Hey, everybody, I'm Guy Fieri and we're rolling out
looking for America's greatest diners, drive ins and dives.
This trip...
-Say something. -[both laughing]
We're embarking on a full flavor expedition.
Like a journey around the world.
There's a taste of the Philippines in Cleveland
Outstanding.
Authentic Indian in New Jersey.
I'm going to drown in my drool right now.
And Chef Antonia Lofaso is riding shotgun in Puerto Rico.
Stand back.
For some international bites...
You've taken all the pieces, married them together.
...that are just too good to share.
-One for Guy. -Two for Guy.
That's all right here, right now, all Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.
So, I'm here in Puerto Rico with the one and only Chef Antonia Lofaso.
And we're in Caguas, we're right in the center of the island.
-I love puerto rican food. -well, it's not exactly puerto rican food
we're going for, it's more like kind of a tapas.
-So like Spanish food? -Well, not necessarily Spanish.
-It's more international. -So like Mexican, Italian, Asian.
Kind of like that all together in one.
And so where are you taking me?
Slow your roll, little sis. This is Salao.
Lamb chop risotto... in the window.
I love the food here because you got a little bit of Puerto Rican cuisine,
but you also have new flavor
Lamb chops with... risotto.
They have everything here, so if it's got flavor,
they're willing to make it happen.
Sure.
Pork belly gua bao!
They also have tapas. It's like small dishes that you can share.
[Guy] Which is what inspire owners Krizia Diaz and Nidal Younis
to open the joint.
In our vacations in Spain, we love the barhopping and the tapas,
and that is how Salao born.
[Guy] And since then, this baby has grown into serving
all kinds of dishes served u by Chef Juan Rodriguez.
They kind of make a joke of it. I came with the building.
It used to be Pizza Mia.
I worked here before it was Pizza Mia.
It was [indistinct] i was here.
-You worked here also? -Yeah.
...with risotto mamposteao in the window.
I love the rice risotto with the churrasco.
He'll eat it completely.
Yeah, I loved when I had that metabolism at 15.
The Churrasco steak is very buttery and just melts in your mouth.
What are we into?
This is our Churrasco choice where I'm going to get
-our skirt steaks from. -No seasoning. No...
Seasoning is pretty much just salt and pepper.
I actually love that. You just taste the meat.
Put it on the grill. Now let's make the risotto
for our risotto mamposteao.
We're going to start with oil, onions.
-Dry time? -Yes.
And butter, add arborio rice.
Even Italians cook their risotto like this.
-White wine, chicken stock. -So this continues to cook down
and next, we'll start to work with the...
...or pink beans.
Oil, onions, tricolor bell peppers,
tomato paste, garlic,
sazon achiote.
-That looks like comino. -Comino.
Cumin.
We just say comino on this show.
-Adobo. -Oregano.
-Thyme, chicken base. -Didn't see that coming.
sazon completo, sazon complete.
-Great, so everybody cooks down. -Add the beans.
-Does it get nice and thick? -Nice and thick.
Let it sit on simmer.
Let's make the risotto mamposteao.
Ladle in some of our beans, risotto al dente,
chicken stock, heavy cream.
And our sazon for colori.
Let this reduce and add our parmesan cheese.
All right, chimichurri time.
We have cilantro, parsley, pureed garlic, oil, salt and pepper,
white vinegar and oregano.
-[whistles] -Mm-hmm.
Chef, we're ready to put this dish together.
This is my favorite part.
Risotto mamposteao, churrasco steak.
Pico de gallo.
I love these kinds of dishes so much when you have, like, cold, fresh
pico de gallo on top of something like hot rice.
Chimichurri sauce, Churrasco steak
-with risotto mamposteao. -Thank you so much.
Did you see that?
'Cause you're Mr. Elbows when we eat,
like, see...
This is really, really, really good.
-How many layers was that? -A lot.
Risotto is one of the hardest things that you can do.
So, that to me, I think you've really done a great job at.
Steak's cooked perfectly. The chimichurri is not overpowering,
and it gives a much needed acid to the dish.
And then as Chef Antonia said, the fresh component of the pico.
You've taken all the pieces... Italian, Argentinian, Puerto Rican, Mexican,
-married them together all in one place. Delicious. -All in one place.
Churrasco skirt steak with risotto mamposteao.
