We're rolling out,
looking for America's greatest diners, drive-ins and dives.
This trip, it's raining in Flavortown, folks,
[Guy] We're jumping into a crazy culinary adventure.
The flavors, they don't stop.
Like an Asian-New Mexican mash-up in Taos...
You do have so much talent, this is crazy.
Super-charged shawarmas in San Diego.
You're looking for the real deal? It's right here.
Plus a two-for-one joint...
Look at that!
...serving up Baja-style seafood.
If you just would have thrown the captain and the first mate in there,
you'd had the whole boat.
And a taco topper that puts it over the top.
Like a bone marrow lollipop.
100% indulgent.
That's all right here, right now
on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
So, I'm here in San Diego with the one and only editor in chief
of San Diego Magazine, and Guy's Grocery Games, Troy Johnson.
You know when I take you down to Old Town San Diego,
you're gonna get the Old Tow taste of San Diego.
You'll get some Mexican food
You're gonna get fishbowl-size margaritas the size of your head,
some cantina bands and everything else.
But you don't usually get the real taste of Mexican culture.
I found a woman who was cooking,
like, knee-high to her parents down in Tijuana.
Then she went to San Ysidro
She was cooking tacos, then she went over to a cebicheria.
This is Tuetano Taqueria and Mar Rustico cebicheria.
-Dude, let's go. -Okay.
Coming up, two shrimp chipotle quesadillas.
[woman] I have had Mexican food all my life,
but this is definitely a different flavor profile.
Baja-style fish tacos at the window.
You get two worlds in one.
[Guy] That's two restaurant in one kitchen,
which is where Chef Priscilla Curiel
is cooking up some surf and turf.
Why is it two restaurants?
[Priscilla] It was designed that way,
and we decided to offer, like, Baja shell seafood
that goes well with our birria tacos.
Two birria bone marrow tacos.
[woman] It's a taco with shredded beef,
just super-juicy, tender.
The bone marrow falls into the taco. It's super-delicious.
The first thing we start off by making our birria
-is we use the dried guajillo chili... -[Guy] Okay.
[yells]
...onions, peeled garlic cloves, peppercorns...
A lot of cinnamon.
-...bay leaf. -[Guy] In a bunch of water.
[Guy] Let it simmer for 45 minutes.
[Priscilla] Once the adobo is done cooking, we blend it
-with the immersion blender. -[Guy] Beautiful.
So now we're gonna get our bone marrow,
which is the second star of the taco.
Good choice here, so, the bone marrow's the third.
I'm actually the fourth, I think.
[Priscilla] Add water to the tray.
350 in the oven, 45 minutes.
What do we have next?
[Priscilla] Birria stew, some water, adobo, chuck piece.
It's gonna cook for 30 hours.
-Really? -Yes. You have to babysit it.
-It looks simple, but it's a lot of work. -Oh, I know.
Just invite people to your show
and you think they can just do it,
and then you feel like you have to babysit the entire time.
[Priscilla] Once the birria is cooked,
we separate the beef from the broth.
This is my favorite part of making the birria.
You're gonna grab the bone, put it inside the consomme...
[Guy] Dip it in the gold.
[Priscilla] ...and put it in the grill.
Dip the tortilla in the consomme...
[Troy] Ah, yeah.
[Guy] And every tacos somebody orders, they get a bone?
If they order it, so, the bone marrow birria taco.
Yeah, like, beef taco is kind of like the car
in the beginning of The Flintstones
and then they get the big bone that falls on the side of it
and it tips it over, that's it.
That's the marrow.
Okay, some of the birria meat,
onions, cilantro, bone,
put a wooden stick to scrape the marrow of the bone
[Troy] It's like a bone marrow lollipop.
The fat of the birria and the fat of the bone marrow
it becomes really unctuous.
Unctuous meat butter.
The preparation, the service style,
all of these pieces come together
and it is 100% indulgent.
I mean, you are really getting
an authentic, creative, rich...
[Priscilla] Meaty taco.
