Road Food, Good Food

When we travel the USA by car, we usually have at least two sources of info on where to pull over when hunger strikes, Eat Your Way Across the USA and Road Food, Good Food. Before the Food Network show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, these authors led the way on where to find a good diner. I've always felt there was room for even more guidance, though, because times change, and so should some of the diners featured in the books.

It's wonderful the diners have operated since the Jazz Age, but some out there are definitely showing that age factor, from the tired and slumping staff to the chipped coffee mugs and bruised eggs. Tradition is one thing, but flavor and a friendly face still matter, so we don't make return trips to "since 1937" diners who don't uphold their standards. (Disclaimer: My books may be old, so no disrespect intended to the authors.)

For a recent spin up through Arkansas to Tennessee, I took Guy Fieri's books, based on his TV show. This isn't shilling on my part here. His latest book More Diners, Drive-ins and Dives explains the lengths to which the research staff checks the background on diners - talking with local foodies, chefs and business contacts, looking at health department records, reading press coverage, vetting the freshness of the ingredients and reviewing the stories of the owners. Even after all the effort and due dilligence, if the food isn't good as Guy bites into it during taping, he just might walk out. It's happened.

"I’m not going to tell you on Triple D that something’s good if it’s not good. Why am I gonna lie to you? I don’t need to sell out for this. As soon as I start eating food that I can't support, the show suffers. I’m only going to give you the real deal," he told me. And why feel that way? Because he knows people like me are getting into cars all over this country and driving to places he's talked about. His credibility is on the line.

So if you motor to a place featured on the show, you have a reasonable expectation of tasty satisfaction. Just make sure before you leave home that you know where you're going. We had poor instructions (off the Internet) that caused us to miss not one but two potential barbecue stops in Memphis, Tom's Bar B Que and Marlowe's Ribs. We never could find the I-55 turnoff toward Jackson, Miss., as we traveled west on I-40, so this may be a signage issue. Memphis is often snarled up with traffic - then there's the "we're committed now" travel across the Mighty Mississip bridge that shoots you into Arkansas. No going back.

A longtime fave with some diner drivers that's off the highway in Nashville is Loveless Cafe, where the Grand Old Opry stars used to hang out after shows. Loveless is not in the Fieri books, but it is in Eat Your Way Across the USA. On this trip, I didn't have this book with me, or we wouldn't have wandered around in the dark at rush hour in NashVegas (as my son calls it), eventually giving up. Now that I'm home and I've looked it up again, I see that I wrote "Exit 199, Charlotte Pike" in my Eat copy. Apparently I've been lost before, and as I said, it is off the highway; you gotta know where to go. Eat called it a "country-western diamond in the rough," so it may never be up to the "freshness" standard of a Triple D stop, even with its "brittle-crusted fried chicken on red-checked tablecloths, and hot buttermilk biscuits served with homemade blackberry and peach preserves."

Apparently ham is the pride of the Loveless kitchen and yes, I do love a good slab of country ham. Wasn't to happen on this trip, though, ham it all!

I mention the Loveless because of a great quote I once got while stopping there (and not getting in, the crowd was so thick). At a nearby gas station, I asked the attendant, "Where do the locals eat?"

"They eat at home," he drawled.

Mama Mia! Pizza in the Parking Lot

Is what you see what you get when you visit one of the joints featured on the Food Network show Diners, Drive-In and Dives? That's the question we set out to answer while in Knoxville, Tenn., for Homecoming 2009 at the University of Tennessee. We had copies of Guy Fieri's books, which are based on the TV show. Guy raved about the freshness of the pizza dough - made from yeast and flour and left to rise overnight, none of this frozen business at Pizza Palace. Totally authentic, made-from-scratch Italian food, he said, made by the sons of the original founders, who were Greeks. But would we find the same thing? After all, having Guy Fieri at your drive-in could mean that he gets the absolute best. How would we fare, a carload of Texans? We picked up our own College Guy (age 20) and found our way to the Magnolia Avenue parking lot, where you really do pick up the phone and yes, order a pizza.

We asked for two things, based on Guy Fieri's lead: pizza (with pepperoni, that's the way my son Hunter rolls) and onion rings, which arrived covered in an amusing, tall foil wrap that made them look like a beehive. The verdict? Yes, s'wonderful. I've tasted a lot of pizza crusts in my day, and the difference in this version was remarkably fresh. All of us talked about the cheese, too, as good as if they'd made it on the premises, from goat's milk given by willing goats in the back yard. It was hot, it was cheesy, it was saucy, I could only eat two slices - it's that rich. Ever notice how with mediocre pizzas, you eat more than you should to fulfill a craving that never gets satisfied?

