When I first started the @allison_eatz Instagram page, I wasn’t sure what kind of foods would be featured on it or if I even went out to eat enough to have pictures to keep the page updated. So far, everything seems to be going well, giving me the idea that it was time to start an official “Allison Eats” blog! For my first official blog post, I will be sharing pictures and stories of a food that is a staple in my diet, FRENCH FRIES!! Being such an avid French fry enthusiast, this will most likely not be the only time I write about this topic.
I go to school just north of Providence, Rhode Island and, recently, a new restaurant opened up in the city dedicated to French fries. Yes, you read that right. Friskie Fries*, in Providence, has a whole, entire menu where the main component of all their dishes is French fries. You have the option of getting your fries plain, with your choice of sauces on the side, or you can choose 1 of 10 ways to have them “dressed”. Friskie Fries also features milkshakes on their menu, a perfect drink to dip some French fries in! You can choose between vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry, with whipped cream or without, and to top it all off, they sprinkle edible glitter on top of the whipped cream! ~amazing~
On my first visit to Friskie Fries, I got the “Potato Head”, which is the French fries, obviously, topped with bacon pieces, green onions, sour cream, and shredded cheddar cheese. Basically a baked potato, but with the potato in French fry form instead. It was amazing, a true life changing eating experience.
For fall semester of 2017, I studied abroad in Bilbao, Spain. In Bilbao, as well as in many of the other cities I visited, I found many delicious restaurants that had French fries. My favorite of these places was in Amsterdam, called Mannekenpis. I am very picky with how my French fries are cut, so when I saw that Mannekenpis had fries that were cut thicker than I would normally like, I was hesitant to spend my money on them. In the end, I noticed all the people in line and saw how much the people around me were enjoying theirs, I decided I might as well try them because you only regret the French fries you don’t eat. These French fries were perfectly crispy on the outside and beautifully fluffy on the inside. A perfect French fry. They had an array of sauces to choose from, and I tried sweet chili sauce for the first time and fell in love with that. These two things together (the fries and the sweet chili sauce) made this one of my favorite eating experiences while abroad.
The city of Bilbao had its own hidden French fry palace too. In Casco Viejo, the old part of the city with small buildings, there was a tiny, hole in the wall restaurant dedicated to French fries, Las Fritas. Immediately, I pulled out my phone and marked the location on my maps, so that I could come back to it on another day. Like the place in Amsterdam, this place had the larger fries that I am normally weary about eating but, they too were excellent. Not as perfect of a French fry as the ones in Amsterdam but, very close. Las Fritas had a variety of sauces (sadly no sweet chili sauce). Spain has this potato dish called patatas bravas, which is roasted potatoes topped with a garlic aioli and a slightly spicy brava sauce. At Las Fritas, they had both the garlic aioli and the brava sauce, so I got both of them together and made my own version of patatas bravas with French fries.
*Friskie Fries also has a location in Johnston, Rhode Island. For more information about this wonderful establishment, visit their Instagram page: @friskiefries or www.friskiefries.com