Foobooz Potato Week

Potato Week Q&A: Philly’s Best French Fry Dipping Sauces

Posted by Jason Sheehan on July 13th, 2012

So remember yesterday when we put out our official Potato Week list of the best french fry dipping sauces in Philly? Yeah, that was fun. But, apparently, it also stirred a little bit of debate among Philadelphia’s fry-dipping cognoscenti. So we thought it might be nice if we took a moment to answer some of the questions posed in the comments section about our methods, taste, math skills and general level of awesomeness.

Interrogation right this way…

Potato Week: The Best Fries In Philadelphia

Posted by Jason Sheehan on July 13th, 2012

Yay, Potato Week! As our starchy celebrations draw to a close, we have one more big list for you–the results of our research into the realm of that most American(ish) of potato presentations, the french fry.

We had 82 different restaurants under consideration for this list–everything from crowd favorites like Village Whiskey and Hot Diggity to lesser-known (but know less loved) contenders like the long-gone crab fries at Sidecar Bar, the lovely frites at Grace Tavern or those at Eulogy (which had a fiercely committed fan base). Putting our waistlines and cholesterol levels on the line for you, we waded through the possibilities and winnowed everything down to a final list of 10: The best french fries of any variety, in any form, that you’re going to find anywhere in Philadelphia.

Hey, someone’s got to do it, right? This stuff is important. And while we here at Foobooz World HQ are absolutely sure that there isn’t one of you out there who will agree with every inclusion on the list (hell, we don’t even completely agree), there is sure to be something on here for everyone.

Happy Potato Week everyone. And now, on to the list…

Philadelphia’s Best French Fries

Vegan Poutine Today at Blackbird Pizzeria

Posted by Foobooz on July 13th, 2012

In honor of National French Fry Day, vegan Blackbird Pizzeria is doing its interpretation on poutine. fries with vegan cheese and gravy will be offered today for $5.

Potato Week [f8b8z]

Potato Week: Best French Fry Dipping Sauces in Philly

Posted by Jason Sheehan on July 12th, 2012

The above photo is what I would consider the semi-final round in our quest for the best french fry dipping sauce in Philly. For you speculators in the crowd, it is 24 different sauces from 10 different restaurants, all collected this afternoon by the intrepid support staff at Foobooz World HQ and all eaten in one sitting by our panel of experts. Our original list consisted of 19 restaurants, which was cut down to 10 by various editors calling certain entries “stupid,” “gross,” or “totally not worth the drive to Manayunk,”

To keep things even and honest, we used the shoestring fries from Continental Midtown as our sauce delivery vehicles (the argument being that shoestrings lend as little of their own flavor as possible to the dipping sauce, and yet still bring some sense of potato starch, fryer oil and salt), and in order to make the list of the best, a sauce’s qualities of awesomeness had to be unanimously agreed upon by all three of our judges. After that, we decided final Top 5 rankings with parliamentary debate, some wheedling, a little horse-trading and, finally, monkey knife fights.

So who has the best dipping sauce in Philly?

Read on…

Potato Week: Where We’re At

Posted by Jason Sheehan on July 11th, 2012

So here we are–three days into Foobooz Potato Week, and what do we have to show for it?

Plenty. Who has the best poutine in town? We’ve told you. Same with the best places to score the best sweet potato fries. Speaking of sweet potatoes, we’ve discussed whether or not they even qualify as potatoes (culinarily, not taxonomically) and the vote came out overwhelmingly (80-20) in favor of allowing the sweet potato into the pantheon of potato-y greatness, and then told you all the best places to eat sweet potatoes (with a special mention for the sweet potato pâté with grain mustard, jerk cashews and brown bread at Vedge which, seriously, might be one of the single best vegetable dishes I have ever eaten).

Want to know where to get crab fries with actual crab on them? We let you know. What about somewhere to get potato pizza? Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. We’ve talked about the crab, corn and potato hash at Devil’s Alley, the Disco Fries at Pub & Kitchen, the guinnea hen leg bolognese over fries at Alla Spina and, really, we’re just getting started. There’s two days left in Potato Week, all counting down to Friday’s list of the Best French Fries in Philadelphia, so we’ve only just begun.

Stay hungry, my friends.

All Foobooz Potato Week Coverage [Foobooz]

Six-Pack: Poutine in Philadelphia

Posted by Aubrey Nagle on July 11th, 2012

Ah, poutine, arguably the best Canadian import prior to Ryan Gosling, and even more delicious. This Montrealean dish usually consists of French fries, brown gravy, and cheese curds. Due to its popularity, poutine has trickled down into the good old USA and some Philadelphia restaurants have caught on. These six places serve it up right.

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Six Pack: Meat on Fries

Posted by Foobooz on July 10th, 2012

One of the most wonderful food trends of the past few years has been the genius idea of adding meat to French fries. Here are six of our favorite fry dishes topped with meat.

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Six Pack: Non-Fried Potato Greatness

Posted by Aubrey Nagle on July 10th, 2012

Though fries, poutine, and latkes have their places in the hearts of potato-lovers everywhere there are ways to make delicious spuds without frying them up in oil. As part of Foobooz Potato Week it is our duty to show you the best of all potato dishes, no matter how they are prepared. So without further introduction, six awesome potato dishes without a fry in sight.

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