♪♪ Sbrocco: A fluffy pan-fried frittata in Novato.

Charlos: That is my favorite thing ever.

It is my go-to dish.

Sbrocco: Signature steak frites in the hills of West Marin.

Charlos: It comes with a blue cheese butter that just makes it.

Sbrocco: And a spit-roasted pork burrito from one of the Bay Area's hottest food trucks.

Cohen: The pineapple really came through, and the meat was just really flavorful.

Sbrocco: "You Gotta Try This!"

Sbrocco: Hi.

I'm Lesley Sbrocco.

Welcome to "Check, Please!

Bay Area's" new spin-off, "You Gotta Try This!"

We have three guests, and each one recommends the one dish they can't get enough of.

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

Along the way, we take a deep dive into the stories behind the dishes, learning the special ingredients and techniques that make them so delicious.

Joining me virtually at the "Check, Please!"

table today are photographer Christina Davis, opera singer Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, and business architect Alexandra Charlos.

Welcome, everyone.

How are you?

Hi!

[ Laughs ] Starting us off is Alex's dish -- a breakfast special she thinks tops all others.

It's the Pacifica pan-fried frittata, one of the signature items at an Novato diner that entices its customers with just one word on its door -- Bacon!

♪♪ Woman: That's right.

Lam: Everybody should come to Bacon hungry so you have enough room in your stomach to eat our delicious food.

My wife and I, we opened Bacon back in 2015.

We chose Novato because this is a very small, charming town.

Pretty much everybody know everybody.

Bacon is pretty much a family-run business.

My wife works here.

She's the front of the house manager.

And my second sister, she's a waitress.

And my oldest sister who is my cook, she works beside me in the kitchen, and my mom is my prep.

♪♪ Woman: Waffle.

Lam: We specialize in breakfast -- eggs, frittata, omelets.

We have very special deep-fried French toast.

We soak the bread in ice cream, and then we deep fry it.

♪♪ For lunch, we have really delicious sandwiches and salads.

We have two types of bacon.

One is smoked applewood bacon, and the other one is our specialty -- our honey bee bacon.

We marinate it in honey, and we bake it for two and a half to three hours.

♪♪ My whole life, I always loved smoked salmon.

My first experience with smoked salmon was when I was 7 years old.

I had lox and bagels, and I love it.

So I was thinking maybe I could mix it up with eggs, and I want to add extra richness to it.

The Pacifica is a very special dish.

From preparation to finish, it's very detailed.

Every time we make an omelet or frittata, we blend our eggs, so we use a Hamilton milk shake maker.

When I make my beurre noisette, I cook the butter down with very low heat, so I only scoop out the golden part of the butter and I use that to cook the frittata.

It has a very nice hazelnut flavor.

Very light.

It's cooked very slowly so it doesn't burn and it doesn't dry out the eggs.

And at the same time, it heats up the salmon, but not cooking the salmon, so it's able to retain its unique flavor -- you know, smokiness and saltiness.

And we top it off with scallions and serve it with a side of sour cream.

Pickup.

Everybody trying the frittata, they love it because it's so moist.

♪♪ We do have a lot of customers that come every day.

We treat a lot of our regular customers as friends, so they come here, they see their friends, they eat a good breakfast before they go to work, and we have a very strong following.

That's why we love what we do, and we do it every day.

Yeah.

Woman: [ Laughs ] Wow.

We're ready.

Sbrocco: All right, Alex, this is your spot and your dish.

Tell us what makes this frittata so special and how you discovered it.

Charlos: So we decided one morning we were going out for breakfast, and our normal location was full.

So we said, "Let's try Bacon."

And scanning through the menu, I discovered the frittata, and I'm a big fan of smoked salmon and, like, bagels and cream cheese.

So I decided the Pacifica frittata was what I was gonna try.

And I'm not traditionally a frittata fan because it's usually really heavy for me.

But this is so light and fluffy.

You get a bite of salmon in every bite, which I think is great.

And it also comes with either potatoes or hash browns.

