by Guy Fieri
3. Add the garlic, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper and sauté for 3 minutes to help release their flavors. Add the crushed tomatoes and simmer for 1½ to 2 hours, stirring occasionally to keep from scorching.
NORTHEAST AND MID-ATLANTIC
KELLY O’S DINER
EST. 2001 WHERE GUY MET HALUSKI
There’s almost nothing scarier than trying to open a restaurant, especially for someone who doesn’t have any formal culinary training, but that didn’t stop one former bartender right here in Pittsburgh. She took out a small loan, bought a little joint in a strip mall, and turned it into a neighborhood favorite.
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TRACK IT DOWN
Pines Plaza Shopping Center
1130 Perry Highway #28
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15237
412-364-0473
www.kellyos.com
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It all tastes like Mom made it here, and Mom is Kelly O’Connor. She’s been called Kelly O her whole life. She serves what she likes to eat and has her whole family pitching in—her daughter, her son, and her mom, Tootie. It’s Tootie’s cooking that got it all started: fresh bolognese, roast turkey, hot meatloaf sandwich, and a Pittsburgh favorite—haluski—even though they’re not Polish. They’ve got the boiled cabbage, onions, garlic salt, bacon, and noodles. I could eat this stuff every day. I mean, there’s a little bit of bitterness from the cabbage, the sweetness of the onion, the saltiness of the bacon—gave me a haluskination. It was one of the biggest surprise dishes I’ve had on Triple D. I told Kelly I’d go home and make it that weekend—and I did, and I’ve made it a billion times since (see Guy Fieri’s Holy Haluski for one of my versions).
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[GUY ASIDE]
Funny, they really have to have something going on to get me past the strip-mall factor—the researchers know it. It does something to me. So went we went to Pittsburgh, it was a rainy day, and I was like, I don’t know what I’m getting myself into. Then I walk into Kelly O’s and there are tchotchkes all over the walls, T-shirts—it’s a busy joint. So we get going and look around, and the irony of it is that she’s fixing a dish I’d never cooked before. I mean, I’d seen it, but I wasn’t privy to it and hadn’t given it that much consideration: haluski. In I come, I learn the story, she’s got an amazing bubbly personality and a tiny kitchen, I meet the mom working there, and then dah-DAH! Holy Haluski! You can’t help but dig this thing Kelly’s doing. She bought the place by just walking in, asking if it was for sale, and leaving her name—then the owners decided they would sell it to her, so she refinanced her house to buy it. All these little things, and the story just continued to open up like Pandora’s box.
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IF YOU HOLD THE CARROTS REALLY STILL, THE MICROPHONE CAN PICK UP “THE CARROT WHISPERER.”
Then there’s the fried mush. That’s polenta cooked, chilled, and sliced up for frying or grilling until crispy. They serve it with butter and syrup…for breakfast. I added bacon to “Guy-ify” it. They also make creamy polenta with bolognese sauce and pecorino romano cheese. It’s comfort food. Another Kelly O favorite is turkey potpie soup from scratch; I threw in some dry rub and cooked it up with her. I tell ya, there isn’t a person walking out of there without a smile.
OWNER’S NOTE: Guy has totally helped a girl out. I am so thankful! I could never express my gratitude fully. Next to Christ, Guy’s my hero. My business is freakin’ booming. I’ve had thirty-two thousand hits to my website since my show aired in February, and there’s six thousand more every time it airs again. People from seventeen different countries have visited my website. And I’ve met the most incredible people—from France, Switzerland, and every state in America.—Kelly O’Connor
Haluski
ADAPTED FROM A RECIPE COURTESY OF KELLY O’CONNOR OF KELLY O’S DINER
Kelly O’s recipe here is simple and basic, but fantastic. Trust me.
MAKES 8 TO 10 SIDE-DISH SERVINGS
1 head of green cabbage, core removed and leaves separated
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 large Spanish onions, julienned
1 tablespoon garlic salt, divided
1 pound sliced bacon, cooked, drained, and crumbled
5 cups wide egg noodles, cooked al dente and rinsed in cold water
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup grated Romano cheese
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the cabbage leaves and cook until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and julienne.
2. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, sprinkle on half of the garlic salt, and let the onions sweat for about 10 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the cabbage and cook, stirring all the while, until the onions and cabbage start to caramelize, about 10 minutes.
3. Stir in the crumbled bacon, the noodles, the remaining garlic salt, and the pepper, and let the haluski cook for 5 more minutes or so. Plate it up and top it off with Romano cheese.
Guy Fieri’s Holy Haluski
RECIPE COURTESY OF GUY FIERI
One of the most amazing things about Triple D is getting inspired by people and bringing that inspiration into my own life. Kelly O introduced me to haluski (see Haluski) and I will tell you this: ever since then I’ve made haluski gone wild, with jalapeños, shrimp, and chicken; for fine dining and for lunch.
