Sbrocco: Jewish deli delights in Santa Rosa... Falcon: I have to just keep going back.

Sbrocco: Southern soul food in San Jose.

Nguyen: Mind-blowing.

Absolutely mind-blowing.

Sbrocco: And American bistro fare in Pleasant Hill.

You just stole a bite.

Pattison: I stole a bite of everything.

Phillips: It's like a real noodle.

Sbrocco: Just ahead on "Check, Please!

Bay Area."

Sounds like you stole two bites.

Pattison: Okay, I stole a couple.

Yeah.

Pattison: This is lovely.

I'm having a wonderful time.

Sbrocco: Hi, I'm Leslie Sbrocco.

Welcome to “Check, Please!

Bay Area," the show where Bay Area residents review and talk about their favorite restaurants.

Now, we have three guests, and each one recommends one of their favorite spots.

and the other two go check them out to see what they think.

Joining me at the "Check Please!"

table today are wine salesperson Monicamary Falcon, retired labor lawyer Rob Pattison, and propane account executive Mike Nguyen.

Welcome, everyone.

Are you ready to go?

Falcon: Yeah.

Nguyen: Let's do this.

Sbrocco: Monicamary's restaurant offers a huge assortment of Jewish deli fare, all made lovingly in house.

Located in Santa Rosa's Historic Railroad Square, it's Grossman's Noshery & Bar.

Terri: Our restaurant is Grossman's Noshery & Bar.

My family name was Grossman a long time ago.

With Grossman's, we wanted to bring things on the menu that evoke memories, family memories.

Woman: Holy cow.

Mark: We make everything in house.

We produce all our pastramis Montreal-style, which is a smokier, deeper flavor.

Our smoked turkey is made here.

The kippered salmon, the lox, all kinds of pickles.

Terri: The black-and-white cookies and the rugelach.

Mark: We had the opportunity here to do our own bakery, and, of course, that meant we're going to make our own bagels.

So we did a lot of research.

Terri: Lots of carbs.

Mark: We ate a lot of bagels, and we found a few good ones in Brooklyn.

When we left, we filled bottles of water up with Brooklyn tap water, brought it back, and made a starter.

And that starter is still with us today.

Terri: Our matzoh ball soup -- we have the traditional, and then the twist to our matzoh ball soup is we also have the big piece of chicken which has some of our chicken kreplach in it, and -- Mark: Ramen noodles.

Terri: Ramen noodles.

It's a big bowl of soup.

Was that the big piece of chicken?

Man: It was.

I did want to do this.

Terri: [ Chuckles ] And that just resonates with people, reminding them of, you know, when they were sick and their bubby made them matzoh ball soup.

And as long as your balls float -- good.

Mark: You know, uh, we live by that.

[ Bell dinging ] Terri: [ Chuckles ] Mark: If your balls float, it's all good.

Terri: And what's unique to Grossman's, too, is that we have a full bar.

Mark: Bourbon and brisket.

Terri: Yeah.

Mark: Not sure if it gets much better than that.

Terri: Weekend at Bubby's.

Yeah.

Mark: There are some delis that are hundreds of years old.

I think we have plenty of time to work things out and just keep getting better.

Terri: [ Chuckles ] Sbrocco: Now, Monicamary, this place is definitely more than a deli.

What makes it so special for you?

Falcon: First, when you walk in, it's very warm.

The people greet you so nicely and kindly.

They just keep it really homey.

I just started popping in for lunches and discovered a plethora of beautiful dishes that I would never make at home.

So I have to just keep going back for these.

Sbrocco: It is an extensive menu.

Falcon: Extensive.

Sbrocco: So start off with a dish that you love, that you always get.

Falcon: I get the smoked & pickled fish.

That's a big, shareable dish, and it comes with pickled herring which is, really, the favorite.

It just has a nice pickled but also a little sweetness to it.

There's also some salmon rillettes on there, which I love.