[Guy] And you just can't have enough meaty taco in your day.
[Priscilla] One, two, three...
It's quite flavorful, delicious. I'll have about 10 more.
You come to San Diego,
you run into your buddy, Luigi, from Luigi's pizzeria,
You remember the guy that was making pizza with us back in the day?
What do you think of this birria taco?
I just kept on digging into it, because I just couldn't stop.
-It's exquisite. -Exquisite?
Five minutes on, on fish tacos.
You had one of these restaurants, which was in Tijuana?
-It was in San Ysidro. -San Ysidro?
Five minutes away from the border.
We got offered, like, this space here in Old Town,
and I thought it would be a great opportunity
to have more people taste our food.
[woman] I'm having the Ensenada cocktail.
I just love that, like, balance of the sweet,
the sour, the savory, and the fresh seafood.
It's the best!
-We're gonna cool down with the seafood cocktail. -Yes.
First of all, we're gonna season the broth for the shrimp.
A couple bay leaves, chopped onion,
-garlic cloves. -[Guy] Got it.
-We're gonna season the broth for our octopus. -Okay.
Bay leaf, limes and lemons, chopped onion,
a little bit of salt in each one,
and once the broth starts boiling,
we're gonna add our octopus.
That is whole animal cookin'.
[Priscilla] We cook it for 45 minutes.
The shrimp is gonna be cooking for a minute, a minute-and-a-half.
Just when it turns color.
-Put it in our ice bath. Octopus ready. -[Troy] Cooked.
Now we build it.
Our octopus, shrimp, surf clams,
we get here from the harbor of San Diego,
salt and pepper, lime juice...
[Guy] Finely diced red onions.
[Priscilla] Cilantro, tomato, diced cucumber, diced avocado,
-jalapeno, Clamato, soy sauce... -Really?
Tabasco, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce.
[Guy] If you just would have thrown the captain and the first mate in there,
you'd had the whole boat.
-Garnish it with.-- -[Guy] More shrimp.
The seafood's cooked perfectly. Love the octopus.
There's a depth of flavor, a little spiciness to it,
a richness, no two bites are the same.
This is down at the beach.
It feels like an unpretentious version of what I grew up with.
Shrimp cocktail with, like, a cute little fork.
-This blows standard shrimp cocktail out of the water. -Yeah.
Delicious.
Ensenada cocktail at the window.
[woman] The flavors are on point,
the seafood is fresh,
just like my hometown in Ensenada.
So, this is my buddy Bronson,
and his dad served as the medic on our team here
for Triple D, Guy's Grocery Games, all of my projects
from Shark Week to you name it.
And, unfortunately, we lost your pops.
Loved your dad.
Nothing better than having you come on Triple D,
and give us your rundown
Oh, yeah. As far as shrimp cocktails go,
it's pretty dang good.
It's caliente, yeah?
What makes this place different?
I think it's the quality of the product.
[Luigi] It's just like something very unique.
It's really the cream of the crop.
[Guy] This really was a great recommendation,
and I appreciate it, my brother.
[Guy] This is a great place that people don't wanna miss
Think about it as kind of, like, eating around Mexico.
You're at the ranch,
then you've gotta go down to the ocean.
Take the horse to the dock.
-Thank you, Chef, well done. -Thank you.
[Guy] Up next,
we're sticking to San Diego for a funky food truck...
Wow!
...putting a delicious spin on shawarma.
You're such a culinary gangster.
Rolled out of the fryer and good to go... and wrap.
It's culinary rainbow Flavortown, folks.
So, I'm here in South Park,
which is about two miles from downtown San Diego.
And you're gonna love this story.
So, from what I'm told, the guy was selling cell phones
but he wanted to have a food truck.
So, he watched a bunch of Food Network,
and with a lot of hard work and determination
and no culinary training,
he was able to open up his food truck.
Well, he got some rating.
Let's see. What was that rating again?
Oh, yeah, that's right.
Best restaurant in America by Yelp.
You hear that every day.
