(upbeat instrumental music)
- From the sat-nav, to the heated seats,
the Jeep Compass is swimming with creature comforts.
You know what else screams comfort to me?
Fried foods, and, clearly, Elizabeth, Ibrahim,
and Kimberly all agree because they told me
to ride the wave out to Oak Park
and get my soul food fix at Surf's Up.
(upbeat instrumental music)
You being the president of Surf's Up,
I'm honored to meet you, Mr. President.
- I'm honored to meet you, sir.
(Elliott laughs)
Mr. Elliot, I'm honored to meet you.
- Just Elliot.
(upbeat instrumental music)
Dude, can I do that?
- Yeah, let's do it.
- Just wanna do it once to get it outta the way.
- Surf's up.
- Surf's up, ace.
- So we do a little bit of everything.
Definitely a lot of fish going on.
- You want fresh seafood, this is the place to be.
- Comfort food, brings me back to my childhood.
- It's the best.
- [Elliott] What is a great thing for us
to get out of the sea and into the frying pan?
- Well, I would say the catfish dinner is, really,
(bell dings)
one of our number one sellers.
- I like that.
- The fried green tomato, (bell dings)
that's another number one seller.
- [Elliott] I like that, too.
- Fried lobster, fried shrimp, number one seller.
(bell dings)
The pineapple shrimp.
(bell dings)
Lemon shrimp.
(bell dings)
Coconut shrimp.
(bell dings)
(upbeat instrumental music)
- We're racing each other.
- I don't know what happens during your presidency,
but everything can't be number one.
- Yeah, exactly.
- It cannot be the number one best seller.
(Eric laughs)
- Got a (mumbles).
- Thank you.
- [Elliott] Catfish speaks to me.
I like the sound of that.
- I love catfish.
- It's just so nice, and juicy, and sweet.
This is definitely the place to come.
- They have a little special seasoning in it,
and it's great.
- I was raised on catfish.
It's just a very good fish to eat.
(upbeat instrumental music)
- All right, from the president
to the first lady of Surf's Up.
This is a very big day for me.
- You?
- Yeah, for me.
- Me, too.
- Oh, really?
- Yes, I'm so excited.
- Sometimes I do a little wee when I'm excited.
- Uh-oh, uh-oh.
- [Denise] Catfish.
- [Elliott] You've got catfish down here.
- Yes.
- Well, we can't get to the catfish
until we make your special fancy coating.
Yeah. - [Denise] Yes.
- To go on top of that.
All right.
- So you're gonna grab this, pour it in here.
- [Elliott] What do we have in here?
- [Denise] Flour, stone ground cornmeal.
- [Elliott] Cornmeal, ah.
- Yes.
- This is what gives you that nice crunchy--
- That crunch.
That's the crunch.
- [Elliott] Oh, yeah.
That's the crunch right there.
- And we're gonna take this special blend of garlic.
- Special blend of garlic.
- Yes.
- [Elliott] What's special about it?
- [Woman] Nothing, just go.
(Elliott laughs)
- How to entertain a simple person.
Just tell them it's special.
I'm like, (gasps), it's special?
- Now, this is a little special.
This is our secret blend.
It has a bunch of little secrets in there.
Then, we have sneezing ground pepper,
and this is a famous salt.
- Famous salt.
- Yes.
- She's clearly messing with me.
- Sea salt.
Make sure it's all mixed up really well.
Then, we're gonna take this catfish, put it in there,
act like it's swimming.
Swim on to each end of the, yes, swim around.
- She's gone from messing with me
to just insulting me now.
(upbeat instrumental music)
- [Elliott] We now need to make fried green tomatoes.
- [Denise] FGT.
- Yes.
- Surf's Up fried green tomatoes.
Then we're gonna get that egg, okay.
- Green tomatoes.
- Yes, so we're gonna take a couple of those.
- [Elliott] From the same farm that brought you
green eggs and ham.
This is the same mixture that we used earlier
for our catfish.
- Same mixture, yes, yes.
- Thank you, my lady.
Am I supposed to bow or curtsy?
- Curtsy.
- Thank you.
- Yes.
(upbeat instrumental music)
- [Elliott] You got a preference where you wanna start?
- Hey, I think we should just dive in.
- Yeah?
(upbeat instrumental music)
- I love the catfish, and I've gotta try--
- You made these.
- I love that, that batter with the remoulade.
(upbeat instrumental music)
So much comfort.
- So much comfort.
It makes you wanna take a nap after you eat all this.
- What do you think that it is that makes you guys
here at Surf's Up Chicago's Best?
- [Denise] We have so much good food.
It's nothing to choose from that you would not like.
Everything's great.
- [Elliott] That's true.
- [Denise] And what really sets us apart is
we grill and fry our food.
- Hail to the president and the first lady,
if that's a thing.
- All hail Chicago's Best.
- Yeah.
The king and queen of soul food.
(upbeat instrumental music)