They're creamy.

Everything is made in house.

They make their bagels and their challah and their matzoh, and you can spread your cream cheese and get a taste of what they're making behind the scenes in the bakery in the back.

Nguyen: The fish board was delicious.

The smoked salmon, that was great.

It was pastrami-brined.

And the portions were very generous, so there was no shortage of that.

And it was absolutely delicious.

Pattison: The lox and the bagel and the sliced red onions, the capers were fantastic.

The pickled herring, my Norwegian forebears might have liked it, but I didn't care for that part of it.

Sbrocco: Just because you don't like pickled herring.

Pattison: Yeah, yeah, but the rest of it was really quite good.

Sbrocco: Okay.

What do you get once you're past that?

Sbrocco: The Cobb salad is delicious.

The turkey is homemade, and it has a nice portion of lettuce with a delicious, light, creamy dressing, but they throw these deli bits on there, and they're -- literally, when you cut meat and there's crumbles, like, how creative to take that and put it on top of a salad.

It really made it nice.

So I love that.

And then the matzoh ball soup with the matzoh ball that was just hearty, the broth was just clear, and it had carrots on top.

So flavorful.

Nguyen: So I actually wanted to second her opinion with the matzoh ball soup.

It was absolutely amazing.

You can tell they put a lot of attention and time into it.

The rosemary and dill within it was really good.

I enjoyed it.

I also had the cucumber mocktail.

That had strawberries, ginger, basil.

Delicious.

You know, it helped to settle the gut afterwards... [ Laughter ] ...so that was good.

Pattison: The killer mocktail was the Orange is the New Blackberry.

Oh, my gosh.

Orange syrup and blackberry muddled jam in it and seltzer water -- very flavorful.

Sbrocco: Excellent.

Pattison: I stole a look at and then I stole a bite of my friend's patty melt.

And it had a nice hamburger, and it had a nice bit of pastrami on top of that.

And then it was covered with some Gruyère cheese, and then it had a nice little special saucy thing on there.

So I stole a bite of that.

Sbrocco: Sounds like you stole two bites.

Pattison: Okay, I stole a couple, yeah.

[ Laughter ] Falcon: I got the chicken kebabs last time.

There were two of them.

They were really thinly pounded, and they came with a yogurt sauce.

They had a little spicy flavor to them.

And there was a sauce on the side which was the amba sauce.

This is a mango sauce, and it just really cooled down that spice.

And I had that with an egg cream.

It was a seltzer water with this milky goodness and it was just very refreshing.

Sbrocco: Well, you got to talk a little bit about dessert, too, because -- Falcon: Yeah.

We ordered the ordered the babka for the table.

It was a nice slice of bread with cinnamon swirl.

And then there was the chocolate babka with the chocolate swirl.

That chocolate is just delicious.

And then the soft serve, of course.

Soft serve is the best.

Sbrocco: Did you have some dessert?

Pattison: We had some of the soft serve, yeah.

Sbrocco: The Straus Family.

Pattison: Yeah, it was really, really nice.

Woman: Ooh, that is so good.

Pattison: The sauce that was on it -- it was a tahini sauce, and it was not familiar to me, so I puzzled over it for a long time, but it was good.

Sbrocco: Did you feel like you got value when you went?

Nguyen: I did, yeah.

The portions were great, and the pricing aligned with it, as well, too.

I really enjoyed it.

Sbrocco: And Railroad Square is a great place to discover and explore -- a lot of shops and places.

Falcon: Yes, and other restaurants, as well.

Sbrocco: Mm-hmm.

Alright, if you would like to try Grossman's Noshery & Bar, it's located on Wilson Street in Santa Rosa's Railroad Square.

The average lunch tab per person without drinks is around $60.

Well, you will want to loosen your belt a notch for Mike's pick, offering southern specialties, like Texas-style barbecue, smothered oxtails, and sweet potato pie.

