Dearfolk,
Can't say that I'm a huge lover of fries. Most of 'em I find to be humdrum; I'd rather obtain my excess calories from a more... well... interesting source.
Of all I've ever had, though, I'd have to say that the ones at The Grill at 171 College Avenue here in Athens are among the very best. Served with feta dressing on the side, their fries were good enough to merit a mention in a Playboy Magazine "great college town food" article awhile back.
The other end of the scale would have to be the precut ones that end up tasting more like cellulose than potato. Perhaps they're attempting to cook them for beetles instead of humans... who knows?
I have to concur that fries should ideally be cooked in lard and nothing else. I was once in a place in Iowa that served burgers two ways: 1) with fries, or 2) there's the door. Those fries were unapologetically cooked in 100% pure Iowa lard. I didn't have a burger, but the waitress told me that their fries were the best she'd ever tasted.
Similarly, a friend from the Lancaster area of Pennsylvania tells me that the best potato chips, bar none, are Diefenbach's from Womelsdorf, PA. Of course they're cooked in lard! (I have yet to sample 'em, but I think I know what to expect: melt-in-my-mouth perfection!)
Until I lose some weight, though, all of this is nothing but hyperbole. C'est dommage, and all that pommes-de-terre stuff.
Unfriedly, Ort. Carlton in Krinkle-Kut Athens, Georgia.