And I always get the potatoes cooked extra crispy 'cause I'm an extra crispy kind of girl.

And it also comes with toast.

And they make homemade jam there, and their homemade jam is divine.

Davis: Yeah, that jam has to be illegal.

It tasted so good and it was so addicting.

At the end of the lunch, I was like, "Dude, I need to figure out how to get that recipe."

Sbrocco: And did you enjoy the frittata?

Davis: Well, like Alex, I'm not really big on frittatas just because they're often pretty heavy for me, and I usually prefer something a little bit more simple.

So when I ordered this dish at the restaurant, I didn't have any expectations.

But I do love smoked salmon, so when I took a bite of it, I was just totally blown away with all the flavors just marinated together.

Like, they all tasted like they were meant to be together.

And I would never have thought of sour cream as the dairy.

I usually would have thought that you would pair it with cream cheese, but with the sour cream, it was just so good.

Sbrocco: And they actually do have bacon, don't they, Alex, at a place called Bacon?

Charlos: They sure do.

Yeah, their bacon is also delicious.

Sometimes we'll splurge and get a side of bacon to go along with the frittata or whatever else we happen to order.

Sbrocco: Aryeh, are you either a bacon fan or a smoked salmon fan?

Cohen: I'm a big smoked salmon fan.

I'm Jewish, so I didn't grow up eating a lot of bacon, but we ate a lot of smoked salmon.

Bagels and lox was, like, you know, praiseworthy always in my house.

And yeah, I loved it.

I think the thing I really appreciated about it was, they really didn't skimp on the smoked salmon.

And I love lots of green onion, scallion on top, too, which was really just delicious.

I enjoyed it a lot.

I had a great time and I think the service, too, was really great.

It was just really friendly, kind of classic diner service, which is sort of a dying art, but they're really keeping it up at Bacon.

Woman: Thank you.

Man: Hey.

Cohen: It was a beautiful spot, too.

We were there and I think the weather tends to be a little bit nicer in Novato than here in the city, where I live.

So we escaped the fog and it was, like, 75 degrees and sunny.

We sat outside.

We had a great time.

I definitely recommend it.

Davis: Yeah.

So when my boyfriend and I went, it was around 12:00 on a Saturday, so it was peak time.

They were busy.

But even so, they still were super-accommodating.

They went and found us a table right away and they were already taking our orders for drinks.

So I was really, really impressed with the level of service.

Sbrocco: And would you go back and make the drive to go and eat the frittata again?

Davis: Yes, I absolutely would.

And my boyfriend, too.

And he hates salmon, but he really liked that.

Sbrocco: All right.

If you would like to try the frittata at Bacon, it's located on Grant Avenue in Novato.

And Alex's pro tip, of course -- Be sure to try the homemade jam on your toast.

Aryeh, before we get to your dish, I just have to ask you to sing because you are an opera singer.

We rarely have opera singers on the show, so I'd love to hear just a little a little welcome from you.

Cohen: ♪ Hello ♪ Sbrocco: And you sing in what's called a countertenor, right?

So tell me a little bit about that because you have such a pristine, beautiful voice.

Cohen: Thank you.

Yeah, absolutely.

So a countertenor, it's the most rare voice type in all of opera.

[ Singing operatically ] We are men who sing in the vocal range traditionally associated with a woman.

We sing basically very high, using all sorts of interesting techniques.

Sbrocco: Well, you sound beautiful.

And I will not ask Christina or Alex.

You guys don't have to sing.

Don't worry.

Cohen: Oh, come on.

It's only fair.

Sbrocco: I promise.

You won't have to sing.

Davis: Thank you.

Sbrocco: Now, as an opera singer, Aryeh has a huge appreciation for European classics.

That's equally true when it comes to his pick -- steak frites.

Whenever he's craving this French brasserie staple, he drives the back roads of West Marin all the way to Due West Tavern in Olema.

♪♪ Jetson: The town of Olema's, you know, very, very small.

I don't even know how we register on the census in this teeny little town.

You blink and you miss us.

We are Due West Tavern and Market.