It's his favorite spot to kick back and pig out.

Located in San Jose, it's Jackie's Place.

Jackie: Love you.

I love you guys.

Hasaahn: Family, we're doing alright over here still?

Soul food, to me, is African-American cuisine that originated from the South, where we had to use little resources but make plenty of bountiful meals out of.

Jackie: The roux is what makes the gumbo.

Soul food is something that takes time.

You can't rush it.

You season it until the Gods call, and then you slow simmer it until it's cooked to perfection.

[ Laughter ] We come from a real small community called Hondo, Texas.

Nobody's ever heard of it.

It's about 3,000 people there.

Almost everybody that lived there was related to us.

Bye, baby.

My mother was a chef.

There was always a bunch of people at our house.

The recipes came from my mother, but I had to put my juju on it.

Hasaahn: The story of Jackie's Place is family coming together.

Say, "Hey, Ma.

How are you doing?"

So working with my mom and my family has been most rewarding.

Actually, my mom taught me how to cook along with all my brothers and sisters, and sometimes we even get real competitive to see who the best cook is.

Jackie: I'm still number one.

Hasaahn: Here at Jackie's Place, when you get ribs, they're our Uncle Greg's Ribs.

Jackie: They're my brother's.

The nachos are named after my brother, Scoop Nachos.

Laverne's Sweet Potato Pie.

JuJu Drinks.

We try to practice passing down the recipes and giving the recognition to where it came from.

Jackie: I wanted to go back to actually what I served my kids when they were growing up in our household.

I called my house the Kool-Aid house.

We don't call it by the flavor.

We call it by the color.

It's just a southern thing.

"You got some purple Kool-Aid?"

"I got some red Kool-Aid."

Hasaahn: Take your time.

Take your time, family.

You guys don't have to go anywhere.

Jackie: What we want people to feel when they walk in our doors is that they're part of our family.

We even greet them as family.

"Hey, Sis."

"Hi, Brother."

I love you, Jay.

We hug on them and love on them.

And we want them to come back.

[ Laughter ] And what has made me the most proud is to look out in my dining room and see that our restaurant is not just serving the African-American community, but it's serving every culture that San Jose has to offer.

Woman: Same shirt.

Yeah!

Hasaahn: And I think their reaction to our food is the thing that's the most fulfilling.

Sbrocco: Alright, Mike, do we have to name this Mike's Place instead of Jackie's Place?

Do you go that often?

Nguyen: I feel like we should.

[ Laughter ] Sbrocco: Have you told Jackie yet?

I don't think she'll be happy about it.

Sbrocco: What is so unique about it?

Nguyen: One, the ambiance and atmosphere.

It's family-owned and operated.

I just love the feel each time I'm there.

Customer service is wonderful.

And the food is just exceptional.

Woman: We drove three hours to be here.

The best food to be found.

Nguyen: I highly recommend the oxtail.

Growing up in a Vietnamese household, you know, we love oxtail.

So going to Jackie's Place for the first time trying it out, was just mind-blowing to me, and it took me back to my roots as a kid.

It's slow-cooked and simmered oxtails smothered in gravy in addition to the, uh, sweet cornbread muffin and just a nice, generous serving of rice, and it's absolutely phenomenal.

You mix it all together, and you have yourself a winning plate right there.

Sbrocco: Winning plate right there.

I heard, "Mm-hmm, mm-hmm," with the oxtail.

Who else had the oxtail?

Pattison: I had never had oxtail before... Sbrocco: Really?

Okay.

Pattison: ...and Mike is exactly right.

It is spectacular.

It was delicious.

Falcon: I wanted to also say when we walked in, like, literally walking from the parking lot, I could smell the barbecue.

I don't even know where the barbecue was coming from, but I was like, "What?"

And then -- Sbrocco: Follow your nose, it always knows.

Falcon: Follow your nose.

And so the meat plate was really delicious.

