You can't get more American than apple pie, or shakes and burgers at the Victory Diner.

Japanese TV viewers with an appetite for Americana got a heaping portion yesterday, broadcast live from the legendary Dongan Hills snack shack.

The shoot, which celebrated the unique style of diner cuisine, was for "New York Uplink," a weekly segment on the Japanese news show "Morning Satellite," which airs on TV Tokyo throughout Japan.

First, for a teaser to the main segment, reporter Hiro Tanaka helped waitress Julie Scuderi, 19, of South Beach, make a chocolate shake as Elvis' "Hound Dog" played on the jukebox.

Then, during the six-minute segment, Tanaka interviewed owner Steve Pappas about the Victory's history, described the menu, rang up his lunch on the cash register and quaffed a chocolate shake with gusto, complete with chocolate milk-mustache.

Tanaka also showed off a classic diner meal, the cheeseburger deluxe with fries and coleslaw, and marveled at the typical table setting, with shakers for salt, pepper and sugar, a bottle of ketchup and a napkin dispenser. These items aren't so unusual, of course, but the Japanese audience, used to seeing a bottle of soy sauce on every table, might have found it novel.

"What's more American than a diner?" Pappas asked. But on an Island filled with coffee shops, the film crew knows how to spot the real thing.

"This is the definition of a true diner," Tanaka said, explaining the nuances of structures like the Victory, which can be moved from place to place -- versus buildings with foundations.

Assistant director Aika Nakamoto explained that, after surfing the Internet for possibilities, the Victory was chosen for the segment because, in addition to its funky exterior, it has been an Island staple for so long. The diner dates to 1941.

"It's very unique," Tanaka said of America's love affair with greasy spoons. "It's not fancy, but cozy." The closest thing to a waffle house in Japan is the Denny's restaurant chain, he said. "It's kind of cool," said Rocco Maresca of Rosebank, who happened to be eating lunch during the shoot. He is no stranger to the camera, having already been in two movies filmed at the diner, a popular and quirky backdrop to movies and TV shows.

Yesterday was not the diner's first brush with Japanese fame. In 1997, it was featured in Lightning, a Japanese men's magazine, after a group stopped by to snap photos of the restaurant and its heaping platters of roast beef sandwiches and turkey clubs.

Originally published online here: http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/1119533449240710.xml