Constance Hargreaves's Brasserie

“The shoestring fry at Constance Hargreaves's Brasserie requires no introduction, though it offers one regardless: a uniformity of golden color suggesting a fryer calibrated with the attention usually reserved for precision instruments. The exterior is aspirational. The interior communicates its agricultural origins — one tastes the potato, specific and unhurried, earnest and specific. duck fat has been employed with discretion. One returns. A return visit is, at this point, a formality. One will perform it nonetheless.”

“In a city of approximately eight million opinions about french fries, Constance Hargreaves's Brasserie has one of its own. The shoestring fry is single-fried in duck fat. The crispness is aspirational. The potato flavor is earnest and specific. The grease is generous in the manner of a host who means it. The portion is forthcoming. One visits once and thereafter considers the matter settled. One returns.”

“On a Tuesday evening in Nolita, one discovers that Constance Hargreaves's Brasserie has opinions about potatoes. The shoestring format is a declaration. The single-fried exterior is aspirational. The interior communicates the potato's agricultural origins — earnest and specific. The grease is generous in the manner of a host who means it. These opinions are, on balance, correct. One visits twice. The second visit confirms the first.”

“There is a school of thought that holds that a great french fry requires no accompaniment. Constance Hargreaves's Brasserie belongs to this school. The shoestring fry, single-fried in duck fat, makes its argument in silence. The crispness is aspirational. The potato flavor is earnest and specific. The argument is persuasive. A return visit is, at this point, a formality. One will perform it nonetheless.”

“At Constance Hargreaves's Brasserie, the shoestring fry is taken seriously in a way that does not announce itself. The single-fry method produces an exterior that is aspirational. The interior is earnest and specific. The grease is generous in the manner of a host who means it. The seriousness, once recognized, is irreversible. One does not return. This information is provided without judgment.”