With russets hand-fried in canola oil; chicken gravy made in-house; cheese curds from white Wisconsin cheddar; housemade pastrami, cubed and briefly dunked in the deep fryer; and parsley, which, aside from being pretty, helps cut the richness. Photograph by Greg DuPree.
With russets hand-cut and fried in duck fat; chicken gravy made with poultry from North Carolina’s Ashley Farms; cheese curds from a byproduct formed after milk solids separate from the whey (mozzarella curds like these are extra melty); and optional add-ons of roast chicken, pork, or at breakfast, a fried egg. Photograph by Greg DuPree.
Poutine—originally a Quebecois snack of fries topped with gravy, cheese curds, and sometimes other toppings—is slang for “mess” in Canadian French. The dish drifted down South and onto Atlanta menus a few years back, but it wasn’t until this year that two stellar versions (with top-notch ingredients that make all the difference) became available locally. Both have become my go-to guilty pleasure: I can bury my face in these crispy-gooey-saucy jumbles and not look up until every sliver of spud is down the hatch. Toggle photos using the arrows on either side.
