Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (2006–…): Season 20, Episode 1 - California Cruisin' - full transcript

Hey, everybody.

I'm Guy Fieri,
and we're rolling out

looking for America's greatest
diners, drive-ins, and dives.

This trip...

Mmm.
Oh, yeah.

...the convertible's revved up

for some California cruising.

Look at that! Unh!

In Culver City...

It's good.
Rock star.

...a real-deal Hawaiian joint...



The desire you have
to do this authentic --

Impressive, man.

...dishing out a side

of rock-star royalty.

Awesome to meet you.

Don't touch me.
Okay.

[ Laughs ]

Then just south
in Garden Grove...

Tamales.
...off-the-hook Mexican...

The flavor jets
are turning on.

...that's all in the family.

I'm gonna tell your mom.

He changed the recipe.

And up the coast at Monterey...



Shuck the front door.

...smoke and seafood...

We are like in the race
right now

because the oysters
are almost done.

...pulled right out of the bay.

Mmm!

That's all right here,
right now,

on "Diners, Drive-Ins,
and Dives."

-- Captions by VITAC --

Closed Captions provided by
Scripps Networks, LLC.

[ Car door closes ]

So, I'm here in Los Angeles --

well, actually,
Culver City to be exact,

and I'm right between
Sony Studios and Venice Beach.

I'm here to check out a joint

that is just
what the locals love.

That's right -- Mexican food.

Oh, wait a second. Scratch that.

No, it's Hawaiian food because
this is Rutt's Hawaiian Café.

[ Indistinct conversations ]

Loco Mocos.
Amazingness.

Hawaiian
barbecue chicken bowl.

This is good stuff here.

WOMAN: This is the closest
you will get

to authentic Hawaiian food
in west L.A.

Like, this is --
Without question?

Without question.

FIERI:
And to think Chef Paul Wahba

had never even been to Hawaii

when he bought this joint
back in '01.

Where are you
originally from?

Originally, I was from Egypt,
but -- yeah.

Really?

I didn't know
what Hawaiian food was.

I looked at the menu,
and I was like,

"Oh, my goodness.

You can have Spam
on the menu?"

My goodness.

The Spam stayed put,

and Paul became a pro at turning
out legit island flavor.

WOMAN:
Hawaiian fried Royale.

MAN: So, you got some eggs,
you got some sprouts.

It's awesome.

Let's get to it.
What are we making first?

We're gonna do
a Hawaiian Royale.

[ Metal banging ]
A fried Hawaiian Royale.

All right.
What is that going on?

[ Banging continues ]

MAN: Quiet, please.

Excuse me.
MAN: Hello.

Aah!

[ Laughter ]

FIERI: Now, this isn't the first
time my crew's punk'd me,

but you got to be kidding me.

Gene Simmons from KISS?

Yeah!

[ Laughter ]

Your glasses are on the back
of your head.

Got to have somewhere
to put them.

Okay.
I got to try it, too.

Oh, this is too much.

Now we can turn it around.

Hi, how are you?
I'm fine. Nice to see you.

Oh, man, this is --
Awesome to meet you.

Don't touch me.
Okay.

[ Laughter ]

I come have eggs here
all the time.

Rutt's has been my fave.

Well,
I'll tell you something --

Why are you talking to me
instead of doing the show?

I have absolutely
no idea.

[ Laughter, applause ]

You want to cook something
or you want us just to feed you?

I'm telling you, I'm useless,
but I can eat.

So, what is this
you're gonna make for Gene?

The original
Hawaiian Royale --

Royale?
With teriyaki beef style.

Yes.

So, what do we got, chef?

We put a little
veggie oil in here,

sauté the onion
and sprouts.

Little sauté on the onions,
little bit of the bean sprout.

Now what we're gonna do is
we're gonna scramble three eggs

with the teriyaki beef.

I'm helpless.

Wow.

Nicely done.

You're wearing some of that.
Here we go, sir.

Thank you.
Look at this.

I'm never gonna get rid
of this towel.

[ Laughs ]
eBay.

[ Laughter ]

Seriously.

