The Craziest Diner Menu Guy Fieri Has EVER Seen 🍜🔥 | Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives | Food Network

You know one of the things I like about diners is they fill a need a need of that All-american food and a lot of them are usually open 24 hours a day But one of things I really dig about diners is when they have that extra little flair kind of like here in Santa Cruz, California We're New Jersey style diner meets Asian cooking. You gotta check out Santa Cruz diner Is it often that you have a spring roll right before you bust into a burger? This is an eating experience It's huge very good They've got everything eggs benedict spicy Thai coconut soup, this is the craziest menu I've ever seen thanks to Gil Kirchner. All right grew up back east of diner country And his wife Kim who was born in Vietnam We moved over to this town. We didn't see that. They had a good local diner So they opened one back in 98 going out steaming bowl. Had you both been in the restaurant business prior to this? No What no experience in the restaurant business, no, but she could cook But I love to cook. I grew up in a big family. We share recipes Now she's sharing them with the diner crowd from rice bowls to Vietnamese spring rolls That was excellent to pho the traditional soup Kim grew up with we are going to make pho Spelled pho pho rice noodle soup. We get the beef bun. It tastes really good. Well, let's get started Okay, first we roast the seasoning star anise see now star anise has kind of a licorice flavor to it Yeah, okay, and then about two hands full of fat and this is the coriander and some cloves just a pinch Uh-huh. Is that right? Uh-huh. I have my ratios, correct? Yes, this is what I want you to see check that out That's cinnamon. This is the actual cinnamon bark. So how much of this we put just break it up Oh my gosh, that smells great and about ten of those. These are cardamom pods Yeah, it has that really distinct flavor kind of gives it the the Tang and all that toasting is really gonna open the flavor Yeah, you can start to smell perfume right now. You just fill the bag up with these tie it off So we have our spices ready. Now, what's the next step? Chicken bones, you got to make the broth. The broth is chicken base chicken base So we're gonna let that sit there and simmer skim off all the fats and then we add the roasted ginger the roasted onions and that All goes in. Okay, so the little bit of that radish bite to it now, when does this go in? You can put it in now soak it and next we add the sauce. This is sugar What is it? It's a fish sauce. Whoa, I almost chugged it. And this is the key I'm down with the fish sauce that's gonna slowly go for about six hours and that's the basis for our pop So those are pre blanched Finley slice. Yep. Put on the beef. It's gonna cook the meat right when the hot liquid gets on there. Look at this Onions there you go. It comes to the table you get this nice little goodie basket now I like to get my Thai basil a couple jalapenos just to spice it up a little bit and then some of the bean sprouts These are actually my favorite. I'll show you one of my cheater tricks. I wrap it around the chopstick and then I go So good One of my favorite things great doodle the beef cuffed in that meat is sliced it's enormous flavor yet It's very light. Mmm, that broth right there is as good as you'll find Mmm, that's crazy good in a diner steaming bowl There's a warmth and a heartiness to the dish it all comes together and just a wonderful broth. It's very homemade taste Okay, folks. Here we go. There's something for everybody and Growing up on the East Coast every diner has a big menu same here How many items are on it many as we can fit? He wants to put things on and I have to make it happen from diner classics like omelets to local favorites like shrimp and salmon cakes Wow, you go girl But the real kicker here is still Kim's Vietnamese comfort food. Never seen a spring roll in a diner menu before Spring rolls. So what are we starting off with pork saltwater? I don't put salt I don't cook with a lot of salt just bowl in water. Yes. This was pork loin. Yeah, it's nice to me Okay, take the shrimp. It's just blanching water again. I don't put salt it I know I'm not asking for any more salt for me Okay, and then we split the shrimp in half and that makes it so they're easier to dry when you wrap them How long you've been making these as long as I remember ready to build one. Yeah, we're gonna take the tapioca paper, which Looks like a food frisbee and then we reconstitute it in some warm water And by the time it starts to absorb the water It's about ready time to start rolling first We start out with the lettuce and some rice noodle kind of spread it out and next is the pork Okay, I like the way this is going and then mint about three leaves You put the shrimp like halfway put the pink side down so you can see the color Okay, we start rolling just wrap it up and then drop the side over. There you go. Perfect Wow You did it. You just slice it in half Plate little peanut sauce the hoisin sauce the water peanut butter peanut butter And a little corn starch to tighten it up. Yeah, that's it. Can't beat it sprinkle some peanuts on top and just dip in it That's it You didn't season the pork or the shrimp it's got enough flavor Hmm, but you don't need to put anything else to it. My favorite part about it is the mint It's really bright. It's great. Peanut sauce. I'm glad that you like it