This is the Shawarma Guys.
California shawarma ready for Joey.
The flavors they got at this food truck is amazing.
It's like I'm back home, visiting my family in the Middle East.
Gotten the beef for the wagyu shawarma plate.
Everything's on point.
[Guy] And has been ever since Bryan Zeto
cancelled his cell phone career plan
to become a shawarma man.
Who taught you how to make shawarma?
One of the first times I saw a shawarma being made
was on Guy's Big Bite.
That gives me goosebumps, dude.
[Guy] And now, he's rolling out like a pro
I love the egg rolls made with wagyu beef.
[man] The cheese that's in there, the jalapenos that's in there.
It's a for-sure win.
All right, Chef, what are we starting off with?
-Wagyu shawarma fillet cheese steak egg rolls. -Okay.
So, we're gonna start off with our marinade.
Water, tahini...
Now, where did you learn a lot of these recipes
after you watched Guy's Big Bite?
I stole them all from you, to be honest with you.
But you only did the chicken.
-You haven't done the beef, did you? -Right, no.
I'm gonna steal the beef from you.
-Salt, pepper, granulated garlic, cloves... -Cinnamon-mon-mon.
...onion powder.
-Ground oregano? -Yeah.
-[Bryan] Seven spice... -[Guy] All spice.
...and then nutmeg.
-[Guy] What are we gonna marinade in this? -The wagyu beef.
We usually take off the cap for the top of the shawarma.
And then that will render down
and continue to baste this as it spins.
[Bryan] We're gonna start layering it.
-[Guy] Now, how long's this gonna marinade, Chef? -Overnight.
And we're gonna stack it to make our shawarma.
[Guy] Well, so we'll finish this up, get it on the rotisserie...
[Bryan] It's gonna take about 45 minutes till we get the first cut.
-And next up? -The base for the egg rolls.
[Bryan] White onions and the jalapenos.
What's the liquid over here to the side, Chef?
It's, like, a browning liquid that I use.
It's very salty.
This is like a jus meets Worcestershire meets soy sauce.
Yeah, basically.
Are you ready to try the meat?
Ah, that's the little thin cut you want.
Did I have a good teacher, or what?
-The student is now becoming the teacher. -Ah, man.
That is so flavorful. Wow!
[Bryan] Chop it up, mix it with the onions, the jalapenos.
So, we're gonna take white American cheese,
put our filling in, seal the ends.
[Guy] I've mad a lot of egg rolls.
I do not know that I have made
a wagyu beef shawarma egg roll.
[Bryan] Cornstarch.
-[Guy] You drop these in 350? -Yeah.
I've got a garlic paste with them,
so it's just fresh garlic,
salt, lemon juice and canola oil.
[Guy] Out of the fryer and good to go.
Serve them with the garlic paste.
-And what's this? -It's, like, a sambal chili.
-It's really outstanding, Bryan. -Thank you.
[Guy] Cooked perfectly, right temperature, American cheese, just enough.
You don't lose the flavor of the wagyu shawarma,
and the garlic paste, that's the piece de resistance.
-Outstanding. -Thank you.
Wagyu beef shawarma egg rolls.
It's so juicy when you bite into it.
There's a little bit of sweetness to it.
This is Dan Butkus. He is our Santo tequila CEO.
-What do you think? -The wagyu's cooked perfectly. It's fantastic.
-Can I get the chicken cream chop plate, please. -[waiter] Perfect.
First food truck. Is it the only one or do you have more?
First food truck into a building,
into an actual brick and mortar.
I can say, "I knew you when..."
[woman] What separates it from the other food trucks
is the flavor of the food,
the mix of spices.
[Bryan] Fattoush I have going on the tortilla.
[man] The fattoush chicken shawarma wrap
has blown my mind.
There's a sumac dressing on there.
[woman] With lettuce and all the good mixed in.
There's a little homage to Southern California with a tortilla wrap,
instead of, like, a pita.
All right, we're gonna do the marinade for the chicken shawarma.
