bad? -We're gonna leave that.
[all laughing]
All right.