MAKES 6 TO 8 SIDE-DISH SERVINGS
2 ounces (½ stick) unsalted butter, divided
½ pound thin-sliced pancetta, diced
2 large onions, sliced ¼ inch thick
1 medium head of green cabbage, cored and sliced ½ inch thick
1 cup carrots, cut in ¼-inch julienne (about 2 carrots)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, divided
8 ounces wide egg noodles
3 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained
1 cup green peas, preferably fresh shelled, but frozen can be substituted
¼ cup white wine
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley leaves
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the noodles.
2. In a large Dutch oven, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat and add the pancetta. Cook, stirring, until crisp, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove the pancetta to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain. Reserve.
3. Strain the fat from the pancetta from the pot, wipe the pot clean, add back in 2 tablespoons of the pancetta fat, and melt the remaining butter along with it in the pot. Reserve the remaining pancetta fat for another use or discard.
4. Add the onions, cabbage, carrots, and thyme. Season with the salt and half of the pepper. Stir to coat the vegetables with the butter. Cover and cook until the cabbage is wilted and almost tender, about 10 minutes. Uncover and simmer until the cabbage is very tender, about 10 minutes more.
5. While the cabbage cooks, add the noodles to the boiling water and cook according to the package directions.
6. Increase the heat under the Dutch oven to high and cook, stirring, until the cabbage and onions are golden, about 10 to 12 minutes. Add in the minced garlic and capers. Cook for 1 minute and add the peas, then deglaze the pan with the white wine and add the lemon juice. Add three quarters of the pancetta, combine well, and remove from the heat.
7. Drain the noodles and add to the pot with the cabbage. Toss well to coat the noodles with the cabbage and onion mixture. Sprinkle with the parsley and the remaining reserved pancetta. Serve immediately.
NOT JUST “SEEN,” “EXPERIENCED”—THAT’S MORE LIKE IT.
NORTHEAST AND MID-ATLANTIC
NADINE’S BAR AND RESTAURANT
EST. 2001 A NEIGHBORHOOD BAR WHERE HOME COOKING IS SACRED
Here on the south side of Pittsburgh, things have been around for a while. You’ve got hundred-year
-old houses and places like this. It’d been a neighborhood bar for decades. Now it’s called Nadine’s, and it’s become a local favorite for something else: real home cooking.
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TRACK IT DOWN
19 S. 27th Street
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15203
412-481-1793
www.nadinesbar.com
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Everybody was doing fast food, and Nadine Voelker wanted something different; so she bought a local place and amped it up with the food she was doing at home. And home it is: her daughter, son, and husband all work shifts. If she’s really busy, the customers will come and help. Every day she serves a special, from monster meatballs and spaghetti to roast beef so good it’s almost illegal. The meat’s great, and I’d eat an old army boot with that gravy. Just what I expected when I drove up to this hole in the wall—didn’t you?
And get this: most menu items top out at $5.95. A lot of Nadine’s customers say she’s their second mother, running a family dining room for the entire neighborhood. If a bigger guy pulls up, she’ll give him more, plus seconds if he wants it. She has every customer’s name, and when it’s their birthday she puts their name up on the birthday banner.
Nadine serves a jumbo sandwich of fried bologna, jalapeños, onions, cheese, and deli mustard on toasted bread. That’s caramelized goodness right there. She’s also serving a hot sausage, salami, and capicola signature pasta—the meat-to-pasta ratio must be fifty-fifty. (Her sons grew up on this; they were football players.) Winner, winner, Italian dinner.
MATT WAS A Q-TIP FOR THE
ANNUAL HALLOWEEN PARTY.
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[GUY ASIDE]
There are some iconic things about Pittsburgh that you think of if you don’t know the city—the Steelers, coal mines, Three Rivers Stadium—but what I think makes the town special are the small nooky pubs. Here’s your all-American-Joe location where everybody knows your name—a workingman’s bar. Coming here was like stepping back into another dimension for me, like out of a storybook. This is one of those places I wish were in my hometown. You feel like you’re at your mom’s or best friend’s parents’ restaurant. If you want something, Nadine will cook it. Thanksgiving Day, Easter, and New Year’s Eve—if you don’t have any money, it doesn’t matter, she’ll feed you—but people don’t take advantage of her generosity. I hope people know how lucky they are to have Nadine’s—she’s
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Home-style Roast Beef Sandwich with Gravy
ADAPTED FROM A RECIPE COURTESY OF NADINE S. VOELKER OF NADINE’S BAR AND RESTAURANT
This recipe’s on like Donkey Kong—jump over the barrel, get the hammer, and save the girl.
MAKES ABOUT 10 SANDWICHES
5 carrots, cut into large chunks
Ribs from 1 bunch of celery, leaves removed
1 onion, peeled, ends trimmed, halved root to stem
6 pounds beef top round, trimmed
2 garlic cloves, halved
2/3 cup olive oil
½ cup steak seasoning mix (such as McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning)
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon veal demi-glace (found in your local grocery store)
20 slices white bread, for serving
Mashed red potatoes, for serving
1. FOR THE ROAST: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the carrots, celery, and onion in the bottom of a roasting pan. (Nadine uses the vegetables instead of a rack.) Add enough water to just cover the vegetables.
