Trail of Potato Chips Helps Nab Thief

My buddy Ray hipped me to this one from the Huffington Post, recently and inexplicably a cornucopia of potato-related news here on French Fry Diary.

The suspect robbed a Subway of several salty snacks and inadvertently left a trail for police with them. The full story can be found here.

Thanks, Ray!

Random Tater Pic of the Day #56

Mr. Potato Head as Batman, the Dark Knight. Photo taken at All Things Fun!, South Jersey's premiere comics, gaming and toy store, located in West Berlin, New Jersey.

French Fry Diary 398: London Fish and Fries

We've talked recently about the McDonald's monopoly on the favorite fried food at this year's Summer Olympics in London, well, now here's a related item from down under, specifically Mickey D's in Australia and New Zealand.

The McDonald's restaurants down under are offering, for a limited time of course, Flavours of the Games. One of the 'Flavours' is London Fish & Fries - battered and fried fish strips with tartar sauce and McDonald's French fries. Shouldn't that be chips though?

The other offerings include the Beijing Chicken, the Sydney Stack, the Barcelona Omelette, the Atlanta Pork McRib, the Athens Apricot and Peach Pie, and the Paris Choc Delight. Hmmm... I wonder much a flight to Australia costs?

French Fry Diary 397: The Mashed Potato Vending Machine

My buddy Terry hipped me to this one. Believe it or not, this machine, at 7-Elevens in Singapore, dispenses mashed potatoes, and yes, gravy, into a cup.

Apparently for one dollar (two if you pair it with a Big Gulp), you can get a cup of mashed potatoes, followed by gravy on top. The machine is made by Maggi, an international branch of the Nestle family of companies. The gravy, or it might be 'special seasoning sauce,' is also made by Maggi. Sources say you can also get Barbecue mashed potatoes as well. What, no butter?

No word if these amazing vending machines will be coming to the United States any time soon.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #55

My Twitter friend Lucinda Lunacy hipped me to these Beef Fat French Fries from Alla Spina. They were served with ketchup and mayo. Thanks, Jen!

French Fry Diary 396: The Friar's Nook, Magic Kingdom

This place has haunted me since our last visit to Walt Disney World. I had gotten a few recommendations for the homemade potato chips at this window in the wall counter service place in the Magic Kingdom called The Friar's Nook. When I looked it up I saw they also had Teriyaki chicken nuggets and that sounded great to me so I figured I had to try it. Sadly the night we finally made it to the Magic Kingdom, it rained very hard and many places, The Friar's Nook included, had closed down for the night. I determined to get there next time.

Here's next time (this was in March). As you can see from the photo, they are closed. I asked a Cast Member who told me that The Friar's Nook is only open during the summer (and apparently when it's not raining as well). As I stood there in disbelief with sweat pouring off of me, it took a serious reality check for me to realize that in Florida, just because it's ninety-six degrees out, that doesn't mean it's summer. I raised my fists to sky and shouted "Friar's Nook!" William Shatner style. I will have you and your homemade potato chips someday, this I swear...

French Fry Diary 395: Chick-fil-A and Choice

Whether it's McDonald's keeping other restaurants off the Olympic grounds in London, or the Burger King employee standing in bins of lettuce, it hasn't been a very good couple of weeks for fast food restaurants. But probably the biggest and most controversial news is the one that nobody, or at least nobody sensible wants to talk about - the gay cow in the middle of the room - that Chick-fil-A is anti-gay.

Apologies ahead of time, folks, the fry guy is going to talk politics, but at least it is sort of topical to the favorite fried food.

The news about Chick-fil-A is better covered here. The statement that Chick-fil-A is anti-gay is just not entirely true. Chick-fil-A is pro-heterosexual marriage. And yes, it is a game of semantics. I am pro-choice for instance, but that doesn't mean I support abortion. I'm pro-choice because as a man that decision is not meant for me to make. This too is one of those things, sooo gray, and not black and white.

