God how I love a good
French fry. In my world they should be included in the food pyramid right
beside coffee and pizza. I will eat them from just about anywhere at any time.
Even if I don’t think they taste particularly good. Sometimes I order a burger
just to get the fries. Actually every time I eat a burger I am sure to stuff
some fries inside for added appeal and crunch. If I happen to order a side of
cheese fries watch out! That makes me want to do a happy dance. It makes any
meal taste better. I could eat them hot or cold as gross as that sounds. Cheese
and fries make a lovelier couple than bread and butter.
Seeing as how I love
fries, when I heard about a gourmet fry shop in my hometown of New York City I
was all too intrigued. I am a regular reader and follower of all things
Huffington Post especially their food section. That is where I read a link (see
below to check out the list in its entirety) proclaiming to list “America’s
Most Outrageous Fries” by Molly Aronica of The Daily Mail. Of course I wanted
to see this list. I read all lists announcing the best of any category of food
in any city because I never want to miss out on something. This is important
knowledge and it’s a good thing I read this list too. Under my noise this whole
time and just a short train ride away, was the headquarters of French fry
heaven and I almost missed it. ALMOST.
As I clicked through the
slides in this article I glanced for anything that would peak my interest in
taste or location. Then came my lucky number, which is apparently five. Number
five was Pomme Frites and their pomegranate teriyaki mayo.
This was the description:
“One of the most popular
fries-only establishments in the country, Pommes Frites in New York's East
Village neighborhood serves up cones of freshly fried Belgian-style frites to
hungry Manhattanites. The sauces here are where things get very interesting,
exemplified by the addictively delicious pomegranate teriyaki mayo. Other
options include Vietnamese pineapple mayo, smoked eggplant mayo, and Irish
curry sauce.”
I am pretty sure I stopped
reading and comprehending after I saw “one of the most popular fries-only
establishments in the country”. I was thinking two things. One, there are
multiple fries only establishments nationwide? Two, I do not know about them?
Three, when the f can I get to this place? Ok I lied that was three things, I
know. But as you can see (read?) reliving this is still just as exciting and fresh
to me as the day it happened. In my defense that was only a short time ago.
Once I came up for air, I
instantly looked them up online and became dizzy when I started to read all of
the names of the sauces you can pick from. I couldn’t imagine you would need so
many flavors. Some sounded confusing, others mysterious. After all what does Vietnamese
pineapple mayo taste like? How does that differ from regular pineapple mayo if
they had such a thing? What on God’s green earth is smoked eggplant mayo? Is that
good or bad? How many sauces should you try your first time out? How would the
fries taste? Or is it really more about the sauces?
All of these questions
swirled around my head for days as I pondered when I would go. As soon as I
showed my friends this page they were in like Flynn. It so happens that the
shop was conveniently located near the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop and Butterlane
(see previous blog) and we were making our way to that block that week. It felt
like fate that we could fit this into that trip too. I had learned about this
just in time. I would praise the French fry God if only I knew his/her name.
On the day of our big
outing I was so excited that I just couldn’t hide it. To answer your question,
yes I was about to lose control and I did think I would like it. But first I
had some serious eating to do.
When we walked in we were
all overwhelmed by that infamous sauce list and it was obvious we would still
be standing there if not for some help. The great guy that was working there
put some samples on a napkin with some fries for us all to taste to help us
decide. That almost made it harder because each one was better than the next.
There were four of us in total, with us dividing into two groups of two, we
decided on: roasted garlic mayo, sweet mango chutney, sweet chilli, and smoked
eggplant mayo.
We each had the same thing
except for the sweet chilli and smoked eggplant mayo. Had we been paying any
attention we would have been smart and got six different flavors to have more
of a sampler. But we panicked all at once. I want you to also keep in mind at
the time we were the only four in the restaurant so why we were rushing or
panicking is beyond me. But we couldn’t help ourselves. It was that tasty and
we needed to eat them as fast as they could fry them and believe me that was
pretty fast. It was actually so fast that the from the point we started eating
to the moment there wasn’t a crump or drop of sauce left, my mouth was still on
fire and the paper cones that held the fries was still hot. It never had a
moment to cool. The fries cook right before your eyes and once you see them,
the sauces are pumped like alcohol shots into their containers, and the race is
on. You have no control over how fast you eat. Your brain just orders your
hands and mouth to start and its over before you know it. Luckily I managed to
get a few photos in before I chewed my own fingers off.
After we ate like
scavengers, I realized I had to do my penance. I had to apologize to the smoked
eggplant mayo. I had mocked that flavor the entire way there because I couldn’t
conceive of what that flavor would taste like. So wouldn’t you know once I
tried I fell in love. I still can’t explain what it tasted it. Actually it
tasted exactly how it sounds but more amazing that it sounds. I wish I had some
to put on sandwiches, wraps, and other meals. I miss you most of all scarecrow.
Besides being a great
place to find fries, sauces, and a way to gain a few pounds, this place is
essential for all tourists and natives whether you crave fries or not. It is
small but has some seating and the best part is the holes in the tables for the
fry cones so that none are left on the table to spill out. That is genius
thinking in action. It is also proof that good things come in small packages.
From the outside you would
never notice what treasures lie inside. It is so deceiving and we almost walked
right by it. You can certainly smell the deliciousness cooking. And after you
leave you will smell like that too. Once I got to my next destination I was
actually asked about it. But there are certainly worse things in life, like
being without smoked eggplant mayo!
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