The restaurant itself was built in 1873, and for the longest time, it was known as Jerry's Farmhouse or the Olema Farmhouse.

And as of a few years ago, it changed over to Due West.

♪♪ Venezio: We're a tavern, but a little upscale, so I like to use my French background cooking as my base.

The steak frites is really simple, but classic dish.

I use a New York strip loin.

We cut it in house every day.

We cut fresh from the loin, so it's a beautiful piece of meat.

All the marbling through there.

A little extra fat.

So you get a lot of flavor with the New York.

Nice salt and pepper on there and grill it.

Out here in Olema, we're near a lot of cows and farmers, and Point Reyes Blue Cheese is out here.

So I really wanted to use a local cheese to incorporate our locality.

And I love their blue cheese because it's really creamy and it's got some great profile, but it's not overly strong.

Making blue cheese butter for the New York steak.

So I take some room-temp butter.

I whip that with the Point Reyes blue cheese.

Get it nice and fluffy, so it has a really nice texture when you put blue cheese butter onto the hot steak.

The fries are thick, so they're not just crispy -- They're nice and soft on the inside.

Put on the truffle oil and the Parmesan.

It seems heavy, but it's not.

[ Laughs ] It's so gorgeous out here, and this place has a lot of history.

Woman: Thank you.

Venezio: And then you come here, and you're surprised by the food.

I've had a lot of guests tell me that, so...

I think they think it's just, you know, "Oh, it's a side-of-the-road tavern," but, you know, we really cook some exciting food that they weren't expecting and they come back again.

Woman: Happy weekend.

It's our weekend.

Sbrocco: Tell us, Aryeh, about this wonderful dish of yours.

How did you discover it?

Cohen: Yeah, absolutely.

My fiancée, Abbi, and I were spending a weekend at this beautiful hotel in West Marin, Olema House, and, of course, we availed ourselves of the restaurant that is on-site.

And we were really just amazed.

You're really in the middle of nowhere.

And then suddenly you come on this beautiful property with a really tasty restaurant.

Then they have a beautiful patio, and it's just really kind of a special place to spend an afternoon or an evening.

We love it.

Sbrocco: So you narrowed in on the steak frites.

Is that a favorite dish of yours, and why is it so special there?

Cohen: It is.

One thing that I love is the way they plate the steak over the fries.

So you just get this beautiful steak juice just all over your fries.

It's delicious and just makes the fries really extra flavorful.

Sbrocco: It sort of transports you to a little brasserie in Paris, right?

Cohen: Oui, Madame.

Oui, Mademoiselle.

Sbrocco: [ Laughs ] Now, Alex, what was your experience when you went?

Charlos: The steak was so delicious, and it comes with a blue cheese butter on top that just makes it.

And the steak juice getting on the fries.

It was really, really good, and it was so good I've actually been back again since.

Sbrocco: Christina, what did you experience when you went?

Davis: It's so beautiful.

It's such a scenic drive, and I've never really been up in that area before, which is lots of hills.

And at first you think that you're in the middle of nowhere, and then before you know it, you get to Due West, and you're, like, pretty much right on the water.

And it's this cute little restaurant.

Just amazing ambiance.

Super-peaceful.

So we sat down, we ordered a couple drinks.

I got a Bloody Mary, my boyfriend got the Spicy Pear.

And then we ordered the steak frites, and we both looked at each other and we were like, "We're definitely doing the truffle oil, because who doesn't like truffle oil?"

Sbrocco: Aryeh, tell us about that truffle fry option.

Cohen: Yeah, I'm also a truffle lover.

I'm a steak lover and a truffle lover.

And they do a great truffle fry.

Davis: Yes.

Cohen: Maybe half the time when you order a truffle fry, you don't really get the truffle flavor.

But at Due West, I feel like the truffle really comes through, and I always recommend that little upgrade for an extra buck or two to the truffle fries.

It's worth every penny.

Sbrocco: Just because it's not indulgent enough, you have to add one more thing.

Cohen: Of course.

