We go through about 2 pallets of potatoes a week. They are one of the hardest things for us to source. Most growing seasons for specific potatoes are short, so we’re always looking to see what’s coming out of the ground next. When we source a potato we’re looking for a potato that fries up crispy, has good flavor, and doesn’t get too dark. Many variables affect this: potato variety, starch and sugar content and also the way the potatoes are stored.
The way we fry them up is unusual too. Most recipes will tell you that you absolutely have to fry potatoes twice. We fry once. We cut them to order, soak them in cold water for 10 minutes, and fry them once at 375 degrees for 4-6 minutes.
We had some trouble last month finding a good potato in July that fries up the way we liked (we even took fries off the menu for a few days) and we finally found a source for Kennebec potatoes coming from P.E.I. These potatoes are hard to stock consistently. Chef potatoes (also known as Russet) are starting to come in and we fried up a test batch this morning. I think they’re great. You’ll see them appearing at different locations over the next two days.