- Today on Worth It, fries.
Why don't you tell us what we're gonna do today
in a drastic kind of way?
- (laughs) Today on Worth It, we're gonna be trying
three drastically awesome fries.
At three drastically different price points,
to find out which fries are the most worth it at its price.
- We're starting this episode here in Los Angeles.
And then later on, we're gonna be going international.
- Oh, I love it.
- We're going to--
- [Together] Montreal!
- 'Cause we're doing french fries,
but we didn't wanna go to France,
(laughs) so we just went to French Canada.
- Next best thing.
- That's how that works, right?
- My name is Steven and I like to be even.
The only thing that rhymes with Steven is even.
You know what, that sucks.
Unleavened bread.
(laughter)
Let's go eat some fries.
- That's you.
Unleavened Steven.
^(heavy guitar music)
^- Okay, I'm Steven Fretz.
^I am the executive chef and co-owner
^of Top Round Roast Beef.
- [Andrew] Tell us about Top Round.
- [Fritz] We do roast beef sandwiches,
hand-cut french fries, we make our own ice cream custard.
Our tag-line is "Chef-driven fast food."
- What does that mean for you here?
- We take the time to really focus on the technique.
And everything in this kitchen is made in this kitchen.
Our cheese whiz, our fries.
There's a human element to everything we do.
And that's the way that we want it.
Today, we're gonna be trying our hand-cut curly fries.
- [Andrew] How do you get to the curly fry shape?
I'm just realizing I've never seen
a potato turn into a curly fry.
- It is a machine that was made for us.
So, we're gonna put our potato in there.
So, we're in there nice and tight.
Do your hand like that and push hard.
(machine whirring)
There you go!
All of our frying in this kitchen is done in beef fat.
- [Andrew] Beef fat is the classic way of doing it.
- [Fritz] It all comes down to one thing, flavor.
I think, as a chef, there's a lot more flavor
in beef fat than in everyday oil.
We finish them with fine sea salt and serve 'em.
- [Steven] And I see on every table
there's a seasoning shake.
- [Fritz] Yeah, it's the same exact seasoning
that we have on the beef.
It's kind of our signature.
I recommend putting it on the fries.
- What is the goal texture for a really great french fry?
- [Fritz] You wanna crispy fry on the outside,
and then you want it to be fluffy in the middle.
That golden color is what you strive for.
People need to understand that this is a live vegetable.
Certain times of the year, you'll get a fry
that's more golden than a fry that's at the end
of the season that has more starch and will burn more.
You just have to be aware of the difference
in the potato and how it fries.
(cash register dinging)
- Oh man, what did you order for me Andrew?
^- You have a concrete and I have a strawberry shake.
Cheers, Steven.
- Cheers.
(upbeat disco music)
- [Andrew] Oh, yeah.
- Oh, that's really good.
You should try this, it's real nice and milky.
You know, like that whipped cream, that Oreo.
- Okay, we're not here for,
we're not doing an ice cream video today.
- Okay, okay, okay.
- We're doing--
- [Together] Fries.
- My new favorite thing on this show,
is when we just say the same thing at the same time.
- Ready?
Friendship.
- Potatoes!
- Okay.
Look at how fun that is!
It looks like a shag carpet, but with potato.
- Oh, nice.
- It kinda looks like a cursive lower case A.
- Cheers.
- Incredible.
- It's awesome.
It's surprisingly--
- Fluffy!
- Yes!
I was gonna say soft, but fluffy is the right word.
- (laughs) Adam almost lunged in to eat my fry.
You can have it.
Should we try a little shake on it?
- Yes.
I don't know if it's because I know that
it's flavored in beef fat, but it tastes meatier.
Ooh, okay.
- Delicious.
Would it be obscene to have a fry in some ice cream?
Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh.
- Oh no, don't lose it!
- That's really, very delicious.
Strawberry ice cream on a beefy potato?
Highly recommended.
- I was recently visiting my filmmaking friend,
and he was like, "To be ahead of the curve,
do what others won't."
And that is what they're doing in here with curly fries.