A bucket of water, Greek yogurt and lemon juice,
salt, dry thyme, all spice,
brown ginger, seven spice,
paprika, granulated garlic...
Turmeric for some beautiful color.
[Bryan] Onion powder, Aleppo pepper.
-[Guy] And cumin? Beautiful. -Yes.
[Bryan] And mix it up and put it with our chicken. We use a leg and breast.
Wow. So it's a pterodactyl leg?
We butterfly it so we can stack them bigger.
[Guy] The chicken is rolling.
-[Bryan] It's gonna take about 45 minutes. -What do we have to do next?
-The dressing for the fattoush salad. -Hit it.
[Bryan] The garlic paste that we just made.
-[Guy] Sumac, a little mint. -Salt.
-[Guy] Red wine vinegar. -[Bryan] Lemon juice.
-[Guy] And then emulsify that oil into it. -Yeah.
-Now we build the salad? -Yeah.
Romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes,
red onions, radishes, green peppers,
fresh mint, sumac,
and then fresh pita chips that we make.
[Guy] Salad's done. Dressing's ready.
-[Bryan] Slice the chicken right now. -[Guy] Look at that.
It's raining in Flavortown, folks.
So tender, so rich.
Your slice is awesome, because you just get a ton of the crunch
You are such a culinary gangster.
[Bryan] All right, now let's make the fattoush wrap.
So, we're gonna put some of the lettuce down,
chicken shawarma on top...
Garlic paste needs to be bottled and for sale, to go.
-[Bryan] Then we're gonna wrap it up. -[Guy] Beautiful.
[Bryan] Now we're gonna put it in a panini press.
-[Guy] Wrap it and cut it. -Yeah.
-There you go. -That's a culinary rainbow Flavortown, folks.
I want wallpaper made out of that.
I love the radishes in there.
The little added extra crunch.
The bell peppers, the cucumbers, delicious.
Chicken shawarma going on the fattoush wrap.
The chicken is so tender.
It's like the perfect blend of juicy and the crunch.
I love it. Definitely one of my favorites.
When people say to me they wanna have a food truck,
and they wanna have a restaurant, and they wanna get into the business,
it's kind of like, um, 90% want it, 10% can make it happen.
You're one of those people that has a discipline,
has a palate, has the drive,
has the inspiration to make it work.
And, dude, you're making it work, and then some.
If you're looking for the real deal,
it's right here. Shawarma Guys.
[Guy] Coming up, Asian fusio in Taos, New Mexico.
Flavor jets like chef duck curry noodles is a symphony.
And a bison Reuben banh mi,
that puts other sandwiches to shame.
Every month, you have to send me three of these now.
So, I'm here in beautiful Taos, New Mexico,
in the historic district,
to check out a restaurant
where I hear the chef has go a long culinary history.
But when he came to town,
he started off with a noodle cart.
Wait a second, I had a pretzel cart, but anyhow...
So, this guy is doing wild flavors.
He's doing wild combinations
and really taking pan-Asian flavors to another level.
This is Donabe.
Order of gyoza.
This is a special place to come when you want
something that's a little bit different.
Elote, tom kha salmon.
It's local Asian fusion
with some New Mexican thrown in there.
[Guy] Which started coming together when Chef Marshall Thompson
brought his love of Thai to the streets of Taos.
I had a noodle cart in the Plaza area.
I don't think there's enough noodle cart in my vocabulary.
[Guy] And when the cart grew into a restaurant,
this classically trained che could expand
his Far East-southwest menu
We're making red curry.
Red curry's great. It's packed with veggies and cashews and green onions.
After a long day of skiing, red curry is gonna bring you to life.
-What are we getting into? -The red curry coconut sauce.
Let's see it.
Star anise, green cardamom,
coriander seed, ground cinnamon,
flax seed and chia seed.
Flax seed. Why?
High protein, the antioxidant powers of it,
-also it does help thicken. -Okay.
Now we're gonna make the sauce.