You had your choice of chicken, fish, there was brisket, and there was even a vegan option, which was really cool.

The fish was delicious.

It was thin.

It was just perfectly coated in, like, a cornmeal crust.

And then the brisket, the person that had that said it was a little bit dry to start, but there's this beautiful barbecue homemade sauce that you can just put on anything, and, boy, I put it on everything.

I'm a side girl.

I love my sides.

And it had the beans, which were just flavorful, and they had that little barbecue sauce and a little spiciness to them, and the mac and cheese, like perfectly textured.

And it was huge.

So delicious.

And he mentioned the corn muffins because you didn't need to put any butter or anything on it.

They had that perfect crispness on the outside, and they came with everything.

Nguyen: So the, uh, fried fish that you mentioned earlier, if you do a, uh, trick where you get the chicken gravy on the side and splash a little Louisiana Hot Sauce in it, you dip your fish in there -- mind-blowing.

Absolutely mind-blowing.

Falcon: Ooh.

Sbrocco: Alright, an insider tip.

Love it.

Nguyen: You got to give it a go.

So we had the pulled pork.

That was about the most delicious pulled pork I think I'd had about anywhere.

Sbrocco: Wow.

Look at that.

Pattison: It was fantastic.

Perfectly prepared.

Sbrocco: I think Rob's going to give you a kiss.

Pattison: Yeah, uh, you're close to it, man.

Nguyen: Don't think my girlfriend's going to like that.

Sbrocco: [ Laughs ] Pattison: In addition to that, it came with Uncle Greg's pork ribs.

Oh, my gosh.

They were great.

They were wonderful.

Oh, I found that I was eating away, and my three tablemates, you know, they were done, they couldn't eat anymore, and I was, "What's wrong with you people?"

I wanted more.

Falcon: I had the seafood gumbo with chicken, shrimp, And there was a dollop of white rice that was perfectly cooked.

It just melded together, and it was such a generous portion.

Nguyen: Another thing I'd recommend, as well, too, would be the Hennessy Sideshow.

Obviously, an ode to, you know, the Bay Area.

It has a Hennessy Grand Marnier and lemonade in it, so drink at your own risk, but it's delicious.

Falcon: They really do have some really nice signature cocktails there.

The Gin & JuJu, it had Kool-Aid in it, and I could taste my childhood.

You know, when you were young and you would put the Kool-Aid and you could smell the powder of the Kool-Aid.

It just felt like my childhood, but it had a little alcohol in it.

Sbrocco: But with gin.

Falcon: With gin.

It was delicious.

Sbrocco: Was there any dessert?

Falcon: Oh.

Nguyen: I got something for you.

The banana pudding is phenomenal.

Very soft and decadent.

Falcon: So we did take home the peach cobbler, and we took home the key lime pie.

And my mom just loved the cobbler.

It's beautiful.

Like, they cut a square of crust on top perfectly, and then the peaches are oozing out, and the peaches are just full of cinnamon and baking spices.

It was so creamy and delicious.

So don't skip the desserts there.

Pattison: I'm going to register a little bit of a dissent on the desserts.

Sbrocco: Okay.

Pattison: The sweet potato pie was great.

Falcon: [ Gasps ] We didn't have that.

Pattison: The peach cobbler -- not so much.

Sbrocco: Ah, okay.

Falcon: Okay.

Pattison: Yeah, the crust that you describe is accurate, but they seemed like they were just canned peaches in the liquid, and I didn't care for that.

Sbrocco: So you got the pork up here and the peaches down here.

Pattison: Yeah, yeah.

Sbrocco: Okay.

Sbrocco: That's fair.

Pattison: But I had enough pork for dessert.

Sbrocco: [ Laughs ] Pattison: I did fine.

Falcon: We sat at the bar, which was really fun.

The bartender was so helpful, so nice.

Sbrocco: So you felt service was good.

Falcon: Very good.

Pattison: Service was great.

