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 are they doing?"
You know, I don't know, we should check it out.
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 trip,
could be on a bun...
Cheers!
[Guy Fieri] ...or in a bowl!
You can tell I don't like it.
No matter how they're serving it...
Easy to just eat the whole thing. [chuckling]
[Guy] ...I'm trying it out.
Mmm. What?
Laughing at me?
Like these old-school burgers in Hackensack, New Jersey.
Honestly, I could have 18 or 75 of these.
[laughing]
[Guy] This banger benny in Palm Desert...
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
This guy's got it.
...and this big surprise...
Raw fish?
...creative poke bowls
killing it way up in Northern California.
That has island flavor all day long.
Familiar faces, new places,
and more off-the-hook flavors,
this is Triple-D Nation.
So, I'm here in my home town of Ferndale
at the Humboldt County Fair,
and this is where I used to sell pretzels when I was a kid,
and you can find just about every kind of food here.
I mean, you got corndogs, you got burgers,
you got barbecue,
but when I hear there's a dude doing fresh poke,
I gotta check it out.
This is Big Island Kine.
[Isaiah Yamamoto] The fish is pretty mellow today.
Big Island Kine is the best poke
I've had on the mainland.
[Yamamoto] Sweet Heat and two sides.
I've always loved sushi, so, I had to try it.
Chopped up fish, tons of bold flavor.
-[Yamamoto] Do you like poke? -[customer] Yeah, I love poke.
The line's always long, but it's super worth it.
[Guy] And it's a direct line to owner Isaiah Yamamoto's kind of poke,
straight from his home state of Hawaii.
[customer] Thank you!
[Guy] Poke's one of my favorite things in the world.
Yeah.
I mean hands down one of my favorite things in the world.
Do people know what poke is?
Maybe a little less than 50-50.
Do they walk up and go, "Raw fish?"
-Yeah. Yeah. -Really?
"I don't get it, and it's not cooked?"
[Yamamoto] They ask that question over and over,
like, "There's nothing else, it's just raw fish."
"You don't do anything?" I'm like, "No!"
I want to really, like, represent where I'm from,
it's how we do it on the island.
Spicy Hawaiian, kimchi cucumbers.
I was a little skeptical at first, but it's delicious.
[Guy] How many different pokes? I see a whole setup here.
I have four.
Grilled traditional spicy Hawaiian.
-With mayonnaise? -Yeah.
Shoyu Aloha, so, the shoyu ahi poke
-that you find everywhere. -Ginger...
What's this one?
[Yamamoto] This is, uh, my California Dreamin,
and then this one is my Sweet Heat.
A double Sweet Heat.
[Yamamoto] Two Sweet Heat.
My favorite is the Sweet Heat. I really like it.
All right, what are we making?
[Yamamoto] We're gonna make the Sweet Heat.
Crowd favorite for sure.
Here we have the tuna that I use.
I don't like my cubes too big.
Some people in Hawaii, they like what they call
the...size,
you know, where it just fills your whole mouth.
I'm not about that,
I like mine a little bit more bite size.
[Guy] All right, so, cube this up,
and what is this? You said this was the Sweet Heat?
[Yamamoto] Yes, sir.
Right, now what we're gonna do is melt the sugar into the soy sauce.
Got it.
-I try and use... -Natural sugar?
-Organic sugar. -Got it.
And next the, uh, habaneros?
[Yamamoto] Yeah, the habaneros.
-'Kay. -For a little bit of a kick.
-And that's it. -A lot of flavor.
All right, so, we'll cook this down, how long's this gonna cook?
Uh, just for 20, 30 minutes.
-Okay. -Wanna extract the flavor, some of the spice.
Right.
-We strain out the habaneros... -Okay.
Okay, so they're not floating around in there. Got it.
[Yamamoto] And then let it cool.
All right, so, put it together.
That's the reduced soyu habanero sugar.
-Uh-huh. -Cooled down.
Some of this oyster sauce.
Sesame oil.
And some sriracha for a little bit of extra kick,
you know, different type of spice there.
How many gallons of this do you think you make a week?
Ooh, at least five.
-That's great. -Yeah.
-That's some volume. -Yeah.
How many pounds of fish are you going through in a week?
About 180.
[Guy] So, this is over the top of the tuna.
Over we go.
Little bit of green onion.
Sesame seeds.
[Yamamoto] Gotta be toasted for that extra...
-[Guy] Nuttiness? I got ya. -[Yamamoto] Yeah.
So, you let this marinate for 30 minutes and we're good to go.
[Yamamoto] Yeah.