Our sesame oil, rice oil mix...
-Into your pot. -In the pot.
Ginger and whole garlic, tomato paste.
Now I heard rumors of Ming Tsai and Julia Child?
Yeah, I got a chance to work with these guys.
One of my favorite chefs in the world, Marshall,
-Chef Ming. -Chef Ming
It's been 25 years.
I was part of a large group of kids helping out at a charity dinner.
All the chefs were starting to get a little tired, and a little grumpy,
and you were able to rein it back in.
You were just, like, "Hey, guys, we're here for the kids.
Let's focus on what we're doing."
After that, all the bickering stopped,
and I was very inspired by that.
[Chef Ming speaking]
He's the best.
[Guy] Next we're gonna hit our dry spices we made.
[Marshall] Now we're gonna deglaze with a bit of sake.
I like that sake.
Coconut milk. I add a bit of water to the can,
dump that in now.
-Makrut lime leaf. -[Guy] Goji berry.
[Marshall] Thai red chilis, tamarind, tamari...
[Guy] Lemon grass.
[Marshall] ...rice flour, simple syrup.
-How long's this gonna simmer? -20 minutes.
Cool it down, then put it into the blender
to create a smooth paste.
Next we're gonna make the veg stock.
-Onions, carrots, leek-- -Can't leek those out.
[Marshall] Garlic and chopped ginger.
Water, cinnamon stick, coriander seed,
star anise, whole black pepper, cloves...
[whistles]
...fresh thyme, makrut lime leaf,
-cremini mushroom. -[Guy] Nori?
Miso paste, veg base.
You get the pipe wrench and the crescent wrench,
I'll go get the kitchen sink off the wall.
[Marshall] I like to simmer it from one to two hours.
-Pull everything out of it. Strain it. -Yes.
Let's finish it up, Chef.
Sesame oil blend, Chinese trinity...
[Guy] Ginger, garlic and scallion.
-Gonna caramelize. -Quickly.
-Cabbage mix. -I like the radish trick.
Roasted veg mix, whatever is seasonal.
And what if somebody wants a protein in this?
They're can add that right at the end.
The sake, veg stock and the curry sauce.
Flavor jets.
We're gonna let this come to a boil
and that's when I'm gonna add the noodles.
A mix of scallion, cilantro, basil and mint.
-Toasted cashew. -[Guy] Beautiful.
How do I explain this to everybody at home?
When you drink orange juice that you've fresh-squeezed
or drinking orange juice that's been pasteurized,
it's a spectrum.
Having red curry paste out of a jar
compared to this, it's a symphony.
It's a really simple dish that is completely complexed.
I'm picking up the cinnamon, the cardamom, the star anise.
You're scratch making it with a real attitude and energy,
and you can taste it in the bowl.
-Excellent. -Order up, red curry.
And the vegetables are all so fresh, so crispy.
You can get a nice heat at the beginning,
but it doesn't linger too much.
Just wanna keep eating more and more. It's addictive.
Go ahead and get some egg rolls prepped.
He's creating food that no one else is creating.
I love it. It's unusual.
Chicken fried steak, order up!
He is truly an artist.
Hence the art gallery inside of his restaurant.
[man] You're right next to the park.
It's a really nice central place in town
to come and get some great food.
So, I'm gonna sit here and eat this. Take a small nap.
But when we come back, Chef, what are we gonna make?
Bison Reuben banh mi.
There's not many places that offer locally sourced bison.
It really just takes this sandwich to another extreme.
Ok, I wanna have that. Don't go anywhere.
I take things real seriously, okay?
Yeah, I haven't seen a smile on your face yet.
Exactly. Calm down. No more laughing. No more fun.
Welcome back, Triple D hanging out in Taos, New Mexico.
This is Chef Marshall.
He's got a pan-Asian art gallery restaurant.
This guy does it the way he wants to do it.
Order in, a red curry salmon hot pot.
Fusion Asian, it's not like what you typically would think of.
Reuben banh mi up.
The bison banh mi is amazing.