They're getting fresh potatoes from Idaho,
cooking it in beef fat--
- I like the way you say potato.
- Potato?
- (laughs) Yeah.
- How do you say it?
- Potato.
- Say potato.
No, you're just saying it wrong.
Potato.
You have to enunciate.
- You sound like in the Lord of the Rings.
Potatoes!
- (laughs) Can we try some of the roast beef?
(upbeat funk music)
- You wanna just go bite for bite on this?
- Go for it.
- I'm sad we weren't eating this along with the fries.
This is soft and delicious, this is crispy and delicious.
This is smooth and delicious.
- That is so...
- Oh yeah, let me have that back.
- Yo, throw some of that on there, here.
Boom roasted.
- You just, yeah, roast beef.
- To Montreal.
Which we're going to next.
- Little old Canada.
- We've traveled here because we've been
enticed by a certain dish that we're gonna
get to later in this episode.
But, before we get there--
- You might recall when we had our bagel episode,
we learned a little factoid about bagels in Canada.
^- In Montreal, everything bagels
^are called all dressed bagels.
- So, we decided to treat ourselves to a little
all dress action of our own.
- [Steven] Oh, yeah.
- I'll give one to this guy, I'll take one for myself.
(humming)
(humming "The Star-Spangled Banner")
Were you just singing the anthem?
(laughter)
Where are we off to now?
- A little restaurant called LOV.
- LOV?
We're gonna try some vegan food.
We had non-vegan french fries first.
The last place is definitely not gonna be vegan at all.
But, this place we're doing kimchi fries.
Let's try it.
- Ooh!
^(relaxed jazz music)
^- I'm Stéphanie Audet, I'm the chef here
^at LOV restaurant in Montreal.
- What kind of restaurant is LOV?
- We're specialized in botanical cuisine.
So, we're serving vegetarian and vegan food.
Today, I'm gonna make the kimchi fries,
the famous kimchi fries.
- Was that your idea, first of all?
- Yeah!
- Okay, and then where did it come from?
- I really love fermented foods in general.
It's really good for your gut, it's good for your system.
All the vegetables from the kimchis are grown in Québec.
It's all organic and it's fermented here.
I really wanted to place kimchi on the menu.
I didn't want to put it somewhere
that it will scare customers so much.
So with the fries I was like,
everybody buys fries, it's super comfortable.
And I think our clientele is a little bit
(speaking in a foreign language).
Like everybody, so it's probably very new to them.
- What was that expression you used?
^(speaking in a foreign language)
- Mister, madame, everybody.
- Oh.
- (laughs) It sounds weird!
- Like Joe Schmo, Joe Schmo, anybody.
- [Stéphanie] And then we add the kimchi to it.
After that, we make the sesame mayo.
I thicken our house-made soy milk aioli
with a blend, in the Vitamix, of miso,
sriracha, sugar, garlic, rice vinegar, sesame oil.
Then we just squeeze it on top of the fried kimchi,
and then it's ready to eat.
- [Steven] What makes fries the perfect
medium for that kimchi?
- Having this umami flavor to the fermented foods,
it's a good compliment.
You wanna taste?
- Yeah. (laughs)
- Definitely.
- [Stéphanie] Sounds good, huh?
(cash register dinging)
- Such a cute cutting board.
It's like a ping-pong paddle.
(clicking tongue)
You make a awesome ping-pong sound.
- I love how every time we come to a restaurant,
we immediately gravitate towards something
that the restaurant does not care about whatsoever.
- But, they do care about this
cucumber black pepper kombucha.
- Cucumber black pepper kombucha.
- That's what I'm talking about.
- Ooh.
Cucumber kombucha tastes like delicious pickle brine.
- Yeah, if pickle brine tasted good.
Sorry for the pickle brine lovers out there.
- Okay, sorry, pickle brine does taste good.
But, this is like a toned down,
beverage version of pickle brine.
- Alright, let's dig in.
- Do you wanna go fry first?
- Fry first, always fry first.
Cheers.
- Delicious fried potato.
- I got a little bit of mayo on mine.
- I got a little bit of mayo on mine.
