World’s most expensive fries on sale at New York restaurant for $200

A New York City restaurant is serving a plate of fries for $200 (£144), making them the most expensive portion of fried potato in the world.

Serendipty3, a cosy eatery in the Midtown East neighbourhood of the city, has set a new Guinness World Record with its “Crème de la Crème Pommes Frites”.

The fries are made with copious amounts of truffle butter, truffle shavings and edible gold, and are served on a crystal plate.

It is not the first world record set by the restaurant, which is also home to the most expensive burger, sold at $295 (£213) apiece and the priciest ice cream sundae, which sells for $1000 (£721).

The fries, which were granted the record-topping status on 12 July, start out as Chipperbec potatoes – a variety of US-grown white potato dubbed the “world’s greatest for frying”.

Once cut into shape, the potatoes are first blanched in Dom Perignon Champagne, which has a starting price of around $200, and then in French champagne vinegar. This process provides a “sweet decadence and acid” upon the first bite, the restaurant says.

Then, the fries are cooked three times in goose fat from the southwest of France, to give the outer shell a “crispy, crunchy texture”.

While the potatoes are being prepared and fried, another chef across the kitchen prepares a cheese sauce to accompany the dish. This is made by melting plenty of truffle butter in a pan, adding flour, 100 per cent grass-fed cream from Jersey cows, and cubes of gruyere truffled Swiss raclette.

“Truffle is the main star here,” corporate executive chef Frederick Schoen-Kiewert told Reuters.

The fries are presented on a crystal Baccarat plate and finished with shavings of truffle, pecorino cheese from the Crete Senesi in Tuscany, Italy, and 23k edible gold dust.

Under the Guinness World Records guidelines, the fries must be available to purchase to the public and must be bought by an unbiased customer to qualify for the title.

The title was granted earlier this month when the first plate was ordered by a customer. Since then, their popularity has soared and there is now an eight-to-10 week wait for the fries.

Like many New York City restaurants, Serendipty3 had been closed for much of the pandemic and reopened at the beginning of July.

“It’s been a rough year and a half for everyone, and we need to have some fun now,” creative director and chef Joe Calderone said.

“We are so honoured to be recognized by Guinness World Records for our creation of the world’s most expensive French fries, the Creme de la Creme Pommes Frites, and look forward to creating even more over-the-top recipes in the future,” he said.