Thank you, thank you The spring roll is wonderful really good It's a good menu that great people can't beat it. There you go, sweetie You really say to yourself I want to take the best of the East Coast diners and I will take the best of Asian food Oh, exactly that you're ready to open another one. No So I'm here on 3rd Street in Long Beach, California in an area known as Belmont Heights now 10 minutes that way You're in downtown 10 minutes that way you're at Long Beach State now I'm told that if this joint had been in business when I lived here, I never would have moved. This is Starling Diner The French toast with the seasonal berries today. This place is my happy place The food is just fabulous roast beef hash, too It's homemade. It's always good. They know what they're doing They is Joan Samson twice-baked granola who started in the biz at age 10 running a snack shack out of her parents garage Then college took her down a different path. I went to Rutgers University. Would you go to Rutgers for her law? You're an attorney. I have a law degree breakfast polenta, but instead of taking the bar She opened up some restaurants including this spot in o7. Does it matter what you do end up back in the restaurant? They just suck you back in. I Think it's just the love that she has for food and making the food every dish has its own unique twist It's just phenomenal We're gonna do our slow-roasted pot roast It's wrapped in or tortilla with polenta and potatoes. All right, let's get it going All right, we start by searing Chuck roast in butter So we're seared off next step. Then we add the mirepoix, which is celery carrots onions herbs Rosemary my favorite full-time bay leaf Peppercorns, thank you. Wow and a lot of garlic a lot of garlic This is the stock from the last time this was made. Absolutely. I like the way you're rolling and how much wine Are you and I gonna drink? And then salt and pepper, okay How long we're gonna cook it four to six hours got it 275, okay, there we go Okay, we're making polenta potatoes. We've got mashed potatoes that we mix with organic polenta We put them in the salamander to get that nice crisp top on it. Take the pot roast out of the oven. Got it Second sexy Here we go with the potato polenta That's nuts and then a layer of caramelized onions Find some great pieces for you Pour gravy inside Fold it flip it and yet there's more pop it off with gravy. I'm gonna make it healthy. There we go We're gonna waft it with some lettuce with a little bit of parsley. Thank you. That just changed it all The gravy is ridiculous Creaminess the potato texture of the polenta the rich pot roast It is a power bomb of flavor Warning don't eat this and drive. This is a coma item It's juicy. It's savory. It's wonderful. Seriously. It's like your mother's pot roast I'm right outside of Leavenworth, Washington on Highway 2 and I look to my right and I go wait a second I'm not in New Jersey, but look at that beautiful sparkling diner. I got to check it out This is the 59er diner and even though this old-school spot has hit a few bumps in the road Owner wild man Joe canada cheese stick cheese stick burger burger keeps the joint rocking and rolling It's classic diner food at its finest mozzarella sticks of homemade marinara The mozzarella sticks are so good the dipping sauce is out of this world Mozzarella sticks the mozzarella sticks amazing. The mozzarella is hot and fresh big crunch They pull the marinara is really good. It's like you take your mozzarella sticks very seriously. We got an egg wash here We're gonna throw a few spices in sugar garlic powder a little oregano paprika dry mustard lemon pepper black pepper It goes right in the egg wash right in the egg wash. Okay, you want some milk in this too just a touch Okay, that's good. We have the beautiful mozzarella logs that were cut into the precise five-eighths of an inch five-eighths by five-eighths There you go flour on them. Then you got to knock the flour off went to the egg wash into the panko So you go like this and then hit the ends. We're gonna batter them again The little roll thing is interesting. So it keeps it from being square Now it becomes a little bit more round after they set up for a couple hours. They'll fry at 350. That's right We're serving with some fresh marinara. All right, big Joe throw a little olive oil in the bottom It's all about garlic. Just a hint of brown in there the plum tomatoes. Very nice a little more tomato He's doing exactly what you're supposed to do You go and rinse these cans with water to get every little last bit of the tomato out of there a little bit of the Water in there a little salt a little sugar oregano a little Italian seasoning and we'll let this cook down How long Joe just 45 minutes or an hour cheese sticks? And that's all she wrote Whoo, that's gooey. That's what I'm talking about The fact that you can contain all the cheese Inside of this without having the blowouts is outstanding because that's one of the biggest challenges You fry it just the right amount to where the cheese is melted not too oily and you still got really nice crunch That's a legit cheese stick So here I am Buffalo, New York About five miles northeast of Lake Erie at a joint that was once a diner and then change into a Chinese restaurant Well, then transplanted from Pennsylvania and they turned back into a diner and guess what? That's not even the amazing part These guys are they're curing their own ham. They're corn in their own