A little preview for the main feature here.
- Oh, yeah.
- Now, I'm gonna go for a fork full.
'Cause I wanna get all these flavors in my mouth at once.
Oh yeah, hold on.
I'm making a mess.
- [Steven] My turn, my turn.
- [Andrew] Kim-cheers.
Hell yeah, I could crush this for sure.
- This is not what you would think is vegan, first of all.
- 'Cause usually when I'm eating kimchi,
it's with delicious meats.
- Yeah, this mayo, aioli, sesame thing,
it feels like I'm eating something very meaty.
And the potatoes are perfect vessels.
- For all the kimchi non-eaters, non-enjoyers out there.
You just need to understand that it is a pairing
for delicious, hot, savory food.
- Yes.
- A hot, crisp french fry?
Kimchi is perfect with that.
- I don't feel like crap after eating these.
Which is like, that's hard to say with fries.
- And I've had cheese fries that taste less creamy
and delicious than these kimchi fries do.
- I thought that was cheese at the beginning.
Hey chef, how do you say that saying again?
^(speaking in a foreign language)
- Who did it better?
^No!
- Let the record show, the chef pointed at me.
- Every time we do this in any language, he beats me.
I don't understand.
(speaking in a foreign language)
Okay, that one sounded very good.
You sound like you're from Ratatouille.
(laughter)
(upbeat piano music)
(cash register dinging)
Fry fact!
^Thomas Jefferson is actually credited for bringing
^the french fry to the states.
^- Really?
^He was serving as the American Minister
^to France in the 1780s.
^And he was like, "This is delicious, let's bring that over."
He referred to them, I can't speak French, but
(speaking in a foreign language).
- We're just gonna bleep that out.
And we'll get a actual French speaking person.
Yes!
(woman speaking in a foreign language)
^Or potatoes deep fried while raw in small cuttings.
^- Just adding up to his list of accolades.
^Big on independence, big on writing, big on declaring.
^- He brought the french fry over and we thank you, sir.
So you may be wondering, how did we come up
with $100 dollar french fries?
Well, we're getting 15 pounds of poutine.
- More like Munch-real.
'Cause we're munching.
- Mm, not your best work.
- Sorry.
- You ready?
- Yeah.
I mean, not at all, but sure!
(soft jazz music)
^- Hi, I'm Costa, co-owner of Poutineville in Montreal.
^We prepared a nice meal for you today,
^it's called the Heart Attack.
(laughter)
- A nice meal called the Heart Attack.
- It's what we're known for.
We get groups of two that come and challenge themselves
to who can eat the most out of the Heart Attack.
Seven years that we been open, only one man has done it.
- One man?
- And it took him 22 minutes to do it.
- That is unbelievable.
So tell us about Poutineville,
what kind of establishment is this?
- Instead of us creating our own menu.
We let the clients create their own poutines.
We have endless amount of toppings.
Whether you wanna be vegan, whether you want a meat lovers.
We focus on great ingredients, fresh product,
and we let the customers get very creative.
- What is poutine?
- Oh, wow.
Poutine is funky fast food with a twist.
Fries loaded with lots of cheese and lots of gravy.
What you put on top, is what makes you
different from everybody else.
- Growing up, you ate poutine a lot?
- That's where Poutineville actually started.
Whatever my mom made for dinner, the next day was a poutine.
- [Andrew and Steven] Oh.
- Whether it was lamb, spaghetti, beef.
It turned out to a poutine of the week.
The Heart Attack is a monster poutine.
It's the biggest one in Montreal.
10 vegetables, chicken, bacon,
ground beef, hot dogs, sausages, steak.
A traditional poutine is made with a cheddar curd,
but we infuse it with mozzarella so we can get
a little bit more of the stringy effect.
So, when you pull the cheese out it's delicious.
It's a double layer poutine.
What we do, is we put a layer of potato,
half the ingredients, and a layer of cheese,
and then we build another poutine on top of that one,
which becomes a monstrosity, and we cover it
with gravy at the end.
And as you can see, shortly, it's fantastic.
- [Andrew] Is this a fork and knife type of situation?