[Guy] All right, so, let's talk about the California.
What's in the California?
I do my special house mayo.
Mayo, sesame oil,
my sweet soy sauce mixture with sugar in the soy sauce.
-[Guy] Right. -Get that all together.
Add our tuna.
We've got some red crab, real crab.
We've got some cucumber and we got some avocado.
Give that a nice mix.
Let is set for 20 or 30 minutes,
and you're good to go.
All of these get served with...
-[Yamamoto] Just standard white rice. -[Guy] 'Kay.
And then, uh, some...on the rice...
-[Guy] Got it. -...'cause, you know, we gotta do that.
Loving that!
Here we go, that's it right there.
I've never seen that poke before,
-the California Dreamin. -[Yamamoto] Yeah.
You can tell I don't like it.
That one's nice and light.
It's delicious.
[Yamamoto] California Dreamin.
The California Dreamin, the creaminess
and the sauce that he puts on it, tastes really good.
[Yamamoto] Spicy Hawaiian, Cali Dreamin.
Mmm, I like the sauce on that one.
[Guy] But this right here, bud, the Sweet Heat,
not over-soyed, not over-sugared,
not over-sesame oiled.
-It's got really good balance. -Ah.
And you can get the tuna, this tastes like
I'm in Hawaii.
I gotta tell you I'm not on the island...
...that has island flavor all day long.
That means the world.
Outstanding, man.
You're the real deal.
[Yamamoto] Regular poke bowl, Sweet Heat.
The fish is fresh, it has sweet to it
and just a little bit of a spice, little tangy.
Tastes good.
It's habanero spice, kinda just hits you in the tongue,
and it's easy to just eat the whole thing. [chuckling]
Why? 'Cause I'm not, like, telling you?
'Cause I've almost eaten the whole thing?
Is that why you guys are laughing at me?
And how about your side today?
What sides do you have?
[Yamamoto] We got the mac salad, the wakame...
-[Guy] Seaweed salad. -[Yamamoto] Yeah.
Kimchi cucumber, and the spicy imitation crab salad.
-The...it's a pollock fish? -Yes.
[Guy] 'Kay. I like it.
My favorite sides are the crab salad
and the kimchi cucumber.
-Kimchi cucumbers, yeah? -Yes.
I like the cucumber salad. It's a little spicy also.
[Yamamoto] Mac salad.
I love the fact that they have mac salad
you can have on the side, I think it pairs great.
I have converted quite a few non-raw fish eaters.
-I would think so. -Oh, 100%.
It's simple, and to think you don't complicate it.
-Mmm-hmm. -Just do it right.
It's definitely some of the best raw fish I've ever had.
One of my favorite meals.
Do you want some seasoning on the rice?
There's a little menu,
but you have everything you want in those couple options.
I couldn't ask for anything else.
It's something that this area really needed.
Where are you typically when you're not at a street fair?
[Yamamoto] Well, I'm in Eureka, California,
right off of Myrtle Street.
That's where I started, still there.
You're kind of like the poke ambassador.
[Yamamoto laughing]
[Guy] You know, you set up anywhere that you can get the message out, you do it.
Yeah, you know, I love good food,
and I love giving people good food, that's what I'm all about.
-Awesome job. Awesome job, my friend. -Thank you. Thank you.
[Guy] Coming up in Hackensack, New Jersey,
a diner that totally delivered in 2008!
You can tell which one the rookie made.
It's still flipping those out-of-bounds burgers...
-Burgers from heaven. -Heavenly burgers.
...you can eat by the truckload.
-I start 1, 4, 8, 13... -[chuckling]
-...so, yeah, I go with that. -I like the way you count.
Back in the early days of Triple-D,
and I'm talking, like, early, early, like 2008,
I did a one-day diner tour
all over New Jersey.
Lunchtime, so we're headed north to Hackensack,
to a diner that's a burger joint,
and I mean a burger joint.
And that's exactly what it still is. This is White Manna.
[Ronny Cohen] Here you go, John, two cheeseburgers.
The White Manna is a piece of Americana,
exactly what Triple-D's all about.
It always catches my eye when I drive past here, the best burgers in Jersey.
It's not a fast food place, this is the real deal.
[Guy] Really real deal.
This place has been filled with burgers
since the 1940s.
And not much has changed,
even after Ronny Cohen and his brother took it over in 1986.
[Cohen] Everything is the same, that's why people like it.
Everything change around us, White Manna didn't change anything.
-Now, where did the name come from? -Burgers from Heaven.
-Heavenly burgers. -Yes.
