Guy Fieri Eats Soul Food at Mert's Heart & Soul in NC | Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives | Food Network

I do not like to be too predictable here on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, but when you go to San Francisco, you got to try some cioppino. When you go to Texas, well, you got to try some brisket. Go to New York City, got to try some pizza. So when you come to Charlotte, North Carolina, you got to try some low country, and I hear this is the joint. This is Bird's Heart and Soul. It's definitely comfort food. Two criollas all day. It's like eating at home, or better than what I could get at home. Just like my mama cooks. She just put a foot in it. But Dad's the one doing the cooking here. Chef and owner James Bizzell, who's been bringing down home to downtown since 1998. It's like a treasure chest in the middle of the asphalt jungle. And that's what's so special about it. You wouldn't expect this downtown. What kind of food do you guys serve here? Low country and southern. And southern. I think it tastes like something that my grandma would cook. Soul rolls up. The soul rolls are everything you'd ever want out of the South. Goodness wrapped and deep fried. Soul rolls. Got to have a soul roll. All right, we'll get into it. Collard greens, cut them up. Garlic, olive oil, onions, adobo. Adobo? Adobo, vinegar, and water. How long are we going to let this go for? Hour. All right, what are we going to do now, boss? Well, we're going to fry the chicken. I sprinkle our chicken with adobo. And then just regular all-purpose flour? All-purpose flour. Simple. Okay. Let me put this in the fryer now. Here we go. Let's get after this. And what we do, we're going to mix it all together. So we got the greens, we got the fried chicken. This seasoned rice, that delicious. Black-eyed peas. Okay, what we're going to do is put a wrapper down. I'll take a little bit here, and we roll up. And we top with a little egg wash to seal it. We take these to the fryer, cook them off at 350. And then we just take them, and we cut them. Drills a little spicy honey mustard. And we do a little bit more garnish on them. So most folks can't make it to Merch without having a soul roll. We try not to let them leave without having a soul roll. That's astronaut soul food. You know how they send the astronauts their food all prepared and ready to go? Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is a soul food missile pop. This comes with everything combined in one easy-to-eat bite. I got to talk to NASA about this. That's delicious. You guys ready to eat? Yeah. The soul roll's got everything I like. It's phenomenal. It just pops when you eat it. Where'd you learn to cook? Home Ec. A friend of mine told me I can take Home Ec, meet girls, and eat. I did it. I did the same thing. No, I'm serious. I believe you. And from the looks of it, Chef James must have ended up with an A-plus. Barbecue ribs up. So good. Everything you order is just wonderful. You get down on cooking, fit for a king. Shrimp and grits up, please. James does the perfect southern shrimp and grits. Brown gravy on top of it, unreal. What are we going to make next? One of my other favorites, shrimp and grits. You understand something. My mom was raised in North Carolina. I didn't know that. Oh, yeah. I'm a grit-eating fool. I start with cold water, margarine, and my favorite grits are these yellow, organic stone grits. Whisk them in. Yes, sir. The thing about grits, you got to keep stirring them for these do not stick together. I got you there. Put some salt, cream. Just make it taste so good. All right. So this takes care of the grit side. So what are we into now? We're going to make our gravy or sauce. Sauce. Oil, flour. Get that going. Add water, garlic. Be basic. Usually, you condensed a whole cow into that. Oh, not quite. Add onions, garlic, and adobo. That's my middle name. That's your middle name? Yes, sir. Now we're going to make some shrimp. Come on, now. Add a little oil. I'd do about four, five, six shrimp. Now we add a little brown gravy, green onions. My favorite. You know that. Yeah, I know. That's your middle name. And tomatoes. Let that cook down? Yeah. Okay. Let's hit it, boss. Man, these grits are looking good. Here you go. I'll top it off with just a little bit more green. Now, this focaccia bread, we got a local baker that make it for us. It's delicious. Mm. That's tasty. Thank you. Thank you. This gravy's got a nice little tang to it. The grits got to be a little toothsome. Can't be too soggy. No. Got to have a little bite to them. Mm. You're going to have to pry this out of my hand. Mm. Shrimp and grits on. This is one of my favorite things on the menu. I do try to duplicate it when I get home, but it doesn't come out the same. Did you grow up eating this type of food? Yes. My grandmother's from South Carolina. Did she put her foot in it? She put her foot in the glove in it, and this obviously has both. Everybody from out of town, I bring here. It's a straight down-home country place. The piece that people love about Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives is meeting characters like yourself that invest so much in this. I mean, you embrace each little step. Like, it's the most critical piece. It's fantastic. Nicely done, my friend. Thank you, sir. So that's it for this Flavortown road trip, but don't you worry. There's plenty more joints all over this country. I'll be looking for you next time on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.