Dutch gourmet fries concept Frites Atelier is fond of throwing around words like “luxury”, “premium”, and, er, “gourmet”, which might seem a bit disingenuous – we're talking about fries here, after all. Chips. Ye olde tater twigs. But with a three Michelin-starred chef behind the decks, we're definitely ready to jump on board.
After closing his three Michelin-starred restaurant Oud Sluis more than a decade ago, one of the projects chef Sergio Herman turned his perfectionist focus to were fries. He spent years not just developing the best frying technique, but also sourcing the perfect potato, exploring the ideal sauces – in short, applying his penchant for painstaking attention to detail in order to make fries that will blow your socks off. Considering his Frites Atelier brand has taken off in both the Netherlands and Belgium, countries whose inhabitants are famously particular about fries, it seems the effort was worth it.
Frites Atelier is now gearing up for launch in another chip-obsessed country, with its debut UK location in Soho coming soon. In addition to the signature fries, loaded with toppings like parmesan & basil or Flemish beef stew and accompanied by house-made sauces, patrons can expect other fried goodies like croquettes as well. Exact launch details are still TBD, but we'll be sure to keep you posted – we're “Friday night after the club” levels of excited for this chippy.