The risotto is creamy.
The Churrasco is juicy.
With the chimichurri, fantastic.
How did you guys collaborate together to make the menu?
We basically designed the menu.
-But you're not cooks. -No.
-So you picked things you liked. -Yeah.
And then you made him go figure out how to make them.
Yeah.
Ropa vieja dumplings in the window.
The ropa vieja dumplings are tapas
that you can share.
No, you don't expect dumplings made with ropa vieja.
And the seasoning is on point.
-I like the on point fact. -[laughs]
Okay, Chef, what's up next?
Ropa vieja dumplings. We'll start with fine flank steak.
So not trimmed down fat at all.
Onions, tricolor bell peppers, cilantro, beef stock,
water.
Simmer for about six hours.
-Okay, simple dumpling process. -Yeah.
All right, so we have a sheet of dumpling egg wash
around the outer edges cooked ropa vieja.
Pinch in and then we push in both sides like a little small moneybag.
-Beggars purse. -Beggars purse.
Freeze it for 24 hours and then we boil it.
-All right, chef. -Now simmer in sesame oil.
Sesame, sesa-you.
-Final step. -This is the sauce that we use.
Hoisin sauce, tamarind syrup and soy sauce.
Wearing that up to combine it.
-One for Guy. -Two for Guy.
Our crushed pork rind and top it off
with some microgreens.
Everyone, stand back.
All right, give me that.
-Wow. -It's like a journey around the world.
The skin is nice and tender on the outside,
but as soon as you get to it, remember how we evolved
the ropa vieja and all that texture is sitting inside
of the hoisin, tamarind is tacky and sweet
and the sesame oil is nutty and very sesame-y.
That's actually a very scientific word.
-I really love the crushed Chicharrons on top. -Excellent dish.
Here we have the ropa vieja dumplings.
They're crunchy on the outside, they're salty and sweet.
So it's a great combination.
The meat is very tender and I love the sauce.
Shrimp alfredo pasta.
Everything tastes really goo
So if they put it on the menu, you're willing to try it?
-Yeah. -Every time you eat it, you just want to eat more.
-Great job. Delicious, right? -Delicious.
-Thank you very much. -Well done.
[Guy] Up next, a funky join in Cleveland.
These are all my flavors, bro.
Raising the bar on their men
It's really remarkable on top of delicious
with a first class global twist.
The only problem with the dish is that it'll at some point in time be all gone.
So I'm here in Cleveland to check out a joint
that my cousin's took my mom to a long time ago
and allegedly, she sent me a message and said,
"Honey, next time you're in town,
you gotta go and check out this joint."
The guy has been rocking the place for over 25 years
and it started with money that his dad who's a doctor lent to him.
Wait, that sounds like my story except my dad's not a doctor.
This is Fat Cats.
Kimchi potato.
It's like the friendly neighborhood bar.
That's shrimp curry.
You can get a burger. If you're an adventurous eater,
you can get something you've never even heard of.
It's a good way to likely get into another culture.
Tofu noodle.
The food definitely has some Filipino elements to it
[Guy] Which comes from Ricar Sandoval's Filipino father
who cooked at home and kickstarted this culinary adventure.
My dad was a doctor, he, like, saw something in me
and he said, "Son, I'll give you the 20 grand."
And my friend and myself opened our first restaurant
and it's just been a great ride since.
We've been here since 1997, 25 years.
-Brother. -Awesome.
-What's the menu? -I'm half Filipino,
so probably a good portion Asian.
And then the rest is whatever I eat and I like,
I'll do my own rendition.
Two chicken arroz caldos.
Arroz caldo, it's a rice dish, but then
with a poached egg on it,
it gives it almost like a porridge flavor.
The chicken's cooked really well.
It's just addicting.
-What's your first item? -The chicken arroz caldo.
A Filipino dish. Chicken, some Calabrian chilies,
little cilantro, a poached egg.
Nice knowing you. Thanks. See you next week on Triple D, folks.
I'm gonna do the marinade first, some olive oil,
lemon juice, coriander, cumin, salt, pepper, and garlic.
Mix this up, let it marinate, like, four hours.
What was the building before you got here?
[Ricardo] Well, the bar was always up there since I traced it back to 1902.
There's a lot of history here.
-What do we do next? -Real simple chicken stock.