It's fast and it's efficient.

Sbrocco: Yeah, you'd definitely go back.

Pattison: I would.

Absolutely.

Sbrocco: If you would like to try Jackie's Place, it's located on 1st Street in San Jose, and the average tab per person without drinks is around $35.

Rob is a serious home winemaker.

When it comes to dining out, he's always on the hunt for hard-to-find wines by the glass that pair perfectly with every course.

Add in seasonal California cuisine and a relaxed, unpretentious vibe, and you've got the recipe for Rob's favorite café.

Located in downtown Pleasant Hill, it's Crescent Bistro.

♪♪ Zeller: Crescent Bistro is a local restaurant where we try and serve the neighborhood.

Yeah, always got to get the deviled eggs.

Just trying to do upscale, delicious food with a relaxed atmosphere.

Woman: Cheers.

Woman #2: Cheers.

Zeller: We're California cuisine but with a little bit of global influence.

Two tempura green beans.

At Crescent Bistro, we really focus on making everything from scratch.

Fried chicken's always a classic.

Two short ribs all day.

The short rib is something that's been around for a long time.

We think we just do it really, really well.

Try and change up the risotto, the gnocchi, the steak dish just so we keep using seasonal local ingredients and just highlighting the really good produce we have in California.

My favorite item on the menu is the pork buns.

Some of the fun part of being in California is just having some other influences, bringing in some Asian influence with the gochujang sauce, some pickled cucumbers, and just some really good ingredients.

We've got a really good cocktail program.

We make our own syrups.

We juice everything fresh every day.

We have some great wines by the glass, some really good variety in there, and then just enough craft beer to keep the beer people happy, and I'm one of them.

I love beer.

Good.

Good to see you, too.

It's great to have a restaurant where I grew up.

I'm super familiar with the neighborhood, the clientele.

I get to do what I what I love and with people I care about and with people that care about this place.

Sbrocco: Alright, as a home winemaker -- I'm a home winemaker, too -- so what is special about their wine-by-the-glass program?

Pattison: He has things that are easily paired with what he has on his menu, but they're not so readily found at other restaurants.

And he has them all by the glass, but he also has them by the bottle, along with some other things, as well.

Sbrocco: What about some of the dishes that you order?

Zeller: Mixed green with shrimp.

Pattison: He changes the menu fairly often, according to the season.

The favorite of ours is a red wine marinated short rib.

It's very tender.

Fall apart with the fork.

It's served on a cloud of mashed potato.

It's got carrots, cipollini onion that's in there, also very nice, mushrooms, and it is really something.

So -- Sbrocco: What did you pair with it?

That's what I want to know.

Pattison: A Lindquist Syrah which was just perfect.

Nguyen: You know, I tried the red wine braised short rib.

The short rib itself was just tender and delicate to the touch.

It blew my mind, honestly.

I love the sautéed onions and the mushrooms in there.

The only thing I would say would be to dial back on the salt on the mushrooms, 'cause that kind of overpowered the dish overall.

But, in general, though, fantastic dish.

Sbrocco: Alright.

Nguyen: And the, uh, blue crab cakes.

You had it as, well, too?

Falcon: Yes.

Nguyen: Yeah.

Crispy on the outside, generously packed inside like an egg.

[ Chuckles ] I cracked it open, and, you know, the inside's tender and just full of just sweet blue crab.

Falcon: The other thing we had was the doughnuts, the jalapeño... Pattison: Jalapeno cheddar doughnuts.

Falcon: ...cheddar donuts.

I mean, I would never have ordered that before, but wow.

Like, they had this bacon dipping sauce, and nothing was overpowering to me.

And we also had the burrata with the jelly on the side.

So that's what we enjoyed.

Sbrocco: Okay, being in the wine business, what did you get?

Falcon: Funnily enough, I did not get wine.

Sbrocco: [ Laughs ] Pattison: What?

