Say what you want about Americans’ desire for lighter menu items. Deep-fried foods still rule in restaurants, and the French fry is king.
Of the roughly 41.3 billion pounds of potatoes grown in the United States each year, 34 percent are made into frozen French fries, according to the 2009 Potato Statistical Yearbook. But as popular as fries are, chefs are working to make them even more popular by using different frying media such as duck fat or olive oil, or by spiking them with flavors ranging from lemon juice to barbecue sauce.
At Smashburger, a 72-unit fast-casual chain based in Denver, the restaurant’s signature Smashfries, tossed with olive oil, garlic, sea salt and rosemary, account for between two-thirds and three-quarters of the potatoes sold in the restaurant, according to the chain’s founder, Tom Ryan.
“So our specialty bistro-style fry really outperforms the standard one three to one or four to one,” he said.
Quaker Steak & Lube, a 39-unit motor-sports themed casual dining restaurant based in Sharon, Pa., has long had success with its “Magna fries” — smothered in Cheddar-Jack cheese and bacon.
But at a new, smaller prototype opened in Madison, Wis., in July, the chain is experimenting with dressing fries in sauces that were developed for its signature chicken wings. Varieties of these “Factory Fries,” so-named because, like cars ordered from the factory rather than the showroom, they’re customizable, include Baja Fries, which are dressed in chicken enchilada sauce with cheese, scallion, tomato, jalapeño and sour cream; Thai fries with spicy “Thai R’ Cracker” sauce, provolone and scallions; and Buffalo Red Hot Fries coated in hot sauce and served with blue cheese dip.
“I think it is kind of college food, late-night bar food, and I think it fits the location,” said Katy Malaniak, The Lube’s senior director of food & beverage, noting that the prototype is near the University of Wisconsin.
Dressing fries in cheese and sauce is a longstanding tradition in the Canadian province of Quebec, where poutine — fries covered in cheese curds and gravy — is a staple. A number of independent operators have added their own versions to their menus.
Celina Tio, chef-owner of Julian in Kansas City, Mo., is adding a poutine to her lunch menu made with fries topped with pulled short ribs, cheese curds made with milk from a local dairy, an over-easy egg and gravy.
“I’ve also made fries with rendered wagyu fat,” Tio said. They are “by far the best, but a little costly.”
Poutine is also on the menu at Comme Ça, David Myers’ French bistro in Los Angeles.
He said his poutine is “like the ultimate chili cheese fries.” They’re topped with house-made sausage gravy, Wisconsin white Cheddar curds and a fried egg.”
At Astor Bake Shop in New York City, chef-owner George McKirdy’s fries are a play on the Puerto Rican dish Yuca con Mojo, which is made by tossing boiled or fried yucca root in an oil-based dressing of garlic and cilantro.
“It’s a favorite of mine,” McKirdy said, and they’re the inspiration for his garlic-herb fries, which he tosses with tarragon, chives, sautéed minced garlic and salt. “My cafe leans more toward American and French flavors, so this translation of those flavors suited my concept,” he said.
At Smashburger, Ryan said he had a more specific reason for choosing garlic and rosemary for his fries.
Noting that, being a burger chain, Smashburger’s focus is on beef, he said, “two of the most potent flavoring systems to accentuate the richness of meat, particularly beef, are rosemary and garlic. So rather than moving to basil or truffle oil or Parmesan, we went for something that complemented the overall taste of the burger, and then we worked really hard to find the right balance of things to bring those flavors forward.”
Fries are generally not considered the most healthful menu items, but some restaurants have found ways to make them seem better for you.
Smashburger has rolled out sweet potato fries, which Ryan says are perceived to have more antioxidants and which now make up a third of their total mix of French fry sales.
Outback Steakhouse is currently testing sweet potato fries, and Don Odiorne, vice president for foodservice of the Idaho Potato Commission, reports that sweet potatoes are “the darlings of potato processors right now.” He predicted that we would likely see more restaurants offering combinations of fries made from russet potatoes and sweet potatoes.
Elevation Burger, an eight-unit chain based in Arlington, Va., focusing on organic hamburgers, fries its potatoes in olive oil.
“In 2003, when I first figured out how to do it, people said it was impossible,” said Elevation Burger founder and chief executive Hans Hess. He said that although conventional wisdom held that olive oil was not a suitable deep-frying medium, it has a high smoke point and fries potatoes well. He said it took about six months to perfect the process, getting the oil temperature and choice of potato right — he settled on Burbanks when they’re in season and Norkotahs when they’re not — but now he has filed to patent the process.
He said customers respond well to the idea of frying in olive oil, and he likes the taste.
“It imparts this almost nutty flavor to the fry. It’s a very satisfying flavor in my opinion,” he said.
He also noted that, although the olive oil he uses costs more than triple the price of standard frying oil, it lasts so much longer that he doesn’t spend any more than he would with regular oil. Hess uses the standard double-frying method — first par-frying the oil at a lower temperature and then frying it again at a higher temperature.
But Tony Maws, executive chef of the fine dining restaurant Craigie on Main in Cambridge, Mass., has other priorities than spending the time and effort to double-fry his potatoes.
“We’re not a fry house, and we just have a small fryer,” he said. But still they needed good fries to go with the burger on their bar menu.
“I was trying to come up with a fry that was tasty and not as labor intensive and relatively quick.” The answer was matchstick fries.
“They get crispy pretty quick without double frying them,” he said, and to make them stand out he tosses them with Japanese togarashi spice and garlic chives.
“It has a good zestiness and piquancy,” he said, “and the garlic chives add a little bright green flavor.”
Fries across America
• Fries tossed with sea salt smoked with Keemun tea and cherry wood, and Chinese five-spice powder
The Boston Park Plaza Hotel, Boston
• Old Bay fries
The Mermaid Inn, New York City
• Truffle potato fries with garlic herb aïoli
Gilt, New York City
• Fries Americain with smoked red pepper mayonnaise
Bar Americain, New York City
• Pommes frites pizza with truffle oil and Parmesan
Urban Crust, Plano, Texas
• French fries tossed with smoked Spanish paprika, salt, garlic oil and parsley, served with smoked paprika aïoli
Mercat a la Planxa, Chicago
• Lemon pepper fries with garlic aïoli
Hearty, Chicago
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].