- [Costa] It's a fork and knife situation.
You should have a bib at the same time,
because it can become a little bit messy.
- Wrong clothing for this day.
- [Costa] Wrong color for poutine.
(cash register dinging)
^- Can we take a second to just
^appreciate the majesty of this?
This is 15 pounds.
- When I was born, I was 10 pounds,
and I thought that that was big.
- That is big.
- I'm sorry, Mom.
- That is big for a baby.
- I'm very sorry.
- Cheers, Steven.
- Let it commence!
- Potatoey delicious.
- Solid.
That fry is exactly what I wanted in these fries.
A good base, starchy but ready
to just soak in the other juices.
I'm gonna roll up my sleeves.
This is definitely a sleeve rolling dish.
May the best competitor win.
(upbeat salsa music)
- Up until now, I wasn't convinced
that gravy belonged on fries.
- Oh, gravy belongs on everything.
What are you talking about?
I have three different meats in one go.
- You don't even have a fry on your fork.
- Don't need it.
- Look at this thing.
I feel like a giant that's just eating the earth.
- I feel like a mouse trying to eat human food.
- I think that's just how our personal outlooks on life are.
- (laughs) You're digging quite a hole there.
- I've reached the second layer of cheese.
It's kind of like how you can tell
how old a fossil is based on what other
materials have laid on top of it.
There's no way a human ate this in 22 minutes.
- [Steven] There's footage!
I watched it just now.
- So, I'm gonna make the claim that he's not human.
We need to turn this into an Unsolved episode.
- Oh. (singing)
Wait, what is their music?
- Wah!
(laughter)
A man claimed to have eaten 15 pounds of poutine,
but how could he do it in 22 minutes?
- Ghosts!
- And then Shane goes, "Well, don't say he's an alien!"
- What's happening?
- I think we got the meat delirium.
You make a dent and then it caves in on itself.
So, do you like poutine?
- I'm really loving this, yeah.
The great thing about it is, you never get bored.
You can just make your own poutine in this poutine.
Right now, I'm feeling really meaty.
But then later I'm like, "Ah, too much bacon."
So, I go more fries.
Whatever you wanna do, you can just assemble that.
Literally, in this massive plate of poutine.
- I think you're winning right now.
- [Steven] Oh, yeah.
So, if you actually wanted to finish this,
how many people would you bring?
17 people?
- I don't know I can't count.
- Oh, yeah, we've barely touched it.
Oh, do I see the bottom yet?
No.
(laughter)
- It's been 20 minutes.
In the time that we finished two small dents of food,
a man came in and ate the entire thing.
- That seems impossible for a human.
- I wanna just take a nap.
Oh, man.
- Can I feed you one final bite?
- No, I can't.
- Why not?
- Please put the curds away.
- That's why it's called poutine, you put in.
(laughter)
(dark slow electronic music)
(upbeat funk music)
- I'm just trying to work off the fries, okay, I just--
- You can try, but you won't.
Those are now part of your body permanently.
- No!
Which fry at which price point was most worth it to you?
^- Those fries at Poutineville could feed an army.
^- That was insane value.
15 pounds, $100.
- If I was in high school and on the football team,
that is the food that I would wanna eat.
But, my Worth It winner goes to Top Round.
The fact that you got a little curly action on that?
That's just fun.
Fries are about fun, and the curly fry
is the funnest fry of them all.
- My Worth It winner goes to the kimchi fries at LOV.
It was just delicious.
I felt great after I ate them.
^- Adam, what's your Worth It winner?
So, that ends things for us here in Montreal.
It was delightful trip.
- [Steven] You know who needs to go to Montreal?
(speaking in a foreign language)
Ah, shoot.
(Andrew speaking in a foreign language)
(Steven speaking in a foreign language)
- [Andrew] You only said that, because I said it first.
So edit that, where I don't say it.
- [Stephen] No, no!
- He couldn't remember that.
He also couldn't remember how to say it either.
Hey, check out our Instagram, it's new.
It's @buzzfeedworthit.
- See you guys there.
Oh, yes!