Onion rings - it's a bigger order than 3 of us could handle - and needed salt but that's personal preference. If you get 'em, bring a crowd to share them.

Our server wanted to know where we were from, since locals don't usually sit in the parking lot; they come inside. The seating is quite limited there, so you decide. I did march in and shout "ef-haristo" (Greek for "nice to meet you!"), but the new owners were in the back, behind the scenes. The line staff gave me a big smile and a wave, knowing I meant well.

Go again? Yes, definitely. Fresh taste, high funk factor, friendly staff, what's not to love?

Fieri told you so, and I concur.

Granola Cruncher vs. Cap'n Cruncher

Guy Fieri makes a mean Cap'n Crunch French Toast, but I lean toward Granola Crunch French Toast. It's not as tooth achingly sweet as the Cap'n Crunch version. But I like my sweets on the not-so-sweet side.

Got the recipe when I was a food editor at Better Homes and Gardens magazine for a story about the food at Timberline Lodge in Oregon. Chef Leif Benson, who oversees the restaurants at the lodge, shared the crunchy French toast recipe from the menu.

Slices of of baguette get dipped into an egg mixture laced with cinnamon, vanilla, and orange peel. The top side is covered in granola and cooked til toasty-crispy-warm. Drizzle it all with a Cinnamon-Yogurt sauce. Add a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy the view of Mt. Hood from the picture window in your mind.

Here's Chef Benson's Granola French Toast recipe that appeared in Better Homes and Gardens magazine several years ago.
Granola French Toast Recipe

A Great Guy

I thought I was wild and crazy about food and football, but I've met my match in Guy Fieri, the chef, restaurant owner and hot-cha-cha TV personality of the Food Network show "Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives."

Guy is just back at his Northern California home from a lei-over in Honolulu, where he did cooking demos for 1,200 troops (he is pro-soldier to the core) at Pearl Harbor. After wheeling his son to school, he fielded my call from Dallas, and he was extremely generous with his time, talking about who quarterbacks his team, the fried butter at the State Fair of Texas, Eli Manning taking his front line to the Kentucky Derby, his upcoming book "More Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives" (set for release Nov. 3; please pardon the screenshot) and his groundbreaking 21-city "foodapalooza" tour Guy Fieri Roadshow. It's 21 cities in 30 days, complete with what sounds like the world's biggest margarita machine - able to churn 25,000 servings in 4 minutes. His passion and fire shoot right through the phone - he credits his family, buddies and his pro team for making it all come together. Love that Guy!

Guy's first book, "Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives," a New York Times bestseller, started at 40,000 copies and has topped 400,000. I tell you this because if "More Diners" is anything like the first, grab it for the behind-the-curtain stories from his "Kulinary Krew," new leads on more Triple Ds across America and more jaw-dropping recipes.

Why should we care? Because spotlights on small businesses help us preserve what is good in this country, built with tradition and sweat and family values in the face of mass marketed, corporately commonplace chains. I could chew on this topic, but I'd rather go follow his lead to Twisted Root Burger, a place I've never heard of in Dallas. Just so you know, Guy doesn't pick the locations for the Triple D show, but he vets the food, characters and stories, and his research team is on site more than an ESPN College GameDay crew.

Here's a recipe from Guy's first book that had me running to the cereal aisle. The results, in my non-chef professional opinion, were off the plate!

Cap'n Crunch French Toast
(adapted from a recipe courtesy of Blue Moon Cafe)

4 to 5 Servings

3/4 cup heavy cream
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups Cap'n Crunch cereal
8 to 10 slices bread, such as Texas toast or French bread
Butter for cooking

Topping
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups assorted fresh seasonal berries

1. Mix the cream, eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl and whisk until combined.
2. Put the cereal in a storage bag and use a rolling pin to crush cereal until it resembles cracker meal. Transfer the cereal to a shallow dish.
3. Dip a couple of slices of the bread into the cream mixture until soft but not completely soaked. Let excess liquid drip from the bread, then press into the cereal crumbs to coat evenly. Place on a sheet pan and repeat with the remaining slices.
4. Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat, add butter as needed, and cook the bread until caramelized on both sides, about 6 to 8 minutes total.
5. For the whipped cream topping: Beat the cream, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl with a hand mixer to soft peaks. Dollop on top of the French toast and serve with the berries.

(reprinted with permission from "Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives: An All American Road Trip with Recipes, William Morrow, 2008)

For tailgating, I like the Black Bean Hummus. See page 92.

May the road rise to meet you, Guy. Keep putting the "badda" in the badda-bing.