It's a very thin-cut bison sandwich with a spicy aioli on it.
The fries is my favorite part.
We're gonna start with the brine
for a bison pastrami.
-Equal salt and sugar? -Yep.
Star anise, whole black pepper, coriander,
ground mustard seed, Chinese trinity,
ginger, garlic and scallion, and some curing salt.
-So, we're gonna brine it? -[Marshall] Ten to 12 days.
-Then what's gonna happen? -Dry rub it.
What's in the dry rub?
Coriander, clove, cinnamon, granulated garlic,
onion powder, cumin, star anise, salt,
sugar, red chili powder, chili flakes and whole black pepper.
Blend, and then I'm gonna rub it down.
[Guy] You're gonna smoke this?
[Marshall] 225, about six hours.
Cool it down, and then braise for another hour and a half.
Cool it down again, and it'll be ready to slice.
[Guy] What else we gonna make?
Pork pate. Parsley, a house-cured bacon,
sweated onion, chicken livers.
[Guy] Chicken livers I'm fine with. Beef liver...
Ground pork, makrut lime leaf.
-Do you have your own tree? -Uh, no, I wish.
-I have mine. I'll send you leaves. -I love it.
Panko bread crumbs, garlic, sage leaf,
ground white pepper and cayenne.
-Mix it by hand, then put it in the processor. -[Guy] Okay.
You wrap the plastic over the top, then foil it,
and then it goes into a water bath for a couple of hours.
-[Guy] What temp in the oven? -250.
What else are we gonna make for this dish?
House made kimchi, usually called mak kimchi.
-Of course it's your kimchi. -M-A-K.
-Mak. -Yeah.
Okay, so we're gonna get some salt and some water.
We've got radishes.
[Marshall] Scallion, carrot, daikon, red bell pepper, napa cabbage
and then we're gonna mix it all with the brine.
Let it sit overnight,
drain it off, add the spices,
kelp powder, cayenne, ginger and garlic.
And how many days are you gonna go after it gets this mix?
-Five days, room temperature. -Yeah. Got it.
-Let's get into the bread. Where's the bakery? -Right here.
We started out with a starter yeast,
high gluten flour, and then all-purpose flour.
We let that rise,
and then the next day we knead it down.
-We do this all by hand. -Yes, it's all by hand.
Are you a glutton for punishment?
[Marshall] Then we're gonna let it rise again. Not exactly.
And after that we start to portion it out.
Then we're gonna proof it again.
-[Guy] Then in the oven at what temp? -550.
Fifty minutes on one side, then pull it out, rotate it. Done.
I've filled it. So, you've toasted the bread both sides.
Kimchi on our bison pastrami. Swiss cheese on both sides...
[Guy] You hit the pate.
...and then we've got a spicy Russian dressing.
The fries are ridiculous. What is it? Sambal?
Sambal, honey and lime.
They are very unique.
I think that's what Donabe means, it's very unique.
That's one of the most interesting sandwiches
I've tried in the last five years.
The flavors...
...they don't stop.
Rich, smoky, salty, crunchy,
spicy, creamy, repeat.
The pastrami from the bison, outstanding.
The kimchi, the crunch and the richness of the pate, dynamite.
Every month, you have to send me three of these now.
I'll trade you for the lime leaves.
God, I got off easy on that deal.
All right, we've got a banh mi.
The pork pate really complemented the bison.
The kimchi is really fresh.
It's just a sucker punch of a flavor, and it's awesome.
Egg rolls, lollipops.
Donabe is just food for the soul.
Dude, you have so much talent, this is crazy!
You don't have to sell anything else now.
Just make the sandwich and the noodles.
Well done, buddy. It's like next level.
So, that's it for this edition of Diners, Drive-Ins and Div
but don't you worry, there's funky joy.
It's all over this country.
-And I'll be looking for you next time on... -[all] Triple D.
[cheering and applauding]
Oh, my gosh, I can't even bleed.
Dude, the napkins are so wet and comfortable.