I'll take the chicken, water, chop carrots, celery, onion.
The holy trinity and a little salt.
Cook for two and a half hours and then it's ready to strain,
and so now, we're going to make the jasmine rice.
So I'll add some oil to this pan here.
Add some garlic to this.
Fresh cut ginger.
The chicken stock, jasmine rice in there.
So, throw the lid, how long are we gonna go?
20 minutes.
Now I'm going to cook the marinated chicken.
We're going to reconstitute the jasmine rice that I cooked.
-Okay. -This is the fresh chicken stock.
Carrots, scallions and this is the magic ingredient.
-Fish sauce? -Yes, fish sauce.
I can basically drink this.
We're gonna cut that chicken up.
I'll have it all day. This is a great dish to have during the...
During a nice summery day like we have in Cleveland today.
Chicken right on top there.
Calabrian chilies, garnish it with some cilantro.
-[Guy] Where's the big egg? -I didn't think I'd hear those words out of your mouth.
You didn't, I would just dubbed it.
I'll have more egg, please.
Would you like to put this on the dish?
You put it right anywhere it doesn't break.
There you go. Smells delicious.
Love the attention to detail.
You got to have the Calabrian chili in there.
Right?
The fish sauce in the rice really comes through.
The chicken's got a nice little lemony piece to it.
The cumin speaks in it.
The rice is tender, the broth is really spot on.
Mmm, the only problem with the dish is that
it'll at some point in time be all gone.
It's light, it's bright, it's fresh, very simple.
But great ingredients. Dynamite.
Chicken arroz caldo for you.
The rice is really light. It's flavorful.
The chicken is crispy, but very juicy.
You almost need a spoon because you want to get every drop of that.
How would you describe the ethnicity or would you even?
It's a little bit more subtle than some of the Asian dishes you normally get.
But you can tie it in there a little bit.
You could Thai it in there?
It's Filipino though, so wrong.
My cousin Matthew, his fiancée, Christa
and some random guy we found on the street named Thin.
So I don't know. Now, friend of the family.
-You've been here before? -But it's actually our favorite restaurant
in Cleveland.
[Guy] What is it about this place?
[man] I think it's the uniqueness of the menu and the vibe.
You bring in converts to a new type of cooking,
so I think that's the cliched win-win.
Oh, am I supposed to go to commercial?
I can't finish this?
All right, come back, please.
We're hanging out in Cleveland in Fat Cats.
I'm going to finish this and he'll make something else.
See you in a bit.
-Go. Commercial. -[laughs]
Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot.
Really hot.
Welcome back, Triple D, hanging out in Cleveland
with Chef Ricardo and his funky little joint
called Fat Cats.
With no reason for the name, just a cool name, right?
-Right. -So he just makes what he wants to make.
Pork belly pun seeds.
It's one of those menus that you can't decide what to order.
Our advice would be try a little bit of everything.
And the pork buns.
The steamed bun is just terrific.
-I like pork belly, the fresh vegetables. -And you can't beat it.
-What are we in to now? -The pork belly
that we're going to use for our pork belly banh bao.
Aka siu bao, which is Filipino.
I'll make a nice spice rub here.
Coriander, cumin, pepper, salt, chili powder,
-paprika, ginger. -Got it.
-A little turmeric. -Got it.
Oh, no, these are all my flavors, bro.
Score it first and this will help the dry rub to go in there.
The key here is to really score precisely
to get every square, like, one inch by two inch,
two inch by two inch by four inch.
I never said I was precise.
How long are we gonna let this dry rub sit on here?
24 hours and then I'm going to chunk it up, sear it
in some oil, put a little caramelization to it.
And now we're going to prep the braise for the pork belly.
Canola oil, celery, carrots, chopped onions.
Add a little bit of garlic, red wine, tomato.
-You make the tomato sauce? -Oh, yeah.
So I'm gonna add some chicken stock to this.
It's gonna go over the pork belly.
Place into the oven. Two and a half, three hours.
Cute little one.
I fell in love with this thing though.
You just keep petting it like it's an animal.
Let's make the buns.
Activated yeast, sugar, baking powder, some oil.
I'll add that flour in here.
-Just an all-purpose. -All right, how long is this gonna go?
-About six, seven minutes. -It's about done, right?
Yeah, this is done.