I have a hard time with this issue because I like Chick-fil-A a lot, and also because I have many gay friends. Some of whom, I should point out, work for Chick-fil-A, and even run franchises. We've talked about it, and while the company's policies and opinions are very strongly against gay marriage, they themselves have never experienced any problems from corporate. It is a conundrum.

Although I love Chick-fil-A Waffle Potato Fries, and a lot of their chicken menu as well, I will not be going there as often, if at all any more. Still I want to support my friends who work there, but not necessarily the folks who run the company. I guess I'm pro-choice, and anti-Chick-fil-A corporate.

Remember, you can always make your own waffle fries (maybe I'll post a recipe for them soon), and yes, you can even make your own chicken sandwich…



Hopefully in the future Chick-fil-A will change their official stance. After all, losing a major percentage of their customers, as well as the Muppets, is just not smart business.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #54

Apparently, in the game Portal 2, the villainess of the first game, GLaDOS, has had her personality trapped inside a potato battery, by the villain of this game, Wheatley. Here's an image of that potato battery trap.

French Fry Diary 394: Chef Mickey's, Disney's Contemporary Resort

When it comes to the infamous Character Breakfast at Walt Disney World, one place comes immediately to mind, and is the great granddaddy of the event, because they do it the best, and they do it right. I'm talking about Chef Mickey's in Disney's Contemporary Resort. You all know the Contemporary, it's the giant A-frame hotel near the Magic Kingdom with a Monorail station right inside the hotel. The characters that come right to your table there are the big ones - Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, and Chip and Dale, the A-team. And from what I can remember, the food was pretty good too.

As it was the nephew's first time at WDW, we just had to do the Character Breakfast at Chef Mickey's, no way around it. The way it works is you sit down and the characters (just the big five now, I guess having Chip and Dale was a little too much like having rats begging for scraps, I guess…) come to you. One at a time, Goofy, Mickey, and the whole gang come and visit you, with or without kids, and cavort. Cavorting includes dancing, pantomiming, posing for pictures, and even signing autographs. The nephew was thrilled, smiling like it was crazy town. He loved it. He even broke into dance himself spontaneously. Now that's some kind of happy.

The food was buffet style. Our waitress was Melinda, who handled drink orders, explained everything, kept the party going, and basically saw to our every need. If you could tear yourself away from the Mickster and friends, there was a generous selection of breakfasts, some Disney exclusive, at the buffet to choose from, and that also included some decadent desserts.

In the favorite fried food category there were more than a few choices, but before I get there, it should be noted that we had real bacon that morning as opposed to the shredded bacon pieces we were served at Sunshine Seasons over at The Land in EPCOT. In the potato department they had those planks of processed potato that look similar to McDonald's Hash Browns but are sooo not. The sign over them called them 'potato crisps,' which was kinda appropriate because they tasted like bland cardboard Pringles. I took one, had a bite, and didn't have any more, that bad.

Luckily there were other types. I also tried the creamy breakfast potatoes which were shredded hash browns baked in a creamy cheesy butter sauce and had a crispy top. Not bad, not my cup of tea, and besides they also had the tradition Disney diced and cubed breakfast potatoes. Lightly seasoned to a golden brown, soft and potato-ey and hot, and mixed in with chopped onions and peppers and fried. Disney breakfast perfection. On the menu a 'cheesy bacon potatoes' was listed but could not be found.

Café Mickey's is still one of the best breakfasts in WDW. All this and a show too, what a deal. And of course, the nephew had a terrific time. That made it all worth it right there.

McDonald's Goes Solo for Olympics?

There seems to be quite a French fry controversy going on in London of late for the Summer Olympic Games. Certain corporate sponsors, McDonald's among them, are requiring not only product dominance at the games but also sole occupancy.

On the grounds of the Olympics, if you want Burger King or Wendy's fries, you'll have a long walk and a long wait. McDonald's has product exclusivity. You can of course buy local favorites fish and chips however. It ain't London without fish and chips.

You can read the full story here, and special thanks to my friend Dom for hipping me to this fry-intensive new item.