duck-fat fries go at it in Mobile, AL

Spent a sunday night in Mobile Alabama as part of my 2010 resolution to finish my visit of all 50 state in the USA. Found a great little beer pup called Hopjacks Pizza Kitchen & Taproom. And as will all these experiments, they claim on their menu that their fries are the best. See their menu description.

A very hefty 5 3/4 (thats really $5.75) but I assume its because of the duck fat (yes, this vegetarian will put that aside). The night was slow even though there were some parades in town for mardi gras. Having just done a run, I was hungry. Ordered the fries with cheese--not a problem. Great.

Decent presentation but look at the portion. More than I could eat but it was tasty.

The cheese required a fork at some point and the large portion made it hard to get that cheese on all the fries. Their garlic dipping sauce was too salty but provided a coolness to the warm fries that did pair well.

RATING
Fries: 4 out of 5 fries
Cheese: 3 out of 5 wedges
Presentation: 2 out of 5
Taste: duck fat makes good fries but greasy
SUMMARY: 2

New Orleans BBQ Style

Was in New Orleans having dinner with a friend. The place we chose was too packed and noisy so we walked out and found a great little cozy place called Squeal BBQ. Yelp claimed it was decent food (although as a vegetarian I was a little concerned).

The menu was very extensive but much to my pleasant surprise this place was proud of their "hand cut" fries and at only $3.95 seemed like a bargain. I graciously asked for cheese (without specifying what kind) and the waitress told me it was going to be cheddar. Fine.

The food comes and oh boy. What a serving. A huge mound of very greasy fries with lots of cheese and a side of ketchup.

Too greasy. Could not finish any decent amount of this. The pics tell it all. Not a good experience.

RATING
Fries: 1 out of 5 fries
Cheese: 2 out of 5 wedges
Presentation: 1 out of 5 (ketchup?)
Taste: just too greasy.
SUMMARY:1

attempt at using provolone

The sunday pool night with Dan was modified to simply meet at Sully's House in Lincoln Park. While here I noticed the boast of fries on the menu, i.e. Crunchy Fries Barely-battered, in a basket. $5. OK, a little steep for just fries. But they also had tater tots which might be another experiment but I digress. I figured for that amount, they might be able to throw some cheese on the fries.

A little unsure of the cheese when they asked what kind (after a moment of trying to entering the item in a order system) but Dan piped up quickly "Provolone." So that was it. Cant say I've ever had that but might work well since its not too salty.

After a few minutes, something was up. It looked like the bus boy was bringing some fry order to the bar tender but it was rejected. Soon the order did arrive to the bar tender again. My guess: they forgot the cheese.

As you can see it was a simple broiler placement of fries and cheese.

Not bad though. The fries were good but frankly the cheese joined all the top layers of fries into a sheet. Definitely required a fork. But it was a generous plate.

RATING
Fries: 4 out of 5 fries
Cheese: 3 out of 5 wedges
Presentation: 2 out of 5
Taste: nice cheese but not well ditributed
SUMMARY: 3

Poutine appearing in high-end restaurants in Chicago

Nice piece in TimeOut Chicago this week about Poutine appearing in high-end restaruants.

The hot mess that is poutine—traditionally a plate of french fries tossed with cheese curds and covered with a brown gravy—has been turning up on bar menus and high-end tables all over the city. Which leads us to the question: Is this a joke? “It’s a great joke,” says Craig Fass, owner of the Bad Apple. “It’s so sinful, it should be wrong.” Fass spent a week in Montreal where he discovered poutine (which translates literally as mess, bad stew or I’d never eat this sober) and fell in love with it. Paramount Room’s Stephen Dunne, who serves his poutine (pictured above) with pulled pork shoulder and melted cheddar, also found the concept easy to embrace : “Braised meat, fried potatoes and gooey cheese? How can it get any better than that?” For Dirk Flanigan of the Gage, his upscale riff on the dish (it boasts an elk ragout instead of gravy) was requested by owner Billy Lawless’s wife. “The way everyone explains it is that it’s something you eat when you’re hungover or when you’re already drunk. I was kind of like, ‘I don’t know if I want to put this on the menu.’” He did anyway, and now, between his version and the version at Nightwood (where poutine comes with duck confit and a poached duck egg), the dish has been elevated above drunken sustenance. But it’s still junk food—just foreign junk food. Nightwood’s chef de cuisine Jason Vincent puts it best: “Americans, a lot of us don’t stray anywhere from ketchup when it comes to fries. It’s the people that use the metric system that really know how to treat fried potatoes.”
Bad Apple 4300 N Lincoln Ave (773-360-8406)
The Gage 24 S Michigan Ave (312-372-4243)
Paramount Room 415 N Milwaukee Ave (312-829-6300)
Nightwood 2119 S Halsted St (312-526-3385)

Read more: http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/restaurants-bars/81873/poutine-appearing-in-high-end-restaurants

Steak house fries try with blue cheese

Was at Morton's Steak House and they seem to have jumped into the cheese fries category with a bar bite entry called "Blue Cheese French Fries."

To my surprise, these bar bites were only $3 (at certain times); however, these were mediocre. The bleu cheese is OK but the odd spice of crushed red peppers and chives really dont make sense. Its seems more like an attempt to make these like pizza but I really dont see the connection from a steak house.

The presentation was not very useful either since its clear that the cheese is melted in a broiler then spice added. Its good that steak houses have good fries since it really carries this dish. A nice crisp fry but gets broken easily with the weight of the cheese. I found myself wanting to get rid of spice quickly and get to the more flavorful bleu cheese.

RATING
Fries: 3 out of 5 fries
Cheese: 3 out of 5 wedges
Presentation: 2 out of 5 (spices look odd)
Taste: nice cheese, bad spice
SUMMARY: 2

Another attempt in California

Wanted lunch and happened to be in hollywood, Los Angeles. Found a little diner-like place, Victor's Square, which seemed to have a range of things on the menu. Saw the sandwich and fries option so could not resist asking for cheese on the fries.

My biggest regret is not getting the picture of the waiter when I asked for the cheese. He repeated the question and I repeated my request. Precious.

And to keep my analysis of the west coast attempt of cheese fries consistent, this placed failed. It seemed like a noble attempt but it far short of what I would expect of the mid-west or more importantly, adaptive chefs.

What came was a slice of cheese on the steak fries. To make matters worse, the fries were bland.

The cheese seemed processed sliced cheese that cannot stand the exposure of being on fries. And OK, this was a $12 meal. Ugh.

RATING
Fries: 2 out of 5 fries
Cheese: 1 out of 5 wedges
Presentation: 2 out of 5 (decent color, huh?)
Taste: weak fries and no effort
SUMMARY: 1

New Line Tavern Tries to do it

New place that opened up in the west loop, New Line Tavern. They did have fries on the menu so clearly needed to ask. The bartender was very accommodating and asked before she was able to offer. Upon her return I am proud to say the chef was game.

Excellent presentation. Dont they look great? Fries however were not what they should be. And having just learned about the correct way to make fries (see Alton Brown's episode on frying  ), one must realize that fries must be blanched first, partially frozen and then fried. So if you have ever had "fresh cut" fries you will see the difference between those and the type that were in a freezer prior to use. Bartender admitted that they were simply fresh cut. Wow.

Nonetheless the cheese was respectable. What was an order for a few turned into something all were reaching for. (always seems to be the reaction).

RATING
Fries: 2 out of 5 fries
Cheese: 3 out of 5 wedges
Presentation: 4 out of 5 (note the plating)
Taste: a bit salty and weak fries
SUMMARY: 2