John Owen was once Sports Editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (remember that?), and at the same time he did a column for the paper's Sunday Magazine called “The Intermediate Eater”. Each year he would provide a list of his favorite burgers, fries, etc: And every year it was Dick's that copped the prize for French fries....
I love Dick's fries—even the faux tartar sauce they serve with them—but they're a long way from the real thing: For that I direct you to Vleeminckx “Sausmeesters” at Voetboogstraat 33, fifty yards south of the Spui Square in Amsterdam.
It was the Flemish who perfected the “French Fry”. The secret is double-frying: The potatoes are fried once—not thoroughly—then removed from the grease; they're fried a second time upon being ordered. This makes the difference between a shoe-string limp fry such as Dick's and something that can be relished rather than scarfed.
The “Sausmeesters” comes from the 22 different dipping sauces available with the frites (all that's available from this window on the Amsterdam street): Choose from Garlic, Samurai, Picalily...among the mayonnaise and peanut sauce I always find over the patats in my cone.
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