Davis: What I really liked about it, too, was that it was a pretty generous portion, so we were able to just share it.

I would definitely go back there for the dish and for the restaurant because it was so beautiful.

I mean, that's the kind of place you definitely want to go if you're celebrating maybe a special occasion like a birthday or anniversary.

Sbrocco: For steak frites, head to Due West Tavern, which is located on Highway 1 in Olema.

Aryeh's pro tip -- Get the truffle fries for the ultimate indulgence.

Now, Christina's got a recommendation for another savory, meaty delight.

It's a ginormous al pastor burrito.

It's gained a devoted following throughout the Bay Area, thanks to chef Miguel Escobedo and his hot pink food truck, Al Pastor Papi.

♪♪ Escobedo: Al pastor in Mexico City's probably the most popular form of getting tacos in Mexico City.

I've love al pastor since I was little.

This is the original, authentic way to make al pastor.

This is Mexico City right here.

Everything about it -- how it's made, how it looks, how it smells.

Mmm.

How the grease, like, trickles down the trompo and how the al pastor guys cook it and slice it and the whole show.

I went to Mexico City to really find out about al pastor.

The instructor, a very passionate chef, he said, "If you don't find the exact ingredients that I'm giving you, don't call it al pastor.

Don't even call it Mexican food."

Like, he was not playing.

And I'm blessed that in San Francisco, every ingredient is readily available in the Mission.

"Trompo" in Spanish is "top," like the toy that you pull the string and it spins, as well as the trompo -- It's that shape, and it spins.

Yeah, and then we kind of stole the whole meat stacked on a rotisserie idea from the Lebanese in Mexico and their cuisine.

We do an onion on top.

Roasted onion is amazing, and the juice that it releases onto the trompo keeps it moist and flavorful.

♪♪ It's funny.

The process of making a burrito al pastor, because when you go to Mexico City, there is no burrito.

That doesn't exist.

So the taco -- pork al pastor, onion, cilantro.

That's the basis of the taco.

I'm gonna re-create that flavor sensation of the raw onion, the cilantro, and the protein inside my burrito.

And then you can get San Francisco with it and add the avocado, cheese, all that good stuff.

And it's mind-blowing.

Really delicious.

I'm like, "Okay, this is delicious."

Like, I felt like I came with a winner.

♪ There is some light inside ♪ ♪ Special for you ♪ In a sea of trucks in a truck park, I want to stand out.

And so the hot pink.

Yes, the shirt's as bright as can be, you know, because we want to get noticed in every way.

[ Record scratching ] I love deejaying.

I was a deejay guy before I was a food guy.

So having a restaurant, being the purveyor of good food and being a deejay is that they're so similar.

[ Crowd cheering ] I get to touch people and move people.

Change their mood, change their vibe.

Create a vibe with food, as well as music.

It's great.

It's a lot of reasons to celebrate.

Boo-ahh!

Sbrocco: All right, Christina.

Meat, meat, and more meat.

Here we go.

Talk a little bit about how you found the food truck and how you narrowed in on this one dish.

Davis: So I was in the city one day.

I was just hanging out with a friend, and we went over to this little food truck park.

And she just so happened to have known the owner of Al Pastor Papi.

So we went by, and it was maybe around 5:00, so we weren't really hungry.

But he had this rainbow cheesecake horchata.

So I was like, "Well, I guess I have to order that."

And it was really beautiful.

It was so Instagrammable.

And I'm a photographer, so I love Instagram.

And I was like, "Wow, this is really good."

So I went back a couple times, and on the third time that I went, that's when I tried the al pastor burrito.

So I had never had al pastor prepared the way Miguel prepares it.

He will shave the meat right from the spit and then cook it on the pan so that the edges are nice and crispy and then throws it in the burrito.

And one thing that he does that I think is a little bit different from most taco trucks is that the avocado slices come standard in all of his burritos.

And it just adds such a nice burst of texture.

And the coolness from the avocado, I think, kind of offsets the saltiness of the al pastor a little bit.

Not mushy.