-Onions on the cheeseburger? -[woman] Yes.
I love the burgers, small, slider type with onions.
You can see it being made right in front of you while you wait.
[Cohen] We get chopped meat delivered every morning.
Some good-looking chopped meat.
Show me this little thing you did.
-[Guy] Ooh. -I grab a piece, and then I... that's it.
[Guy] And now, how many of these will you make in a day?
Well, we roll about, uh, 800 to 1,000.
-And then sometimes you get some-- -A week?
A day.
Today, we do about 1,200.
-Now what do we do? -This is a single.
And this is a double.
-[Guy] Two of them stacked up. -[Cohen] Yes.
-[Cohen] Some sliced onions, we slice them every day. -That's thin.
-[Guy] Oh, right into the patty. -Right into the patty.
-[Guy] The cheese. -The cheese, the bun on top.
So when the onions are cooking, the moisture that's coming out of those,
and then the moisture that's coming out of the meat,
steams the bun and the cheese melts,
-all in the same little package. -Exactly.
[Guy] Okay, so you pick it up, put the top off it.
-[Guy] Oh-ho! -There you go.
-[woman 1] Ooh, look at this. -[woman 2] Wow.
-[woman 3] Flip it. -Just press it in, push it out.
-Press it... -Yeah, that's it.
You can tell which one the rookie made.
Squish-o bun, or nice bun.
-Cheers. [chuckles] -Cheers.
Fresh made, in front of you. Honestly?
I could have 18 or 75 of these.
-[laughs] -[woman laughs]
-Three hamburgers, Ross. -[man 1] Thank you.
[man 2] Delicious.
[man 1] They're tiny hamburgers, so you have to order
four or five, minimum.
[Guy] How many we have in a day?
-Uh, two doubles, two singles. -Just two more.
Well, actually, I couldn't pace myself, I still had 1, 4, 8, 13,
-so yeah, about that. -I like the way you count.
-[Guy] Ha! Look at that. -[man 1] Two bites.
-That's a two-biter. -Look at that.
Two cheeseburgers.
Right after the show, business got much busier.
Lot of traffic out there.
We cook as fast as we can. It's amazing.
[man] Cheese fries.
Always eat here for lunch.
Cheeseburgers, hamburgers.
Of course, everyone comes in for hamburgers here.
I come in for a steak sandwich,
the flavor's amazing.
[Cohen] This steak is about five ounces.
We're gonna add the onions.
Using the Spanish onions, they're sweet.
We put salt, pepper, flip it over.
Two slices of cheese.
We put the rolls on top,
so it's gonna steam from the top and grill from the bottom.
Right on a plate. We're gonna cut it in half.
Gonna add the pickles,
and you got White Manna steak sandwich.
-One steak, no cheese. -[man] Thank you.
Steak sandwich is incredible.
[woman] It's really juicy, and the melty cheese on top.
My favorite is the grilled onions.
[man] It's kinda like a Philly, no mushrooms.
But I love the caramelized onions here.
[Cohen] Two steaks.
Two double cheese with onions.
Since I came, we didn't change much.
Simple is good.
You just need the onions, the cheese, fresh, good meat,
and a good roll, and you're ready to go.
You're putting on a show, you're talking to people, you're making great food.
People love you. Everywhere you go...
-[Guy] Everybody knows you. -They recognize you. And it's fun.
-[all applauding] -Oh, thank you, thank you.
[Guy] Up next, a popular spot in Palm Desert...
-[Guy] Oh, this is good? -Kind of nice.
[Guy] ...with breakfast options that are both savory...
It just creates a perfect bite.
[Guy] ...and sweet.
That's ridiculous.
Wow.
Being lost in the desert,
not ideal.
But being lost in Palm Desert,
as long as I'm looking for food,
I could get down without asking for directions.
And that's just what happened in 2017,
at a strip mall on El Paseo.
Hey, excuse me, excuse me.
Can you tell me where Wilma & Frieda's is?
That way? Thank you.
Fortunately, I found my way,
and since then, they've opened a second spot
on another second floor,
this time in Palm Springs.
This is Wilma and Frieda.
[chef] Two eggs over easy in the window.
Wilma and Frieda's is the place to be.
Everything is from scratch.
[chef] Blackberry French toast up.
I was on the original episode.
I was able to let people know what a great spot it was.
Comfort food, but with a delectable twist.
[chef] Mustard chicken sandwich ready, with tots.
The food's amazing. We used to drive to Palm Desert
specifically to eat there.
So when they opened a Palm Springs location,
we were just doing backflips.
