PrintAre Frozen French Fries My White Whale?
Shake Shack french fries. Photograph by Robyn Lee
Last Friday AHT founder Adam Kuban couldn't take it any more. He heard me complaining about the Shake Shack's frozen French fries once too often. "Ed," he said with a wry smile on his face. "Frozen french fries are your white whale." What exactly was he saying?
Well, the well-read Mr. Kuban was referring to the white whale Moby Dick. Basically, he was telling me that I was obsessed with frozen french fries the way Captain Ahab was obsessed with Moby Dick in Herman Melville's novel of the same name.
Why did Adam make that pronouncement? Is he right?
I had just about made peace with the Shake Shack's frozen French fries when I ran into a Shake Shack publicist at a shoe store. Somehow I steered the conversation to the Shake Shack frozen french fries when she responded, "You know, Ed, I hear that Balthazar (an insanely busy New York restaurant that makes some of the best French fries anywhere) uses frozen French fries."
I had heard that lame excuse one too many times. I spoke to Balthazar co-chef and partner Lee Hansen:
"We only use fresh French fries at our restaurants. It's a lot of work, believe me. Because we sell a lot of French fries. At Pastis (Balthazar's sister restaurant) we go through a thousand pounds of potatoes every day. At Balthazar we go through fifty boxes, or 600 pounds a day. We have one guy in the Pastis kitchen who just peels potatoes. It would be a helluva lot easier on us if we did use frozen French fries. But we are just not going to go there."
Take that, Shake Shackers. Ahab may never have gotten Moby Dick, but he never stopped trying. So, Mr. Kuban, you may be right. French fries might be my white whale. But as long as the Shake Shack serves frozen French fries, my cause will remain noble and just.
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7 Comments:
Amen!
Shake Shack could open dozens more locations and live well off the burgers and shakes (which are phenomenal), but still fall short of the west coast In and Out burgers based solely on the fries...
BirdDoggie at 1:42PM on 11/10/08
I really don't get the hate. Sure, fresh fries are great and, ideally, better but I've never had a bad batch of fries at Shake Shack. They've always been crispy and perfect when I've had them. It's part of the simplicity of Shake Shack anyway.
nickrk at 2:45PM on 11/10/08
Many of the small "mom and pop" type hot dog joints that I visit make their own fresh cut fries. And they are superior to any frozen fries I've had. I can't see why the Shake Shack refuses to take that step. They go through the trouble of "importing" ingredients from Chicago for their hot dogs and go through a somewhat involved process to make their burgers. It may take a little more effort to make fresh fries, but it's worth it.
hotdoglover at 7:13PM on 11/10/08
stay your course ahab
but to be honest, i've always felt your whale was canned mushrooms on pizza
no?
norman at 12:41AM on 11/11/08
Can someone have two white whales? Captain Ahab only had one, right?
If a person can have two white whales, Norman, mine would be frozen French fries AND canned mushrooms.
Ed Levine at 6:29AM on 11/11/08
Aw, give them a break. The tiny shake shack kitchen probably can't handle the logistics of fresh french fries.
Thomasj at 3:19PM on 11/12/08
After a long wait, I tried my first set of Shake Shack fries last night, and having read about your frozen fry frustrations, I was ready to not like them.
Except... I did like them. A lot. And I'm not even a french fry person!! I can't imagine how much better they'd be if they were fresh, but for now, I'm actually okay with the frozen ones. It feels wrong saying it, but it's true.
unintendedbliss at 4:49PM on 11/12/08