#1 BEST Sandwich, BBQ Ribs & Frito Chip MOUNTAIN in Texas is in a TINY Desert Town

Hey guys, it's Mike Chen. I am here at the town of Malpha, Texas, population 1,000, and I'm here for a sandwich. I'm here with Chef Michael. You make your own bread. Not only that, you make your own flour. Yeah, we mill our flour for our bread from fresh wheat berries, and then we also use stone milled. I can't make this, but it's Durham semolina for our pastas, so all these pastas, it's stone milled semolina that we dry in the desert air for about three days, typically extruded pasta. A lot of people, especially from Italy, their complaint is it doesn't have the texture that's right. So it really has to be dried properly. So we're one of about five people in the country doing our bread like this, or our pasta like this. And then the bread also is, this is called a Puccia style bread. So it's similar to a pizza dough recipe. It's very high hydration. So typically bread is about 70% hydration. Ours is 110%, so it's loosey goosey. You know, when I was doing fine dining, if it wasn't perfect, if it was burned, you had to throw it out. And I like to make my bread a little funny looking, burn it, and that's really where the flavor comes from. You know, not burn so you can't eat it, but that's how to fully express the flour. You gotta char it. We're really proud of what we do. It's real food. You know, no poison in this. It's pure ingredients, you know, as it should be. This sandwich has become pretty popular in a lot of New York spots. It's called the Serva. The difference that, what's cool about ours is that we make the pistachio butter for it in house. So we make this in a chocolate mill. It mills for about six hours. So it's just buttery smooth. Olive oil from where my family's from in Italy. A lot of rich flavors in this with the mortadella. Fresh lemon all the time. This is a little bit of a juniper syrup that I make myself from local juniper berries. Nice mess of fresh basil on there. Gonna hit it with some crushed pistachios. Good amount. The stracciatella. So this is just a hand-pulled mozzarella that we make in house. And then we're gonna slice up some mortadella. This is from Olympia Provisions. It's got a lot of nutmeg, a lot of pistachio. Very rich. That's why I love that. This is what I came here to eat. I drove, I think, four hours out of the way just to come here and try this bread, this sandwich, and see the process of how it's made. And it looks like a masterpiece. Here we go. Like I said, I drove four hours for this sandwich. Worth it. First of all, the bread has such a fantastic chew. Outside is nice and toasty. I love the sesame seeds. That brings an additional aroma. The texture of the bread is light and really, really bouncy. More you chew, more delicious flavor from the bread just kind of appears. Mortadella? I don't think I've ever had that before. That thing is sliced paper-thin and pretty much melts in your mouth. I mean, that meat is borderline creamy. At the same time, you get a nice fresh crunch from the arugula. There's so much fantastic olive oil in here. And don't even get me started on that pistachio butter. Are you kidding me with that thing? I'm a huge fan of pistachio. Running out of my car, I have like about 10 bags that I picked up with different flavors. But pistachio butter, never heard of that before. Never tried it before. Now I know I need it in my life. Everything about the sandwich is perfectly crafted. The bread is definitely nothing like you've ever had before. And as you're chewing, different notes of ingredients just kind of keeps on hitting you. You get that nice fragrance from the olive oil, the sesame seeds, the pistachio butter, the slight bitterness from the arugula. And then you'll bite into a fresh basil. And that's a whole different type of refreshing flavor. Again, everything works so well in this sandwich. That's what I love about the state of Texas. There's so many little towns with hidden gems like this. This is a diamond of a place. So if you are ever driving through or, you know what, feel like you got four hours to kill, come to town. There's like the smallest Target in the world, I think, or smallest department store in the world, 20 miles down. And then come here, grab yourself a sandwich or some pasta. But definitely a sandwich. This is so fun. This is a luxury, luxury tasting sandwich in such a charming little town. That's why I love road trips. But yeah, 10 out of 10. Come and try this thing out. Dinner is at Convenience West. This is a highly regarded barbecue joint in the state of Texas. All the food secrets that Marfa holds. And this is really interesting. This is called a carrot dip dip. Cilantro on top, some pumpkin seeds. It looks like carrot dip. And they serve it with a mountain of Fritos. So I guess grab this, put it in. This is the greatest thing to have ever involved in Frito chips. Wow. First of all, I love how much chips they give you. This is pure Texas magic here. Oh my gosh, this is good. Oh my gosh. I mean, carrot dip might not sound the most appetizing, but this thing is sweet, it's zesty, it's citrusy. You taste that delicious olive oil, the fattiness of the pumpkin seeds. Oh my gosh. It's satisfying yet refreshing at the same time. And Frito chips. These are just the best vehicles to eat this with. Because the Frito chips are pretty oily. That goes really well with a zesty citrusy dip. This is one of the greatest dips to have ever been created. This is just full of Texas magic. Wow. You gotta try this. 100% super unique item. Never had anything like this before in my life. Must try. Also got my barbecue plate. Brisket with pork ribs. Some homemade cornbread. Looks like maybe made with some blue corn. Fresh house-made tortillas. Street corn salad. Look at these brisket. I'm so excited for the brisket. Everything here is homemade. It looks exquisite. And the brisket, it's just falling apart already as I'm trying to pick it up. It's falling apart. That is a smoky, tender, fatty, juicy piece of brisket. Oh my gosh. Oh, that's so, so tender. Street corn is delicious. Mmm. Cornbread with the blue corn. Oh, that's so sweet and nice. And look at this pork rib. You see that beautiful smoke ring on the pork rib. It's color is so beautiful with chunks of peppers on the outside. Oh my gosh. This might be the best pork ribs in Texas. Wow. This is so good, I'll leave you speechless. Look how easy the meat comes off the bones. Take a bite. And just no effort. It's so smoky. Hints of sweetness. Very peppery, which I love. The sweetness, the pepperiness, the smokiness. Everything about this. Oh my goodness, the texture. The tenderness is on a whole different level. Oh my gosh, these are the best things ever. Even the brisket is delicious. It is. Super tender and fatty. Mmm. Especially that piece I just had. Melt in your mouth. It's fatty, it's juicy, it's seasoned perfectly, it's smoked perfectly. Everything. So much smoky flavor. But those ribs. You want to just take that smoke ring from these ribs and put it back on that rib itself. They make their own flour tortillas here as well. Everything. That is wonderful. What an amazing little town. Martha, Texas, everybody. If you've never heard of this place, come here, get some barbecue, get a sandwich, get some pasta. This is 100% a foodie destination. They know how to do food right here in this barbecue. It's one of the best in Texas. And those ribs, that is the best. Yeah, I think I'm going to finish this and go get a rack of ribs for dessert. What an amazing small town. Also got an icebox cake. Wow. It's a banana icebox cake. Oh my gosh. That is such a nutty, creamy, banana-y cake. Oh wow. Gotta get that too when you're here.