I’ll by no means perceive the attract of the fats French fry. Steak fries are contemptible. Wedges of bland starch with no crunch, like a mouthful of molded mashed potatoes. There isn’t any quantity of ketchup, ranch or aioli that may save thick fries from the decrease depths of tuber hell. Simply order a baked potato and be completed with it.
Curly fries, when completed appropriately, are crisp by every coil. I’m by no means mad at a waffle fry.
The truffle Parmesan fries from Chateau Marmont — beforehand believed by this writer to be the best French fries in all of the land.
(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Occasions)
The thin fry has the potential to be a spud revelation. It’s texturally superior to a wedge, with a extra even ratio of crunch to fluff. Three skinny fries clumped collectively and dunked into your favourite condiment will all the time hit. A single fats fry might by no means.
For a very long time, I held the agency perception that Chateau Marmont was house to the best French fries in all of the land. They’re served in an ornamental silver cylinder meant to raise, not less than through the presentation, the humblest of hamburger sidekicks. The mountain of fries exudes an air of luxurious, threatening to spill from the highest, showered in Parmesan cheese and smelling vaguely of truffles. Truffle Parmesan fries ($17) within the sceniest of sceney Los Angeles motels? I can really feel you seething as I kind this. I can hear the guffaw of annoyance that simply escaped your mouth. I do know — individuals really feel strongly about French fries.
After years of pawing by orders of fries at Heavy Handed, République and a handful of different locations round city, I now not consider they’re the very best fries in Los Angeles, however they proceed to hover close to the highest, made much more satisfying with an ice-cold martini. They’re value enduring the slight chill from the 2 hosts posted as gatekeepers to the bar and restaurant. I don’t maintain a SAG card, and my social media follower rely is way decrease than what is suitable, however please allow me to cross, sit and overpay on your superb French fries.
Additionally vying for the title of greatest French fries are the tallow fries from the brand new Happies Hand Made within the Arts District, named for the meat tallow the fries bathe in. They’re lengthy, golden sticks that resemble wonderful fingers — the form of fries that seem to have a floor sheathed in an additional layer of speckled coating that gives a satisfying crunch with every chew. They’re seasoned properly with salt and pepper, properly sufficient to skip the ketchup. However as our deputy Meals editor Betty Hallock likes to say: It’s not a French fry in case you can’t dip it in ketchup. As soon as once more, individuals really feel strongly about French fries and their condiments.
I just lately found what might be the very best French fry I’ve ever tasted at an Italian restaurant within the Arts District. It was just like the world shifted into one other universe the place the thick fry crawled out of the depths of tuber hell and emerged triumphant.
The tallow fries from Happies Hand Made would possibly look like the very best French fries in L.A. — till you go to Rossoblu.
(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Occasions )
Should you by no means observed fries on the Rossoblu menu, you’d be forgiven. Steve and Dina Samson’s restaurant is thought greatest for Steve’s regional Italian cooking, constructed on his household’s conventional Bolognese dishes, together with stellar pasta. However in case you learn by to the underside of the menu, you’ll discover the fries underneath the “contorni” or sides part, listed as “Apennine fries, triple-cooked, herbs, balsamic” ($14).
They’re named for the fries Steve remembers consuming as a child in a small mountain village within the Apennines in southern Bologna.
“One time we just went to some outdoor restaurant and I had fries with balsamic vinegar, and it was like, ‘Phew, this is mind blowing,’” he says. “I was probably like 10 years old, but it stuck in my mind and I always wanted to do that.”
Steve’s fries are shy of wedge territory, although I label something wider than 1 / 4 inch (concerning the width of a McDonald’s fry) a fats fry. They’re served in a heap in a bowl, the logs of potato annealed, shiny and splotched with balsamic vinegar. The floor of every fry resembles the rugged terrain of fine fried rooster, jagged and nearly shaggy in components. Bits of fried rosemary and sage litter the highest.
They’re sizzling and crunchier than I anticipate for a fry with sizable girth, the outside layer of potato as delicate and crisp as a chip. However it isn’t simply that outer layer that’s crunchy. It’s just like the potatoes are fried from the within out, with a crunch that permeates 90% of the fry’s almost hole physique and ultimately relents to a fluffy core. There isn’t any have to rummage round for one. They’re all the nice one.
Chef Steve Samson prepares an order of French fries at his downtown restaurant Rossoblu.
(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Occasions)
Earlier than you will have time to course of how mind-bogglingly wonderful the fries are, you get a chew tinged with vinegar and your mouth is flooded with the candy and sharp tang of balsamic.
With two bites, I grew to become a fats fry believer. Or on the very least an Apennine fry believer.
After making an attempt a number of forms of potatoes, Steve settled on Kennebec potatoes, and solely Kennebec potatoes, to make his fries.
“They haven’t been consistently on our menu because it’s been hard to keep them consistent,” Steve says. “Sometimes our produce guy says it can be hard to get Kennebecs because In-N-Out uses so many of them. And then the way potatoes are farmed, it depends on the time of year and how long the potatoes have been stored.”
And even when Steve secures the Kennebecs, he received’t know a batch is sweet till he’s gone by the three-cook course of to make them.
The potatoes are minimize, rinsed and soaked in a single day. They’re laid flat on racks, then steamed within the oven. The fries relaxation within the walk-in cooler and dry out, then take their first dip within the fryer. As soon as the fries are cooked by, they return on a rack and into the freezer. The potatoes are flash-fried at 375 levels to order.
The Apennine fries from Rossoblu in downtown Los Angeles.
(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Occasions)
“I’ve heard that there are ways to see if they float or see if they are going to be good potatoes,” he says. “If you can figure out a way to tell before you go through all the work. But we haven’t figured out a way to know before the third cook whether they are good or not. There have been times during service where we have a new batch, and it’s like, uh-oh, we can’t serve these.”
Generally the potatoes take in an excessive amount of oil. Different occasions they crumble within the fryer.
“Whenever we get a good batch of potatoes, it’s such a good feeling,” he says. “You feel like you’ve won something.”
With the latest relaunch of the restaurant’s menu and a gentle provide of Kennebecs, the fries are on once more at Rossoblu.
“Things like fries are the hardest to do well because there are a lot of variables and everybody knows what a good fry is,” he says. “You can’t fake your way around a good fry.”
Although Steve intends to have the fries out there everytime you go to, there aren’t any ensures. Chances are you’ll need to name forward for the nice fries.
For the nice fries, go right here
Rossoblu, 1124 San Julian St., Los Angeles, (213) 749-1099, www.rossoblula.com
Happies Hand Made, 427 S. Hewitt St., Los Angeles, www.happieshandmade.com
Chateau Marmont, 8221 Sundown Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 656-1010, www.chateaumarmont.com
Heavy Handed, areas in Silver Lake, Santa Monica and Studio Metropolis, heavyhanded.la
République, 624 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, (310) 362-6115, republiquela.com