[Guy] And it was that enthusiasm
that convinced Kelly McFall and her brother Kreg Alexander
to open their second location.
We knew we wanted a bigger place,
and we fell in love with this location.
It's right in the heart of Palm Springs.
So what is the restaurant? What do you guys do?
-[Kelly McFall] Uh, it's breakfast and lunch. -[Guy] Okay.
Uh, Wilma and Frieda is our two grandmothers.
-[Guy] Are your grandmas still with you? -No. They passed away.
-Did they know about the naming? -Wilma did.
That's why it's Wilma and Frieda.
Yes. We had to put Wilma first.
-[Guy] Scratch made? -Ninety-nine percent of everything
is done from scratch.
[man] From breakfast, lunch, and then
amazing homemade pastries
that you wish you knew how to make at home.
[chef] Breakfast blueberry tart.
I had the breakfast tart, and it was so delicious.
So today we're making the Wilma and Frieda breakfast tart.
-Okay, let's get into it. -We're gonna start with the blueberry compote.
[chef] I got fresh blueberries, lemon juice,
and granulated sugar.
[Guy] Gonna let that cook down?
In the meantime, we're gonna make a slurry.
-[Guy] Okay. -So this is cornstarch and water.
-There we go. -It's gonna get thick,
and then it's gonna cool down, and we're gonna use that in our breakfast tart.
-We're gonna make the dough now? Awesome. -Yes.
All-purpose flour, sugar, kosher salt,
nutmeg, some vanilla extract,
shortening, and butter.
-So we're making gravel. -Yes.
And we have ice water. So this is all gonna pool together
and we're gonna roll it out.
-All right. And then we're going to use a pastry cutter. -Time to party.
[chef] Now we go the other way.
And this is where the blueberry compote comes in.
And we take one more piece and some egg wash, then we paint it.
-[Guy] Ooh, okay. -And use a pastry crimper here.
-[Guy] That's gonna glue it shut. -Yes.
-[Guy] What are we baking these at? -350.
-[Guy] How long? -Ten minutes,
and we're gonna pull it out, put milk on it,
and put it back in for ten minutes.
-And that creates the glaze? -Yes.
-[Guy] Dig it. -This is our frosting here.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! What happened?
[chef] This is the sprinkles.
We finish it with powdered sugar
and some fresh blueberries.
[Guy] That's ridiculous.
It's like shortbread meets awesome pie crust
meets a morning breakfast tart.
Wow!
That's the one that's the best seller in the whole place.
[man] Zucchini spirals with eggs in the window!
The food never disappoints. It's amazing.
Different combinations of things that you wouldn't necessarily expect,
but then once you get them, you're like,
"Why didn't I think of that before?"
[Eddie] Bangers on rings.
Onion rings, and then you put the banger on it
with the egg and the sauce.
A marriage made in heaven.
Bangers and rings ready.
Now we're gonna start doing the onion rings.
We do cut onions like about an inch thick.
We put 'em in water and ice,
just to mellow out the taste of the onion.
First, we're gonna put the panko in,
Old Bay seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder,
and some salt and pepper.
We're gonna mix it, so now we're gonna grab the onion,
we're gonna add it to the buttermilk and egg,
dump it in here, and we're just gonna start covering the onion ring.
We cook 'em in the fryer...
...and now we're ready for those bangers and rings.
Put the English muffin, and then we're gonna do a cheddar chicken broth.
Put it on the plate.
Add a poached soft egg.
We're drizzling some nice, homemade Hollandaise.
We're gonna add a Micro Chef's Blend,
and those are the bangers and rings.
And here I have your bangers and rings.
With the brats in there and the cheese
and the English muffin, which is house-made,
it's just... everything is really good.
When there's a perfectly breaded onion ring
that's crispy on the outside,
and when it mixes in with that poached egg and the banger underneath,
it just creates a perfect bite.
[Guy] But coming up...
Well played, my friend.
I might be biting off more than I can chew.
[Eddie] All your blue shirts get splashed.
-Are you a fan of it? -Yeah, I'm a fan of all of your blue shirts.
You got some issues, son.
And here, every day is a holiday.
Amazing, and it's not even Christmas yet.
We're at The Gardens on El Paseo,
in Palm Desert, California,
and I'm looking for this funky joint
where a brother and sister have teamed up
to give you an eclectic breakfast and lunch experience you won't forget.
El Paseo's kind of known as the Rodeo Drive of the desert.
-Oh, this is that kind of place. -[both agreeing]
We were kind of the casual place.
[Eddie] Chicken sandwich for you, sir.