beef and they're smoking their own bacon. This is Lake effect Kind of unique in Buffalo upscale version of the old Really tastes different. Are there a lot of diners about not too many not like this a 50s legacy That Tucker Curtin giant sausage and his wife Aaron brought back to life table 24 We went looking for the diner car and we were able to Resurrect it and put it back into service again. Now. This joint is smoking for real ready to rock and roll everything from turkey to bacon Oh, it's so good to ham. So a boneless pork leg and you're gonna make your own make your own ham I don't think on triple D yet. We've seen anybody make a ham. This is this is old-school curing We'll start with our brine. Okay about a gallon of water some dried cloves here black peppercorns I mustard lots of dried mustard light brown sugar made right here in Buffalo, New York maple syrup Yeah, so do you have nitrate offers a nice color and then kosher salt? Okay, bring that to a little simmer Yes We're gonna get that into a rumbling boil and then we'll cut our ham in half for the cool brine on top and that's a 1214 day process and then it'll go to the smoker for about three hours We'll also slow smoke the bones that we'll use in the stock for a red-eyed gravy smoke those over mesquite charcoal And we also burn apple and hickory woods Wow, sugars are starting to caramelize up on them. Look at this. Take it. Just take a little looky-loo at that And that beautiful. It's got that real maple talk in the middle of it. Just And this is all for a breakfast item on a menu, correct a breakfast item one item one item So now we take them pop them in the oven bring it up to about 145 finish the cooking process take them out We got our bones. They're all smoked off. I've got the fat nicely out of them You know, I'm gonna dump the pan juices in there a little mere paw carrot celery and onion Dig it black peppercorn. We are gonna be straining that. Yes. We are some kosher salt Frank's hot sauce Wow This is the secret to good wings. It's also the secret to good red-eyed gravy brindle of fresh thyme add some coffee to it How long will this sit there and simmer for about three hours strain it and they'll be ready to serve with the ham, correct? Got our ham right here slice them up get that going on the flat top with eggs and home fries egg egg Baby a little bit of a red-eyed gravy here. We get these eggs some of our home fries and our ham on there, too And I hope you're gonna say that This is very flavorful tender ham for sure Feel like a side of ham with some ham being raised eating red-eyed gravy. I've seen a lot of different variations I do think that I would like to have a cup of red-eyed gravy to chug Awesome Very good, very moist everything is really fresh really homemade 95% of the things you guys serve you make absolutely scratch Absolutely, our customers deserve the best if we have the ability to provide that quality food. It's our job to do it So I'm here in beautiful, San Diego, California in an area known as Mission Hills now I'm here to check out a diner that was once a bistro and it's owned by a guy named Rick But that's not the name of the diner, but it's his sister's name But his sister's not actually an owner of the diner. I know this is really confusing, but I hear the food's great This is Joe's diner Meatloaf ready to play. It's not a traditional meatloaf The glaze on here is just excellent that little pop of flavor wrapped in bacon. Just crazy. Wonderful Joe's meatloaf California grass-fed ground beef got it some diced pasilla chili peppers You see those aren't very spicy add a little nice flavor Italian parsley and then pecorino cheese This is a very interesting meatloaf at this stage panko breadcrumbs Eggs whole milk a little salt pepper. How much would you say chef about a tablespoon? I like the way this is going so far mold the meatloaf pop it out We've already got our Applewood smoked bacon laid on pull up the ends. It's when the magic happens Flip it over into the perforated pan. It's like you've done that before for the glaze You've got ketchup ketchup brown sugar dry mustard hot sauce. We're gonna glaze it. Should we cook it? It's gonna be portioned pop it back in the oven for about 12 to 15 minutes. Now. We're into dim gloss We've got beef stock red wine tomato paste pine peppercorns bay leaves red onions bring it to a boil Strain it well reduce about half and then a little slurry to tighten it up Good to go. The meatloaf is down do a quick sear on both sides and we got our garlic yukon mashed potatoes French green beans Country gravy and then our beef Demi most diners. It's not like 80 steps to make meatloaf It's fantastic that's some of the most tender moist meatloaf I've tried this is my first time I've ever had pasillas in a meatloaf Between the pecorino and the pasilla this has a ton of personality It's like its own style of meatloaf the Demi's a nice little kiss But the real star of it is that sauce that you've glazed on the outside I mean then you go into extra innings adding in this gravy the mashed potatoes are great green beans are on point you mask Your French Bistro energy into this American staple really well. Thank you You can take a man out of the Bistro, but you can't take a Bistro out of the man I got the meatloaves for you guys It's extremely flavorful the sauce that they put on top of it is just so delicious It's got a smoky taste from the bacon. You nailed it man. You've made this a contemporary diner