Falcon: So we sat at the bar, and the bartender was just making this Bloody Mary -- and I'm a sucker for a Bloody Mary -- with these pickled vegetables that they make there -- bean, celery.

Beautifully prepared.

I said, "I just want one of those."

So I had the Bloody Mary.

I tasted it.

I said, "There's something different in this Bloody Mary."

And she goes, "We add honey to it."

And it was so delicious and balanced.

Just went well with all the foods.

Pattison: Yeah, 'cause he has some really interesting cocktails also.

And he made something called a pineapple upside down cake that is a rum drink, and according to my friend who had it fit, fit the bill.

Tasted -- Tasted like a pineapple upside down cake.

Two other appetizers I think I have to mention.

Woman: Okay, I'm going in.

Sbrocco: Yes.

Pattison: They're really, really good.

One of them were deviled eggs, cured salmon with crème fraîche and fresh dill, and a little salmon roe in them.

So light and so airy, and they're quite delicious.

Another appetizer are the pork belly buns.

They're made in the traditional street-food style, so you have the white bao.

then the pork filling comes inside that.

Very flavorful, very tasty.

Friend's wife had the red wine marinated -- there's a theme here -- flat iron steak, perfectly cooked with a garlic-marinated spinach with a potato croquette.

Crispy on the outside but also very tender and creamy on the inside.

Just fabulous.

Sbrocco: You just stole a bite.

Pattison: I stole a bite of everything.

I have a nice reach.

It's the long arm of the law.

Sbrocco: That's right.

Pattison: Yeah.

Sbrocco: And did you get any dessert, or do you usually get desserts?

Pattison: Oh, yeah.

Sbrocco: Okay.

Pattison: I can't go there without dessert.

Blackberry bread pudding.

Sbrocco: Yep.

Loaded with blackberries.

You know, bread pudding can be very dense and heavy.

This is not.

Falcon: Yes, but I will say, the bread pudding, it was a beautiful portion.

It had crème anglaise with it.

It was creamy.

It was delicious.

And the crème anglaise just really added an extra, little -- Sbrocco: So I can see Bloody Mary and then bread pudding.

That's your order.

[ Laughter ] And what did you think of the price?

Nguyen: I thought the pricing was fair, and I think they were understaffed at the time, but, in general, when they were able to attend to us, they were sweet and great.

Yeah.

Pattison: I like it because it's not a white-tablecloth place, but the quality of the food that you receive is like going into a very high-end restaurant.

Anybody's going to feel comfortable there, and I like that a lot.

Sbrocco: Well, if you would like to try Crescent Bistro, it's located on Crescent Drive in Pleasant Hill, and the average dinner tab per person without drinks is around $60.

And now reporter Cecilia Phillips... Woman: Too hot?

Phillips: No, it's alright.

Sbrocco: ...pops up in San Francisco's Ferry Plaza for more Bay Area bites.

you've just got to try.

♪♪ Woman: So crunchy.

Phillips: Waiting.

We're here at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market.

Now, the Ferry Building is such an iconic place.

You can get so many amazing things inside the building, but, actually, the party happens outside of it.

It's amazing.

Farren: The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market's been around for 31 years.

There are over 130 small businesses that sell in our farmer's market, and those farmers come from all across the state.

Every week that you come, there's something different.

You can come here because you want to buy fresh produce, but you can also come if you just want a fantastic breakfast.

I mean, there's a lot of prepared foods...

Girl: Yeah, this is really good.

Farren: ...as well as packaged goods.

There's really something for everyone.

Woman: And I want to get my pine nuts toasted.

Phillips: Eatwell Farm, you actually supply some of the produce for some of the vendors here at the farmers market.

Walker: So, yeah, we do.

We're growing year-round.

We have actually never missed a market ever since the market opened.

Phillips: Since 1993?

Walker: Yes.

Aedan Fermented Foods is one of my favorite vendors.

Right now, they're getting our daikon.