You've got the beans and the rice and the spiciness from his hot sauce, which has got this really smoky flavor.

So I really recommend, even if you're not a really spicy person, you could probably handle the hot sauce.

I don't think it's that hot.

But I also eat really spicy, so I don't know.

Sbrocco: And it's ginormous.

I love your description of ginormous.

Davis: And the first time I had it, I thought, "Oh, okay, well, I'll just eat half now, and then I'll just eat the other half later."

Before I knew it, I was down to, like, this much.

And so I was like, "All right, well, I guess I'm just eating this whole thing right now."

Sbrocco: And what about you, Alex, in terms of your experience?

Charlos: So I didn't want to love it, and I did love it.

So I'm like, "All right, I'm gonna go get a burrito at a food truck."

Bay Area.

I've, like, had a million burritos.

But this burrito, the al pastor, which is my favorite actually burrito and taco meat, it was delicious.

And that hot sauce?

Amazing.

They didn't ask me, like, if I wanted it with hot sauce.

They just put the red hot sauce, which I was so glad.

Sbrocco: All right, so, Aryeh, tell me about your experience when you went.

Cohen: I think the thing that stuck out the most to me was the flavor on the meat.

The pineapple really came through and the meat was just really flavorful.

I was recently in Mexico, and I had some al pastor there, and I think honestly, this meat was even more flavorful than what I had down in Mexico.

The meat was the real star to me.

Sbrocco: Very authentic.

Cohen: Yeah, absolutely.

I'm gluten-free, so I had it in the kind of bowl format, which was also delicious, especially for a food truck.

Beautifully presented.

You got every element kind of in a different part of the container, and you could mix it as you pleased, and it was delicious.

Sbrocco: Now, do you get anything else, Christina, or is this it?

Davis: So I'll also get the tacos.

I love the tacos, the bowl, and the horchatas.

He will do a different horchata almost every day.

He kind of changes it up.

So I love getting all the different horchatas that he makes.

Sbrocco: Now, would you go again, Aryeh, to seek this out?

Cohen: Yeah, absolutely.

If only just for the meat.

I guess I'm a real meat lover, but the meat was so flavorful.

It was definitely worth having again.

Charlos: It was so good, and I found myself craving it.

I'm like, "Why can't they have a brick and mortar?"

Or, "Why are they always so far from me?"

Because I always want that burrito now.

It's so delicious.

Sbrocco: For that ginormous burrito, head to Al Pastor Papi Food Truck, which hits different spots around the Bay.

You can track them down by checking Instagram.

Christina's pro tip -- Be sure to save room for a rotating mix of sinful dessert horchatas.

And now we've got the inside scoop on even more Bay Area foods you just gotta try.

Producer Cecilia Phillips is on the hunt for off-the-grid dining experiences and having a little fun along the way.

♪♪ [ Child squeals ] Phillips: What did you set out to do when you opened SPARK?

What is SPARK all about?

Muela: The initial idea was just to create, like, a really nice outdoor space for the community and the neighborhood.

We work with over 150 different food trucks.

And we feature about 20 of them every single day and we rotate them every day.

So it's, like, a really great place to come with friends, family, co-workers, you know, with your dog.

And yeah, we've been open about five years now, and we really have been successful in creating a really great community hub.

Phillips: Look at this.

What is spro?

Otanes: Spro is actually just barista slang for "espresso."

A lot of the techniques that we use to create our coffee here can be applied to culinary food science.

We do everything from your average latte in cup to creative extensions of classic drinks.

Phillips: Okay, so this is the "V" for Velvet.

Wow.

Otanes: You've got the subtlety of a red velvet cupcake and it's sort of, like, married with buttermilk, espresso, and steamed milk.

Phillips: Oh, my gosh.

Otanes: The strawberry guava mochi waffle.

Phillips: Oh, my gosh.

Look at this perfect pairing.

Otanes: Yeah, so you've got a marriage between mochi, your a classic Belgian waffle, and a funnel cake, but not as sweet.

Phillips: Mm.

So strawberry guava... Otanes: All right.