2. Cut four X’s in the sides or top of the meat and push in the garlic pieces. Rub the entire roast with olive oil and then dredge it in steak seasoning.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and sear all sides of the meat. Set the meat on top of the vegetables, cover the pan with foil, and roast until a meat thermometer inserted in the meat registers 130°F for medium-rare, about 2 hours. Transfer the roast to a cutting board and let it rest for 30 minutes.
4. TO MAKE THE GRAVY: Strain the roasting-pan juices; discard the vegetables. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour. Stir in the roasting pan juices and the demi-glace, and simmer until thickened.
5. Slice the roast beef very thin. Put the slices in the gravy. (Nadine likes to smother the beef in the gravy.) Plate up the sandwiches with the meat between two slices of white bread and ladle more of the gravy on top. Serve with mashed red potatoes.
“THANKS FOR WATCHING, FOLKS. WE’LL SEE YA NEXT WEEK!”
SOUTH
MANCI’S ANTIQUE CLUB
EST. 1924 LOCAL FLAVOR, EVERY WHICH WAY
Back in the day, a guy named Greg Manci started serving beer at his gas station. Over the years, the pumps went away but the place became a legendary local hangout. Today, people say things are better than ever; Manci’s offers a unique experience that they just can’t quite explain. After hearing that, I had to check it out.
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TRACK IT DOWN
1715 Main Street
Daphne, Alabama 36526
251-626-9917
www.manci.net
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I was actually just a little freaked out, but not by the food. The place has been fantastic for years, but especially since 1994, when Gwen Manci started serving food at her husband Alex’s bar. She got back to something she’s always loved. Her father had owned a few drive-ins, and she had cooked beside him from the age of thirteen. Now she’s serving up Gulf oysters, piled-high burgers, a steak sandwich to the max, and their signature dish: seafood po’boys. Gwen is po’boy royalty. She mixes some eggs up with milk, a little hot sauce, and beer. Her dry mix is flour, some black pepper, and Cajun seasoning. Then she throws eight large deveined and butterflied shrimp into the wet, then the dry (eight per po’boy), then lays them down in the fryer. She butters the po’boy bun and griddles it, and spreads it with a tartar sauce made with mayonnaise, pickle relish, red onion, white onion, and a little chopped caper. As she says, it makes the shrimp taste “wooh.” With some lettuce and tomatoes stacked on with the shrimp, when you look up po’boy that’s what should be in the dictionary—you taste the fresh shrimp, the crunch of the lettuce, fresh veggies; and that is some really good tartar sauce. Same with their spider sandwich (soft-shell crab po’boy): it just works.
Now, back to the freaky bit, the decor: the place is full of just about every crazy thing you can possibly think of, from guns to taxidermy to old trophies, plus a Chinese rickshaw and something that looks like Abe Lincoln’s top hat. The majority of it was put in there by Alex’s dad, and he and Gwen go on living with it. Gives the customers plenty to talk about! From behind the bar Alex is responsible for making this joint the self-proclaimed Bloody Mary Capital of the World. To go with the drinks, they’ve got hand-cut steaks, fresh grilled shrimp, and something called the Jazzy Burger—topped with the local favorite sauce, Jezebel. Gwen uses fresh horseradish root for that extra kick, along with dry mustard, apple jelly, pineapple preserves, and black pepper. Wow, that’s weird. It’s good, don’t get me wrong—I mean it’s tangy, spicy, sweet, sour; one of the most interesting sauces I’ve ever had.
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[GUY ASIDE]
My wife, Lori, gives me the hardest time because I won’t throw things away. She now takes my stuff and puts it out in the garage and says my office will become a museum of the places I’ve been. I was at Manci’s for about an hour before I could focus on the food. It has the craziest stuff on the wall you’ve ever seen. So I was interviewing Gwen, and I looked over and there were four crusty old bottles sitting on a board in a store room—1920s Pabst Blue Ribbon bottles. That’s one of the beers I like. I came home with one of the greasy old bottles, and Lori said, “Oh my God, what’s this?” And I said, “It’s an antique.” She cleaned it about ten times to get the grease off and stuck it in my office.
Manci’s feels like a speakeasy. I was sitting there shooting the show, and a siren went off all
of a sudden, like in the game Operation when you hit the sides and the nose lights up—only much louder. I’m not kidding you, I went through the roof. As I sat there and recovered, it went off again, and I was like, “This is nuts!” Well, there happens to be a painting of Adam (you know, Adam of Adam and Eve) in the women’s room, and there’s a painted wooden fig leaf covering Adam, and when a woman goes into the restroom, if she lifts the leaf, the siren goes off. Now, mind you, this is a one-stall restroom, so everyone in the restaurant knows what you’re up to. Had me in stitches!
And they make this crazy sauce; every region has its own goofy sauce. When we go to a location the researchers and the producer will grab the menu and order what the place is known for, then they send me a folder showing how it works and we go on to making the items. But when I first get to the locations I always start digging around—I go through the coolers, and so on, trying to find out if there’s something I don’t know about the place. So when I found pineapple preserves, horseradish, dried prepared mustard, and apple jelly, I said, “You make what? We’ve got to make this.” These things are the quintessential novelties of the show.