It's really good food.
That's the kind of food they serve here.
It's comfort food.
[Eddie] Short rib melt!
This short rib melt is amazing,
with the cheese and the crispiness of the bread.
[Eddie] Short rib melt coming up!
Give me the rundown here.
[Eddie] So, we start out with the boneless short rib,
black peppercorn, garlic clove,
-bay leaves... -[Guy] It's a lot of bay leaves.
[Eddie] ...ground thyme, kosher salt,
a whole gallon of Burgundy red wine,
-mirepoix... -Now you're gonna get all splashy, splashy, chef.
[Eddie] All your blue shirts get splashed.
-Are you a fan of it? -Yeah, I'm a fan of all of your blue shirts.
You got some issues, son.
[Eddie] This is a strong beef base,
and we braise it overnight at 250 degrees.
What are we into now?
We are making pickled red onions.
-Red wine vinegar... -[Guy] ...water, a whole bunch of coriander...
...black peppercorn, crushed red pepper flakes,
-bay leaf... -[Guy] You and your bay leaf!
-That's okay. -It's like me and my blue shirt!
That... yeah!
Kosher salt.
I let it come to a boil.
Onions go in, steep for an hour and a half.
[Eddie] Short ribs are finished braising.
-That is pull apart short rib all day long. -[Eddie] Right?
[Guy] Strain the jus.
[Eddie] Blend, mix the mirepoix.
That is music to my ears.
[Eddie] And I reincorporate it back into the meat.
Oh!
Now, we start to make this melt.
-[Eddie] Typically sourdough bread. -[Guy] All right.
[Eddie] Monterey Jack cheese, six ounce portion of short rib...
...pickled red onions.
-Saute the arugula right behind it. -[Guy] Got it.
Cook it all up, add it together.
Short rib's tender.
Arugula's a really nice touch.
This guy's got it.
[man] I got french fries for the short rib melt.
Our number one seller, hands down of anything.
And now between both locations,
800 to 1,000 a week.
To tell you the truth, I haven't actually had the short ribs yet,
'cause I'm always ordering the Christmas enchiladas.
[Eddie] Christmas enchiladas.
They have a red sauce and a green sauce.
We're gonna make the roja sauce now.
First, we're gonna put the guajillo chilies in the pot.
Salt and pepper...
Cumin brings out the texture, and the taste in the sauce.
Dry oregano, garlic cloves, water, but I like to put chicken base in mine.
Just to give it a little bit more flavor.
Then we're just gonna put this on medium heat
for 30 minutes.
So after it starts boiling, I'mma turn off the heat a little bit,
and we're gonna start blending it with the mixer blender.
Now we're gonna make the chile verde sauce.
So the first step is the tomatillos.
Olive oil, garlic,
jalapenos just to give it a little spice to it,
poblanos as well, just to give it a kick.
Onion, roughly chopped,
and then salt and pepper.
We're gonna put it on medium heat.
30 to 45 minutes, and just let it reduce down.
So it's looking ready to put the cilantro and start blending it.
We're gonna pour shredded chicken in the chile verde now.
Mix it...
Tortillas on the flat top.
I'm gonna add the chicken on the tortilla.
Then you just start stacking it up.
We're gonna add the last tortilla on top.
We're gonna start making it Christmas.
Half verde,
and half roja.
Homemade sour cream...
Queso fresco...
It comes with a sunny-side egg on top.
I need a runner for these Christmas enchiladas.
[customer 1] I can really taste the smokiness
from the roasted chile peppers,
mixed in with the tortillas and layers of shredded chicken.
It's really to die for.
[customer 2] I love the dual sauces in there.
The tortillas, the egg... amazing.
And it's not even Christmas yet.
Christmas enchiladas and bangers going up!
We knew that Guy, his magic golden touch
would change everything for us.
And every time that the show airs again,
more people wanna come.
Roasted corn avocado salad...
There's no other place like Wilma and Frieda's.
The beauty of it is, is to see that you're doing this,
and to see the smiles on your face,
and to see the success that you're sharing.
I dig it! I really dig it!
-[man] One cheesesteak with onions. -Thank you.
But those aren't the only joints to journey back to.
[man] The fish is primo today, as always.
Chilaquiles over easy, at the window.
'Cause the map of these off the hook places
keeps growing!
There is a third stool here.
Enjoy folks.
It's delicious!
And we'll be checking out more, next time on Triple D Nation.
[slamming dispenser]
Nice move!
That's, like, Fonzie, dude.
This is a Fonz move.
Yo, Cunningham!
Potsie!