Tom Papa takes a trip to Detroit to visit chefs and bakers helping to revitalize Motor City and its food scene. At Kuzzo's Chicken and Waffles, a former NFL player serves up decadent, cake-like, red velvet waffles with spicy fried chicken. Sister Pie, a sweet corner bakery, whips up roasted banana chess pie topped with mountains of meringue and crumbled cinnamon cookies. Tom heads to Dearborn, Mich., to make amazing Middle Eastern food like fresh-baked pitas filled with roasted lamb and a fine-spun pastry topped with gooey, melted, sweet cheese. At Chene Modern Bakery, Tom learns how to make paczki, the Polish take on a rich, buttery, filled doughnut.
These days, breakfast can be so much more than cold cereal and toast. On the sweet side: the Boston sweet treat so otherworldly, it beat Bobby Flay; in Philadelphia, waffles meet with cake and in the Twin Cities, a hot and hearty pancake that's an engineering marvel. Savory breakfast fans, get a look at the egg and cheese in Los Angeles with real star quality, the Vietnamese twist on bacon and eggs in Austin and the classic New York bagel gets an update with beets. Plus, the breakfast special in Atlanta which is like a buffet on a plate! Get ready to start your day with a bang with these best breakfasts ever.
This trip, Noah Cappe celebrates Memorial Day weekend at suburban DC's ViVa! Vienna! festival, where the fastest way to his heart is through divine Soul Food. He springs for Loaded Perogies, learns a new spin on an old favorite with Philly Cheese Steak Fries and sees food and eats it with Baltimore-style Crab Dip. Then, he sets course for the bayou where he uncovers some tasty treasures at the pirate-themed Contraband Days festival in Lake Charles, La. There, he gets a lesson in down-home Cajun cooking with Chicken and Crawfish Gumbo, fancies up funnel cake with maple and candied bacon and goes nuts for Creole-style Praline candies with Miss Rita.
Geoffrey Zakarian hosts a look back at some of The Kitchen's most elegant, romantic dishes that create a restaurant-worthy experience at home. Alex Guarnaschelli whips up an Endive Salad with Candied Walnuts, Orange Caramel Dressing and Blue Cheese, and Geoffrey's Spicy Sun-dried Tomato Pesto is bursting with flavor. Katie Lee Biegel prepares Cocoa-Rubbed Hanger Steaks with Balsamic Radicchio Salad, Jeff Mauro makes Sake and Miso Marinated Salmon with Coconut Rice and Charred Broccolini, and Sunny Anderson's Melting Heart Cakes are a sweet surprise. Plus, Geoffrey makes Lobster Risotto with Champagne and Tarragon, a rich and luxurious dish that blends creamy texture with delicate flavor, perfect for making any date night feel extra special.
It's Sunday Funday every day in Food Paradise so we're checking out the most extreme brunch spots in the United States! First, there's a doughnut burger that's bringing both sweet and savory to California and a restaurant in Arizona that offers a Bloody Mary with more options than a new car. We're indulging our sweet tooth with cookie pancakes in New Jersey, playing jazz with chicken and biscuits in Virginia and pairing chicken with funnel cakes in Washington, DC. Next, we're getting steak and eggs in pizza form in Detroit before smothering biscuits with mac and cheese in Orlando. Finally, we're enjoying brunch by the bay with Fried Oysters Benedict on Hilton Head Island.
The Kitchen cooks up a show-stopping spread for the holidays beginning with Geoffrey Zakarian's Prosciutto-Wrapped Pork Loin. Jeff Mauro and Katie Lee wow the crowd with two takes on polenta -- a Four Cheese Creamy Polenta and a Creamy Lemon Parmesan Polenta with Roasted Tomatoes. Cookbook author Elizabeth Heiskell serves up some sweet holiday gifts with her Bourbon Balls and Salted Caramel Pecan Bites, then we put a modern spin on the Yule Log with a Stump de Noel Cake. Food Network's Amanda Freitag makes a show-stopping Kabocha and Acorn Squash side dish. Finally, Katie creates a Caprese Wreath topped with all the tasty trimmings and we toast to the holiday with a Big Batch Pomegranate Cocktail.
And at Lumpy's Diner in Antioch, CA, Tom hits up a retro diner for a 12-egg omelet as large as a football, and "The Intimidator" – a 16-inch pizza round piled 8-inches high with hashbrowns, eggs, cheese, meats, biscuits, and smothered in gravy. Then Tom heads to The Flying Monkey in Philadelphia, PA, where an apple pie and a pumpkin pie are literally baked inside a chocolate cake, the turducken of the pastry world. Finally, Tom stops by CK's Wings-N-Things in Johnstown, PA, for chicken wings done a thousand ways with a variety of hot sauces- the spiciest, "Nuclear Hell", reaching 6,000,000 Scoville units.
The only thing wilder than baking competitions are the people who enter them. Maythe is a sugar artist and rising star in the baking world. As a professional baker already, contests are a chance to raise her profile locally and hobnob with elite business. Anamaria paid her way through college with her famous cheesecakes and is ready to see where else her passion for baking can take her. Monty is a former football player turned baker with a cupcake game that he believes is unparalleled. For all three of these competitive bakers, a victory could be the key to unlocking the next step in their culinary career.
Join Katie Lee on her mission to find the best golden-fried goodness the beach has to offer! First up, South Carolina for local fish, shrimp and crab cakes that are battered and crisped for the perfect Fried Seafood Platter. Next, Katie finds a twist on a Southern staple with Chicken Fried Wagyu in Alabama. Katie carves her way through a Chicken Chimichanga in Arizona. In Hawaii, Katie mans the wok to create an amazing whole fried fish. In Florida, Katie finds a heavenly A Frita de Desavuna- a fried egg and deepfried avocado, open-faced sandwich. Katie can't leave the Sunshine State without dessert and that means fried Cheesecake!
Adam Gertler is sinking his teeth into confections that take crunch to the extreme. In Oakdale, CA, Sconza Candy is premiering their newest crunchy snack: Lemoncello Almonds, inspired by the Italian liqueur and unwraps the secret to its 12-layer jawbreaker called the Bruiser - a baseball sized candy so big it needs a handle. Then there is the sound of the surprising snap of Watson's Chocolates' Sponge Candy, a Buffalo, NY delicacy that rises like dough in copper kettles. Rounding out the crunchy experience is munchable popcorn that tastes exactly like strawberry cheesecake (and over 50 other tantalizing flavors) at Popcorn Girl in Las Vegas.