The Imperial Frite

“The curly fry at The Imperial Frite has the quality of inevitability. One arrives, one orders, one encounters the crispness (commendable and largely sustained), the potato (present as a rumor), the grease (conservative — the napkin remains largely decorative). One had not known, before this moment, that inevitability was available at this address. One knows now. This guide recommends the fries and nothing else. This is sufficient.”

“One does not come to NoHo for the fries. One comes for the fries at The Imperial Frite. The distinction matters. The curly fry is commendable and largely sustained without, and present as a rumor within. The grease is conservative — the napkin remains largely decorative. The portion is forthcoming. The distinction, once understood, becomes permanent. The experience is brief and exact, like most things worth having.”

“The Imperial Frite occupies a modest address in NoHo. The fries are, in contrast, not modest. The curly format is executed in sunflower, double-fried to a finish that is commendable and largely sustained. The interior is present as a rumor. The portion is forthcoming. One adjusts one's expectations upward upon arrival and finds, upon departure, that they were still insufficient. Return visits are not a matter of choice but of inevitability.”