How would you like to put
your scrambled eggs on here?

Right on top,
sir.

[ Chuckling ]
Okay. Here we go.

There you go.
Yeah.

That's a big portion.

Well, but mostly, you've got
vegetables, a little protein.

Means later on,
I can have a hot fudge sundae.

How do you like your spice?

Chili flake spice,
Sriracha spice?

Sriracha.

You got to put it on.

Come on.

Well,
I hope you're hungry.

Just so you know,
you're gonna burn your mouth.

Look at this.

When would this ever happen?

Whoa.
[ Laughs ]

That's the shot
of the year!

Oh, man.

Oh!

In all seriousness...
really good.

Give me the breakdown.
What makes it so good?

What do you enjoy
about it?

It's got to smell good
before you taste it.

[ Sniffs ]
'Cause that's a taste bud, too.

The first bite tells
the whole story.

It's all got to happen
at once

like an explosion of taste
in your mouth.

The spices makes
your tongue tingle

and sing "Hava Nagila."

[ Muttering rhythmically ]

And they do that
all the time.

That's a foreign song.

I have it
on one of your albums.

You're just going
right after it.

That's good.
That's really good.

Thank you.

Fried Royale.

[ Bell dings ]
It is just delicious.

Good portions, good price.

WAHBA: Ready to go.

It's almost like
that home-cooked

loving, feeling food,
you know what I mean?

because you have somebody
who cares about what he does.

It's that down-home ideal.

This is like
mom's making your food.

Doesn't look like my mom,

but this is like
mom's making your food.

[ Laughs ]

FIERI:
Gene's got to roll,

but I'm sticking around for more
of mom's Hawaiian home cooking.

Laulau plate.
FIERI: Laulau dish?

Laulau.
We say it twice.

FIERI:
Rutt's Hawaiian Café

may be outside of L.A.
in Culver City,

but according to locals,
it's just like being in Hawaii.

When you walk into this place,
you get the genuine feeling

that you're probably
on the islands.

It just brings me back

to my first time
experiencing Hawaii.

WAHBA:
Laulau plate is ready.
This is the Laulau dish.

Very traditional
Hawaiian dish.

It has pork,

usually add some butterfish
in it -- incredible.

A Laulau dish?

Laulau.
We say it twice.

We start by trimming
the butterfish.

Black cod is also known
as butterfish.

All right.

Remove the center part first --
the bigger bone.

You don't want that
in your food.

Laulau always
has fish with it?

Butterfish adds to flavor.
You need to have that.

Otherwise, it's not really
authentic Hawaiian.

So, there's your fish.
We got pork butt.

Now what do we do?
Let's make our marinade.

That's some water
we poured in there.

Little liquid smoke.

Hawaiian sea salt.

We're gonna whisk it up
a little bit.

Now what we're gonna do is you
want to mix it all in there.

Make sure it all
gets marinated properly.

That's gonna turn
into Kahlua.

When we marinate it,
it's a Kahlua.

It's two days to marinate.

When we come back, we'll put it
all together in the taro leaf.

We'll make Laulau.
Got it.

We're gonna start
by getting a taro leaf,

and then we cut the stem.

These are fresh leaves.
These haven't been frozen?

Right.

This is pretty much
what we need.

You want to put the foil.

[ Nonstick spray hissing ]
Completely cover it.

So, you put
a lot of the taro.

We're gonna get
the kahlua pork --

the marinated pork
that we did.

About this much.
Drop it right in the center.

We're gonna get butterfish.

It's gonna go in there
with it?

Absolutely.
You want to put it on top.

Gonna wrap it up tightly.

Wrap it up with the foil.

Nice and tight.

This is ready to go.

Steam it for four hours.
Steam it for four hours.

Let's see it.
It's ready to go.

Serve it with rice.
What else goes with it?

It's always two scoops of rice,
one scoop mac.

And that's it.

That's your Laulau.

Are you supposed to eat
the taro leaf?

Absolutely.

Look at how tender that pork is.

Mmm.

The pork is about
as ridiculously tender
as you can imagine.

