We’ve found the best fries on planet earth. Eating them is a sublime experience. These almighty fries aren’t a typical shape or size, though. They’re monstrous frites, ¾ inch in diameter. So what are these glorious, crunchy, creamy wonders? They are the Famous Frites Cut fries made by Frites Street in Scottsdale, Arizona. Frites Street, a fry and potato chip wholesaler, has quickly cooked up a reputation among chefs across Arizona, and beyond, for their top-notch creations. From their shoestring cut, to their big boys, these Arizona-made munchies are finding their way into restaurants with major name recognition. The ¾ inch fry is just one cut Frites Street provides, but it is hands-down our favorite. Each size Frites Street offers, though, is a major step up from nearly every fry on the market. With a guy like Flip Isard at the helm, these humble fry producers are on their way to world domination.
Frites Street didn’t start out making fries to sell to restaurants. In fact, founder Flip Isard began the Frites Street journey as a food truck in Arizona’s Central Valley. Frites Street centered on making fries, normally a side dish, the belle of the ball. By handcrafting a variety of aiolis, sauces, and other toppings, Flip and his crew would transform a simple potato into a marvelous meal. So what did patrons think about the fry plates? They loved them. The scratch-made sauces and toppings were to die for, but the fries themselves provided customers a novel experience. That’s where the ¾ inch cut size comes into play. Most people have never had a fry as large as the Famous Frites Cut. A potato cut that large, prepared the right way, yields an unbeatable experience for fry fans. The outside of each fry remains as crunchy as a potato chip and can sustain a motherload of juicy toppings. The thickness of the fry also means that the center is as smooth and luscious as twice mashed potatoes. With the level of crunch and creaminess ever-present in the Famous Frites Cut, each bite is better than the last. To this day, we’ve never met a comparable fry.
So how did Frites Street graduate from a small food truck flying around the valley to a premier fry wholesaler? By complete accident. The transition from food truck to fry wholesaler began when a friend of Flip’s ordered some frites for his restaurant. The restaurateur’s order allowed Flip to make his biggest potato purchase yet. The increase in order size meant that Frite Street would have access to the highly coveted Kennebec Potato. Flip told us that when he experimented with his new Kennebecs, he had his first major “aha” moment. His fries somehow got even better. Flip thought the wholesale order would be a one-time thing. In fact, the fry maker had just changed his life forever. Once word started getting around about Flips wholesale fries, his orders grew like wildfire. In little time, Frites Street was making more fries for other chefs than for their own food truck sales. Chefs and restaurateurs now associate the name Frites Street with the best wholesale fries available. Currently, Frites Street has landed its fries beyond state lines entering key restaurant markets like Las Vegas and Chicago. Hopefully soon the entire country will serve up a little taste of Arizona.
With fries as delicious as Frites Street’s the question becomes: what is it that makes these fries so special? Well, the process is grueling work that lasts at least three days long. That’s a lot of work for food that is often overlooked. Frites Street is fairly open about their fry making processes. Once Flip and his crew prepare their special Kennebec potatoes, they give them a long brine. By using an exact brining solution and brine time, they ensure proper texture in the potatoes. Overlooking the brining step will create a fry that lacks both creamy and crisp textures. After the brine, they blanch the potatoes in oil, preparing them for their final cook. Finally, the fries are placed in a freezer at a very specific temperature to maximize the look, taste, and texture. In fact, the Arizona heat can sometimes cause quicker conversion of potato starches to sugars. When this happens, the fries will lose their pale color to darker shades of golden brown. This may seem like a minor inconvenience, but Frites Street is unwavering in their search for consistent fry perfection. So how come no one else is making fries like Frites Street? Well, simply put, it requires a phenomenal amount of manual labor and love. Particularly in the Arizona heat. The team at Frites Street somehow bear an excess of 100 degree heat with the added warmth of the fryers. To Frites Street it’s all in a day’s work. Without batting an eye, the whole team at Frites Street exhibits their passion for fries by simply throwing another batch of shoestrings into the oil.
Written by Luke Irvin
Photos Courtesy of Frites Street