Cheers.

Phillips: Cheers.

Oh, my gosh.

Otanes: What do you think?

Phillips: Light, airy, crisp on the outside, not too sweet, but you can definitely tell the mochi in there.

Otanes: Mm-hmm.

Phillips: So tell me what dish you have here.

Calvo-Perez: All right, so we have our specialty dish here, the Lomo Saltado, which is sautéed sirloin steak, onions, tomatoes, with just a little bit of green onions served over fries and white rice.

Phillips: What's inside of here?

Calvo-Perez: Aji verde.

Phillips: Okay, aji verde.

Calvo-Perez: Jalapeño cheese sauce with a little bit of garlic, cilantro.

Calvo-Perez: Drizzle on top.

A little extra love.

You've got to have it this way.

Phillips: Amazing.

Calvo-Perez: Absolutely.

Phillips: All right.

Cheers.

Calvo-Perez: Cheers.

Wow.

Mm-hmm.

Phillips: Oh, my God.

That is so tender and so flavorful.

Calvo-Perez: Very well-balanced.

Phillips: That, like, took me off guard.

Calvo-Perez: Lots of veggies in there.

Phillips: What is Upper Cut all about?

Damyan: So we are the only truck in California that exclusively sous vide cuisine.

Whether it's light and bright sliders like this, delicate tacos, or hearty bowls, they're all featuring our sous vide prime brisket, duck confit, chicken, pork shoulder.

Phillips: This is delicious.

So I've been asking a question of a lot of people who are here today.

There's an age-old debate that's happening -- tacos versus burritos.

What say you?

Damyan: Tacos, no doubt.

You got variety.

Whether you're a meat eater, vegetarian, pescatarian, it doesn't matter.

Phillips: Burrito or taco?

Woman: Mm...

I'll say burrito.

Burrito.

Phillips: Does it help that you're holding one in your hand?

Woman: Yeah, 'cause I'm definitely a taco person, but -- Phillips: Oh, you are?

Woman: Yeah.

Phillips: Wait.

So what made you go with the burrito today?

Woman: This one.

This one, for sure.

This is good.

Phillips: Tacos or burritos?

Girl: Burritos.

Boy: Tacos.

Girl #2: Tacos.

Muela: [ Sighs ] We got to bring tacos back to the Bay Area, I think.

We've been known for our burritos, but let's bring tacos back.

Phillips: Tacos or burritos?

Man: Burritos.

Escobedo: It's almost, like, territorial.

If you're from Mexico or Mexico City, you're gonna say tacos.

But, gosh, if you're hungry and you're from San Francisco, like, burritos are the way to go.

It's like a to-go package, you know, ready to go.

Woman: I think it depends on your mood.

Depends on what you're feeling.

Man: It really depends on the taco.

The usual debate in our household, too, honestly.

Woman: There's no better answer.

Phillips: Seems like 1-1 right now.

Tied up in this household, yeah?

Woman: 1-1.

1-1.

Man: That's right.

1-1.

Woman #2: Well, we just love these tacos specifically.

So from this truck, tacos all the way.

Man: I went for tacos today.

Man $2: We just love the food.

And I'm more of a taco person.

Phillips: Okay, looks like this is a taco table.

Answer is easy here.

Tacos win.

Woman: Tacos because they're smaller so you can get different meats and diversity.

Phillips: There you go.

Woman: But I don't know.

Burritos really make it easy to put it in.

Phillips: Yeah.

Sounds like we still don't have our answer yet, but we are going to get to the bottom of this.

Woman: We don't have an answer, I don't have one for you.

I love both tacos and burrito.

Man: Mmm!

[ Woman laughs ] Sbrocco: Well, that's our show.

I have to say thanks to my fantastic guests.

I'm Leslie Sbrocco, and I'll see you next time on "Check, Please!

You Gotta Try This."

Cheers.

Cheers to you guys.

Cohen: Cheers.

L'chaim.

Sbrocco: Which of these dishes would you try?

Follow us on Instagram or like us on Facebook and let us know what you think.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