It's not over seasoned.

Mmm.

You added liquid smoke

because typically,
this is cooked in a pit,

so you're getting a little bit
of that smoke imparted into it.

But it's not
super smokey.

It's not fishy,
but it is definitely island.

It reminds me of Hawaii.

Nice job.
Thank you very much.

Laulau.

This is about as good
as any Laulau I've ever had.

WOMAN:
It's such an amazing taste.

It's a little unique.
It is.

Once you get that appreciation
for it, it's...

It's good.
...rock star.

Here's your
fried Hawaiian Royale.

This is the closest thing to
like the way my family cooks it.

Yeah.

No wonder Gene Simmons
comes here.

The guy could eat
anywhere in the world he wants,

and he comes here.

The appreciation
and the respect

and the desire you have
to do this authentic --

Impressive, man.
Thank you.

Nice job.
Thank you.

FIERI: Coming up, I'm headed
down to Garden Grove...

Today is my lucky day.

...to a family-run joint...

I followed the rainbow.

...that's serving up
the mad Mexican.
You're my pot of gold.

So, I'm here
in Garden Grove, California,

right off the 22 freeway
on Harbor Boulevard,

about 3½ miles from Disneyland.

I'm here to check out a joint
where I hear this Mexican family

put it all on the line to open
and own their own restaurant

and serve up
real-deal Mexican food.

This is Sabroso!

MAN: One torta.

I can't say enough
about how good everything is.

Chamorro ready to go.

Every bite is a magical bite.

It's perfect.

Really has the sazón of
the family, and you really --

The sazón.
Sazón.

The flavor of the family.

FIERI:
That would be the Muñoz family,

with veteran chef papa Tito
leading the charge.

Have you always been
this close of a family?

All the time.

We always did
a lot of things together.

Like taking the plunge
and opening this joint in 2012

with a menu
based on Mom's recipes.

WOMAN: This food is delicious,
it's fresh, it's flavorful.

You just can't go wrong
with anything.

What's your favorite thing
on the menu?
The tamale.

Pork tamale ready.

It's the best.

We're gonna make tamales.

Tamales.

I'm gonna do the pork.
Pork tamale.

So, we're gonna put in a --

Pork butt
that's been just cut up.

Cook it in the water
with some salt,

some onions,
Mexican oregano.

garlic,
and bay leaves.

And we're just gonna
cook it down?

Cook it down.

The rest of this
goes in there?
Yes.

Mexican oregano.
Okay.

Black pepper.
Black peppercorns.
Got it.

The onion.
Onions. Garlic.

Cumin.
Cumin seeds. Got it.

Allspice.
Then we're gonna put some water.

Where's my --

Well, why don't we put the water
from the peppers?

What does "Sabroso" mean?

Delicious.

Sabroso.

We're gonna add
the peppers.

That's the guajillo
and California.

Chile de arbol.

Okay.

Now we go
to the hot oil?
Yes.

Got to strain it a little bit
'cause there's some solid.

Oh, that sauce.

My mouth is just --
the flavor jets are turning on.

How long is that gonna cook,
chef?

20 minutes.

And then we'll be ready to take
and add it to the pork.

There you go.

So, now we have the masa.

Yes.

Gonna put the salt.

Little baking soda.
Yes.

To puff it a little bit.

Add some more shortening.

Now we're gonna put
the pork stock into the masa.

Then we're gonna start
mixing it up all together.

So, I got the pork.

Mmm!

Oh, yeah.

Sabroso.

Skins.
The masa.

Okay.

You soften them in the water
so they're pliable.

There you go.

Okay.

Over?
Just roll it.

There you go.

You know
how to make tamales.

I've made a few tamales
in my day.

This is a tamale pot.

See how that sits above
the water as they cook?

All right, chef.
We ready?

Whoa!

Look at that.

They're delicious.
The masa has great texture.

The pork is delicious.

Not too spicy.

And you got a good ratio.

It's not a bunch of masa
and a little bit of pork inside.

This is like a nice
50/50.

Just the right amount of sauce.