And what I'll do is I'll just take this
and put it on the counter.
Knead this a few times, put it in an oil bowl.
We'll let it rest for one hour.
Then we'll portion it, let it rest till we need it.
What does this get served with?
-A hoisin? -A little apa hoisin.
We'll add some brown sugar, garlic powder, lemon juice.
-Let's make the pickle. -We'll take equal parts of vinegar and water,
salt, pepper corn, whole coriander.
[Guy] And a bunch of garlic.
Who cut the jalapenos with the camping axe?
-That had to be you. -No, don't go through the...
We would break that apart before [laughs] serving.
It's a crab.
-Let this steep. -When it's hot, I'll pour it over the jalapenos
and then I'll chill this to pour over the daikon.
And the next thing we're gonna do is steam the buns.
[Ricardo] About three minutes.
After we portion our pork belly,
we're gonna crisp in the frying pan.
I'll pull out these buns that are steamed.
-The crisp pork. -Hoisin up.
-Pickled daikon. -Precisely cut.
Jalapeno, carrot and finish it with some cilantro.
And there we go, our pork belly banh bao.
What do you think?
Is he sweating enough?
-Say something. -[both laughing]
It's really remarkable.
On top of delicious.
That makes me feel like I'm at Grandma's house,
full of flavor and love and appreciation.
It's kind of like watching somebody make music.
Just adding a little more cowbell or tambourine.
-Bro, thank you very much. -Thank you.
Outstanding.
Jack, can you hit me with some cilantro, please?
Pork is fantastic.
You get a little bit of that fat that gives it
the nice flavor, nice juice to it.
[man] It's just a perfect combination of everything.
Krista knows me for getting this every time
-we come here, so... -Yeah, for sure.
[waiter] Plating the shrimp curry.
It's my favorite place to eat in Cleveland.
-Hands down? -Hands down.
It's just a fun place to be.
You are...
What you see is what you get.
-You're the real deal. -Awesome. Thank you.
Delicious, outstanding. I'll be back.
I wanna try everything. Put me on the mailing list.
Coming up, big time Indian recipes in Middletown New Jersey.
It's out of bounds.
-Wait, that's my line. -[laughs]
Like real deal tandoori chicken.
Not good, Chef, fantastic.
And a familiar favorite taken over the top.
This is one of the best samosas I've ever had.
So, I'm about 40 minutes outside of New York City in Middletown, New Jersey
in a little strip mall.
And this is gonna get confusing. So, hold on.
The current owner bought the restaurant from her uncl
the current chef learned to cook at this restaurant from his uncle.
Well, the uncles have since moved.
Anyhow, the deal is they're making great Indian food
and you gotta check it out.
This is how Haldi Chowk, 35 Indian Bistro.
Goat curry, naan and garlic naan.
[woman] I enjoy all the spices. I live about 45 minutes away
and it's well worth it.
Lamb korma for table six.
I grew up with this and the quality of the food,
it hits home.
And owners Anupreet Kahlon and Raj... Toor.
also grew up with this kind of food.
In fact, Anupreet's aunt and uncle opened this joint in 2016.
They decided to retire.
We decided that it's the right opportunity to buy.
Had you been in the restaurant business before that?
-No, this is the first one. -The first one.
And they didn't have to go far to find chef Jose Luis Carbajal.
[Guy] How long have you been here?
When they opened this restaurant?
-His father was here -Okay.
Working with uncle.
That's awesome.
When you grew up in Mexico, did you ever have Indian food?
-No, never. -Half tandoori chicken for table eight.
[man] The rule of thumb to measure Indian restaurant
is the chicken tandoori
and this is the best I've had.
It hits your lips and it melts in your mouth.
-What are we doing, chef? -[speaking]
So, how was it for you to learn about garam masala?
This had to be a little bit of a change.
Oh, yeah. My uncle Ray. He's like my father.
-Right. -So, he teach me step by step.
Coriander seed.
Lot of clove.
Bay leaf.
-Black pepper. -Got it.
-Is that an Indian yogurt? -Yes, Indian yogurt.
And that's raw garlic and raw ginger?
Chili garlic paste for oil.
Boy, I like the pour you did there
with a lot of flair. Yes, really nice.
Lemon juice.
This is the garam masala. We just made it.
Black pepper.
Paprika.