This is a is a traditional Korean daikon called alpine, and it has kind of a sweet flavor.

Phillips: Which must make for a really great pickle.

Phillips: Absolutely.

Grady: Fermentation is kind of Japanese wisdom, so I want to spread this Bay Area, this knowledge, and then I want to have community to more health.

This one, pickles cup, and the four kinds of pickles inside.

Phillips: So you have daikon, cucumber, and celery.

Grady: And my lemon.

I can feel the healing happening right now.

I can feel it.

Grady: Thank you so much.

All: Mangosay!

Young: Here at Mangosay, we specialize in everything mango and in everything being dairy free.

Woman: Get your guys some mango.

Young: Besides being fun, we also want to be healthy and be able to attract people who are looking for something that's just light but still really good.

So the mango noodles is basically just raw mango that we shred into noodle form.

We add fresh lime juice, hot sauce, coconut milk, chili pepper, black pepper, Tajín, and we mix it all together, and it just comes out to a really savory South American dish that many people love.

Phillips: Oh, my gosh.

Young: Yeah, you're doing good.

Phillips: It's like a real noodle.

It's so good.

Young: Awesome.

The spice.

Whew!

I'm going to need to try this, actually.

Young: Yep.

That's right.

Kind of wash it down with that.

Huang: The name of the business is Nusa, and Nusa in Javanese means island because Indonesia is made up of over 17,000 islands.

Phillips: So with 17,000 islands, you'd like to do things big.

So you have a 1,000-layer cake?

Huang: Exactly.

[ Both laugh ] Phillips: Do people just bite it?

Huang: Most people do.

Phillips: Alright, here we go.

1,000 layers.

Huang: And then you can feel the buttery, and the egg -- it's very eggy.

Phillips: There's definitely 1,000 eggs in here.

It's not very sweet.

Huang: No.

Phillips: It's the spices.

Huang: Yeah.

Phillips: It's so good.

Woman: Ooh, I really like that.

Phillips: Chef Sarah Germany, I heard that you have some of the best hot sauces here at the farmers market.

Germany: Our goal is not only to make delicious flavors, but to do what we can for the environment.

This is our first no-added-sugar barbecue sauce with a matching beet kraut.

Phillips: So you've taken every part of the beet here to make both of these.

Germany: Every single part.

There's a zero waste on this sauce.

Phillips: Mmm.

Okay.

That sauce is phenomenal.

Let's try the kraut.

Germany: Can you feel the beet?

Can you feel the beet?

We can feel the beet.

You can feel the beat.

Come on.

Feel the beet.

Phillips: ♪ Can you feel the beet... ♪ Sbrocco: I want to thank my fantastic guests on this week's show, Monicamary Falcon, who has a hard time sharing the smoked fish board at Grossman's Noshery & Bar in Santa Rosa, Rob Pattison, who savors the short ribs at Crescent Bistro in Pleasant Hill, and Mike Nguyen, who's obsessed with the oxtails at Jackie's Place in San Jose.

Join us next time when three more guests will recommend their favorite spots right here on “Check, Please!

Bay Area."

I'm Leslie Sbrocco, and I'll see you then.

Alright, cheers, everyone.

Falcon: Cheers.

Pattison: Cheers.

Sbrocco: Cheers.

Cheers.

[ Indistinct conversation, Pattison chuckles ] Phillips: So is it 1,000 layers?

Huang: It's figuratively.

[ Both laugh ] Yeah.

Yeah, like, the amount of work that, you know, you stand in front of the -- it felt like it was like 1,000 layers.

[ Both laugh ] Phillips: That's where the name comes from.

Huang: Yeah.

Phillips: Yeah, okay, okay.

Germany: We took onions and tomatoes and apples and beets and slow-roasted them for 60 hours.

Phillips: Did you say 60?

Germany: 60.

60 hours.

I know.

I had to stay awake 'cause we didn't want to burn down the house.