WOMAN:
Hot but not too hot.

It leaves a nice little bite
in your mouth.

WOMAN: Everything you order
is gonna be good,

so it's really fun
to try different things.

Chamorro plate.
It's hot.

This is the Chamorro plate.
It's super yummy.

It has meat
with the red sauce.

It's magical.

Chamorro.
Yeah.

What does it mean
in English?
The shank.

That's the shank?
Uh-huh.

Big shank.
Go ahead. Get me started.

Okay.
We're gonna salt it first.

So,
I have to sear them.

FIERI: Oh, we're gonna
sear them off on the flattop.

Yeah.

While those are searing?

We're gonna make the salsa
for the Chamorro.

We have all the ingredients
over here.

We have cloves,
bay leaves.

Some coriander.

Mexican oregano.
Mexican oregano.

Cumin.
Cumin seeds. Got it.

Allspice.

Peppercorn.
Garlic.

Onions.
Onions.

And then ginger.

Ginger? Come on.
In Mexico?

That one is mine.
[ Laughs ]

I have to find something --

I'm gonna tell your mom.

He changed the recipe.
[ Chuckles ]

So then we're gonna put
some of the --

Super spicy
with the chili de arbol.

We got kind of spicy and smokey
with the guajillo,

and pretty mild
with the California.

Some water.

Okay.

Put the lid.

Gonna drop them in the pot
with a little bit of water,

and this is when we're
gonna cook them low and slow.

Hang on a second.
I want to taste that.

Oh, it's good
except the ginger.

I'm kidding.
[ Laughs ]

Now we're gonna cook all
the mixture off a little bit.

Right.

Once it's done,
we put the sauce on there,

and then this all goes
for an hour and a half.

All together. Yeah.

We're gonna put
some peppers.

Which peppers are these?

California and guajillo
and the arbol.

So now we're gonna put
the salt.

We're gonna cover it?

Yeah,
we're gonna cover now.

This is the peruano beans.

Herano?
Peruano.

We have the Chamorro
ready here.

We just put some pico de gallo
in the middle.

Queso fresco.

It's delicious, Chef.

It's got great texture,
not too spicy.

This has a lot of depth.

Not over seasoned.

The meat's super tender.

Today is my lucky day.

I followed the rainbow.
You're my pot of gold.

Chamorro ready to go.

It is absolutely amazing.

MAN:
It's really tay.t errin.

It's just good food, honestly.

Everybody comes in happy,
leaves stuffed and more happy.

The food and the service and
the family energy is outrageous.

It's been an awesome experience.
Very proud of you.

FIERI:
Up next in Monterey...

How about I assist you,
doctor?

You got it.

...I'm working it
at a fish house...

We're oyster tag team.

...that's reeling in
the mother lode.
Wow!

So, I'm here on Del Monte Avenue
in Monterey, California.

Now, back in the heyday,

this right here
was the major thoroughfare,

and the joint I'm here
to check out,

it was the company store
for the Del Monte train line.

Now it's the go-to spot
for locals

when they want fresh fish.

This is Monterey Fish House.

I come here
essentially every night.

Medium rare tuna.
Pick it up. Let's go, guys.

Monterey Bay has a very generous
ocean for us,

so it's always giving us
an abundance of fresh seafood.

We're off the hook here.

FIERI:
Yeah, hook to table.

Chef David Digirolamo's
family recipes

have been reeling in locals
since '94.

Oysters up.
MAN: Barbecued oysters.

Super smokey flavor to them
makes it unique and different.

FIERI: That's because
they're grilled over oak wood

that David harvests
from his own backyard.

What are we gonna make?
The grilled oysters.

These are Pacific oysters

from the Hood Canal
in Washington.

Do you shuck to order
or do you shuck ahead?

We shuck to order.

Shuck the front door.

[ Chuckles ]

And then just
a little clarified butter

and fresh garlic.

Real simple.
That's all we put on them.

Now it's time
to go to the grill?

That's right.

Two or three minutes,
they'll start to boil,

and another two or three
minutes, they're done.

Got it.

All right,
so cocktail sauce.

