How I Found Funky

Monday is my TV night, but you might be surprised. Now, considering the time of year, you might think that Monday Night Football would be on the agenda, but no, that would be way too simple. Back many months ago, I discovered Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Now, across last summer, I began to follow it nearly religiously. I say nearly because I cannot get religious about anything on TV.

But, my Monday night goes beyond Triple D. The night starts off with Alton Brown’s Good Eats. Alton Brown’s take on a cooking show is unique. You do see him actually do see him cook, but cooking is only part of his show. Good Eats is about teaching. Most cooking shows show you how to make a recipe, but they don’t really teach. Alton Brown takes the time to teach you about cooking, while still teaching you several recipes. It is no accident that one of the lead-in teasers has Alton saying, “There’s a lesson here.”

Tonight’s episodes were pancakes and waffles. Now, most cooks would not bother with a show on pancakes, unless they had a signature pancake that they wanted to demonstrate. Alton Brown teaches us how to make simple, plain pancakes. Well, he does add blueberries to them. I had seen the pancake episode before, that is where I learned that a whisk is the right tool for mixing pancake batter. I still don’t bother with making pancake batter from scratch, but I carefully follow some of the things I learned on the show to make my pancakes come out better. Well, I actually prefer waffles.

After two episodes of Good Eats, we get two episodes of Unwrapped. Unwrapped is not one of my favorite shows, but it is sometimes fascinating. I often go off and fix dinner, or do something else for an hour. Tonight it was dinner, and then making my usually bowl of popcorn to eat during Triple D.

But, finally we come to the star of the evening. Let there be no mistake, Guy Fieri is the star of the show. The restaurants are merely his stage. Now, that is not to say that he steals the shows. He spends most of his time showing off the food and the cooks.

For those who have never seen the show, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives is a restaurant show, where Guy visits three restaurants during each half-hour episode, but there is always something different about that restaurant. What is different depends on the restaurant. They have done restaurants in auto body shops and gas stations. Often it is a restaurant where you can get something that you would not expect, based on the outside of the restaurant, like the fast food drive-in that serves prime rib. Sometimes, it is a type of restaurant in a location you would not expect, like the Mexican restaurant in Lincoln, Nebraska or the Chili Parlor in Seattle, Washington. And sometimes, it is the owner or cook who is unusual enough to draw Guy to the restaurant, like the metal sculptor turned restaurateur, or the….I don’t know what to call any of the others.

The show has become so popular that they now get lots of suggestions, and recently they did a show where all three restaurants were from viewer suggestions. They have done shows all over the country, including some out of the way places that you would not normally associate with great dining, like Salt Lake City, Utah and Boise, Idaho. There are a few things that are common to all the restaurants. The cooks and owners are enjoying what they do. They prepare food from scratch, and it isn’t what you expect.

Tonight’s restaurants were…

LoBello’s in Pittsburg, where they are making many Italian classics from scratch.

Pizzeria Luigi in San Diego, where a native Italian who learned in Chicago is making the best pizza in San Diego, in the words of his customers.

Pasquale’s in Baltimore, another Italian restaurant.

As you can see, I was busy for a few minutes, and I did not take any notes about Pasquale’s. Sorry guys.

They show two Triple Ds back to back, but the second is always a repeat, but since I have not seen them all, I sometimes get two that are new to me.

Then, the evening finishes with another Good Eats, and then they start repeating with the earlier episodes of Unwrapped and then Triple D. I usually don’t sit to everything twice, but I did tonight while I wrote this. I enjoy my Monday night lineup, and I won’t miss it until my beloved 49ers appear on Monday Night Football sometime late in the season.

Come join me some Monday night for the best night on TV.

Oh, and the title, “How I Found Funky”? One of the catchphrases of Triple D is, “If it’s funky, we’ll find it.”