Why do so many restaurants serve frozen french fries? (rant)

[Mog]

I've never understood this. Fresh cut fries taste so much better, and I wouldn't think the cost would be any more than buying frozen. Taters are cheap and available year-round. It's not like there's a lot of prep work involved, either. Even if you don't want to take the time to blanch fry them at a low temperature, fresh fries fried once like at Five Guys are still worlds better than frozen in my opinion.

This rant came about after trying Jasmine Grill, the new middle eastern place on High Street where Golden Finch used to be. I had lentil soup and a nice pita filled with marinated chicken, sauce, etc... very good. And it came with frozen crinkle-cut fries. Boo. Like this:

 

[COOL MAN]

I watch that show Restaurant Impossible on Food Network, and host Robert Irvine preaches all the time to these failing restaurant owners that fresh is often.....if not almost always.....cheaper than frozen, whether you're talking about entrees or side dishes like fries (though I assume fries are a touch more labor intensive because they have to be processed).

But they certainly do taste several magnitudes better.....

 

[backcountry mounty]

They are much better (as are homemade chips) but you would pretty much have to have a guy dedicated to fries which is ok in the right establishment. I'm not sure what Five Guys does but a lot of "fresh cut" fries come in cryovaced in a solution. So they aren't frozen but aren't exactly fresh either. Those things tear your oil up quickly.

i don't know if you have seen it or not but there are actually drill attachments for making home made curly fries and potato chips. Makes it really easy.

 

[bornaneer]

Re: I'm not sure what Five Guys does

BC, Five Guys uses fresh and cuts theirs in house. They also do the two fry process.

 

[Fingon]

Those things are cool . . .

My favorite is the blade they use to make the big long potato ribbons. It's a chip thickness, but all one big long potato ribbon. You see them often sold at fairs/carnivals. The drill attachment is pretty slick.

 

[bornaneer]

Re: Those things are cool . . .

I saw a guy demonstrating a gadget on a Saturday on the Courthouse Square in Morgantown in 1957. I still remember it, the guy also used it on carrots. as well as potatoes, it was a blade on a corkscrew and the end result looked like a ribbon spring.