It's a little ketchup.
Little ketchup.

Horseradish.
Lemon juice.

So, we are like in the race
right now

because the oysters
are almost done,

so can he make
the cocktail sauce?

How about I dump
the garlic?
Go ahead.

How much Worcestershire?

It's probably
just a few ounces,

but I've done it
so many times --

I like how you just do it
so technical.
I can tell, yeah.

Tell me when I hot sauce
this thing.

Go ahead, 'cause we like it
a little spicy.

Add a little salt
and pepper.

We good.
That's good.

I'll continue that.
You want to grab
the oysters, here?

I'll grab the oysters.

We're oyster tag team.

Wow!

Mmm.

That's good cocktail sauce.

Yeah.
Got a little kick to it.

Phew!

These have got just such a nice,
salty brininess to themselves,

then a little bit
of the garlic,

and that garlic's just kind of
lightly poached,

and the smokiness.

Yeah,
it really comes through.

Delicious, man.
Outstanding.

WOMAN: I tried the oak-grilled
oysters here for the first time.

It was the most incredible thing
I ever had.

WOMAN: That oak flavor gets
engulfed into the oyster.

Oh, my God.

WOMAN:
This place gets the fresh fish

because they fish a lot of it
for themselves.

My family goes back generations
as fishermen.

Really?

Yeah, I fish commercial salmon
every year.

No.
Yeah.

MAN: Most of the fish
you see right here

was probably caught
within the last day or so.

It's as fresh as they come.

Sicilian holiday pasta, guys.

The Sicilian holiday pasta's
the best.

It's got mussels, clams,
scallops, baby octopus,

calamari, and anything
that's fresh out of the ocean.

All right,
what are we making next?

We're gonna make
the marinara.

That's one of the ingredients
in the Sicilian holiday pasta.

Okay.

I'm gonna put some olive oil
in the bottom of the pan.

White onion.
Little garlic.

Little garlic?

That's my level
of a little garlic.

Kind of a chunky tomato.

Bay leaf.

How about
I assist you, doctor?
You got it.

A little granulated garlic.

Oregano, doctor?
Yes, sir.

Basil.
Little bit of salt and pepper.

Doctor, I feel the surgery's
coming on quite nice.

There you go.

So, everybody's in the pool.
How long's this gonna go?

Maybe 15, 20 minutes.

So, the marinara's done.
Now we make...?

Put together
the Sicilian holiday pasta.

Ladle of the marinara.

Clam juice.

You make your own?
We do.

Green-lipped mussel.

Clams.

Swordfish, salmon,
and raw cod.

What a bounty, dude.

Baby octopus, scallop,
and some shrimp?

Yes.

Butter.
Butter.

And a little bit of pesto.

Now, how long's
that gonna go?

Just to where they open.

And the fish
is just opaque?

Yes.
And boom, we go.

The fresh-made linguini.

What a beautiful dish, man.

Look at that!
Unh!

And I would garnish

with just a little bit
of that fresh pesto right there.

Everything's fresh.

Mmm!

Nice broth.

Doesn't overpower the seafood.

Like how you nested
everything.

The calamari is cooked
just perfectly.

Awesome.

Hey, thank you.
Good job.

It's very creative.
You can't get it anywhere else.

Here is my brother
from another mother.

This is G. Garvin.

Now, G. has
"Road Trip with G. Garvin"

on the Cooking Channel.

He's also one of my best judges
on "Guy's Grocery Games."

Tell me what you think
of this.

Super delish.

It's unbelievable.
It's bananas.

MAN:
It's the freshest fish around

and best place to eat
in this town.

When you come
to Monterey,

this is the kind of joint
you want to visit

if you're looking
for real-deal fresh seafood.

Nice job, man.
Thanks.

So, that's it
for this Flavortown road trip,

but don't you worry.

There's plenty more joints
all over this country!

I'll be looking for you
next time

on "Diners, Drive-ins,
and Dives."

I don't know if you've ever seen
the show we do.

It's called --
What show?
Who are you?

Yeah.

[ Laughter ]