How to Cook a French Fry

How much discussion French fries stir up! They are a nationally beloved dish, and yet half the fries served at restaurants … well, to be blunt … suck. They’re soggy and flavorless. I love a restaurant that cares about its fries. McDonald’s arguably became the success it is because of its fries, which were a staple of my 1970s youth. In-N-Out Burger, by contrast, makes far superior burgers, but their fries … well, to be blunt … The fries at Thomas Keller’s bistro Bouchon, a restaurant with which I’ve worked, became so popular they were forced to either employ a single person to cut fries all day or find a quality brand of frozen fries—and they did the latter. The truth is, frozen fries can be excellent. Tony Bourdain thought this was nonsense. Then, having dinner at Bouchon Las Vegas, he was served the fries and had to admit they were excellent—but the revelation so upset him he knocked over a glass of wine, apparently in anger. (Watch it on his No Reservations Vegas episode!) Theoretically, this means that you can buy frozen fries from the grocery store and deep-fry them and they’ll be pretty good. But in practice, I find most of the commercial ones at the grocery store are ultimately lacking in flavor, so I recommend taking the time to seek out a high-quality brand.