This is...
You don't methi around with that.
And a little color.
'Cause everybody expects tandoori chicken to have that red hue to it.
All right, 24 hours, then we'll skewer it,
cook in the tandoori.
-How long does it take to cook? -Around 15 or 20 minutes.
Then we pull it out, cut it, we hit it with the ghee,
we put it back in for how much longer?
[Jose] Less than four minutes.
And that's really going to brown
-when the ghee hits it, right? -Oh, yeah.
I'm going to drown in my drool right now.
And a little ghee? Just a little bit of butter,
a little bit of fat. Serve it in this.
[Guy] You stop showing off at any point?
Going to the sizzling fajita platter.
There's something about cooking in the tandoor oven.
Just gives you such a great crust
and then just makes everything inside of it so moist.
Well, my favorite parts though, is on the bottom
of the sizzling skillet over here from the fajita platter.
You get some kind of raw onions up here
that are just warm from the, from the hot chicken,
but then you get the vegetables underneath
that are little bit more sauteed so you get a couple of different textures.
-Good? -Mm-mmm.
-Not good, Chef. -Not good at all.
Fantastic.
Thank you so much.
Tandoori chicken for you.
There's a depth of flavor.
Every single thing that's on the plate is like a symphony.
-It's out of bounds. -Hey, that's my line.
-[laughs] -You don't see me going around with the mayor pin?
How long you've been mayor?
-It's my fourth year. -How big is Middletown?
[Tony] 70,000 people.
You're not too far from the city,
but then you get to come here being a small town experience.
-Yeah. -But then you get big city food.
I'm not kidding you.
I would take this Indian foo against anybody in the city
Samosa chaat for table five.
[woman] That samosa, it's almost like a potato pastry.
The chaat on the side is chickpeas
with different spices.
It's just done right.
[Guy] All right, what are we doing next, chef?
Now, we prep the...
-The chole? -Chickpeas.
-All right, let's see it. -Oil and little butter.
-Bay leaf. -Cinnamon.
And a little bit of clove.
...to make the flavor.
Ginger-garlic paste,
...salt.
-This is the filling? -We put on the top of the samosa.
-Oh, this is the sauce on top of it? -Yeah.
-Tomato puree. -Water.
Now, we can put the chickpeas.
All right, how long are we gonna let this cook, chef?
Ten minutes.
Walk me through the dough, chef.
Flour, salt.
Caraway seeds?
Some water, oil...
Mix it up, let it rest.
All right, so now we're gonna make the filling.
Oil, cumin, pepper...
and salt.
Then this is just a boiled potato that's been peeled.
Now we're filling the samosa.
-Okay. -Put a little water to stick together.
We... this, we hold like this.
[Guy] Oh, it's potato in a cone.
-My favorite dish. -Water.
[Guy] Little tuck, fry this in the oil, 350 degrees.
-How long? -One minute.
You're gonna cut them?
Not something you see every day.
-Little bit sweeter. -Onions, tomatoes.
It's turning into a salad here, chef.
Let me guess, cilantro.
-Carrot. -Let's take a look at that.
This...
-is one of the best samosas I've ever had. -Really? Wow.
It's made in balance, it's not a bunch of dough.
The filling, we've got a little bit of heat
and then the yogurt with the chickpea chola?
-Chole. -Almost get it.
...transforms the dish from...
what is typically an appetizer into a full blown entree.
That's outstanding.
Samosa chaat.
-You've had samosas before? -Of course.
-Have you ever seen it done like this? -No. You?
No, no, no, I just... I, maybe I was the oddball out here.
Chicken Tikka Masala mild.
It's a great Indian restaurant.
We tried others, but we love it here.
We just come back all the time.
You were raised in this kitchen.
You're cooking one of the most difficult types of food
to really embrace, but you have got it, my friend, to the next level.
[Jose] Thank you so much.
So that's it for this road trip, but don't worry,
we got plenty more joints to find all over this country.
I'll be looking for you next time on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.
With peppers on top.
I don't speak Clevelandese, but does that mean peppers
-in Cleveland? -Yeah, because they just put the peppers right on top.
-There you go. -Yeah.
-Oh, this is on top? -Yeah, this is on top.
-This is peppers. -And this is peppers.
-Peppers on top. Yeah. -Peppers on top. There you go.