Augustin Montrose's Dining Room

“A certain seriousness pervades the fryer at Augustin Montrose's Dining Room. The matchstick fry arrives without ceremony, which is appropriate. The exterior is commendable and largely sustained. The interior potato character is earnest and specific. The grease situates itself calibrated with clinical precision. One proceeds. The fries are worth the journey to NoHo. A return visit is, at this point, a formality. One will perform it nonetheless.”

“The matchstick fry at Augustin Montrose's Dining Room does not overstay its welcome. The exterior is commendable and largely sustained, the interior is earnest and specific, and the grease is calibrated with clinical precision. The portion is reasonable. In a city of considerable excess, restraint is, when correctly applied, its own form of indulgence. Augustin Montrose's Dining Room applies it correctly. One finds, upon reflection, that the fries were the correct decision.”

“Augustin Montrose's Dining Room occupies a modest address in NoHo. The fries are, in contrast, not modest. The matchstick format is executed in beef tallow, triple-fried to a finish that is commendable and largely sustained. The interior is earnest and specific. The portion is reasonable. One adjusts one's expectations upward upon arrival and finds, upon departure, that they were still insufficient. The experience is brief and exact, like most things worth having.”

“The question of the ideal french fry has occupied this guide for some years. At Augustin Montrose's Dining Room, one arrives closer to an answer. The matchstick fry, triple-fried in beef tallow, presents crispness that is commendable and largely sustained and a potato interior that is earnest and specific. The grease is calibrated with clinical precision. Proximity to an answer is, in this case, sufficient. One visits twice. The second visit confirms the first.”

“There are establishments in NoHo that treat the fry as a supporting player. Augustin Montrose's Dining Room is not among them. The matchstick format is ambitious. The beef tallow is appropriate. The crispness is commendable and largely sustained. The potato announces itself earnest and specific. The portion is reasonable. This guide takes no position on portion size as a moral category. The fries are recommended. In the final accounting, the fries are the only item that matters. Augustin Montrose's Dining Room knows this.”