“I will take my secret to the grave” assures the 3rd best chip maker in France
In the Nord Pas de Calais, the ranking of the best chip shops in France, we wait for it every new year in peace. In this area, at least, we are on conquered ground, and the foreign cook was not born in shtimi territory who will rise to the top step of the podium. Internally, however, the competition is fierce. If we often find the establishments themselves contesting the top 5 of the website “les-friteries.com”we also see new faces arriving.
On the 2022 podium, we find in first place, the Friterie hersinoise, in Hersin-Coupigny, in the Pas-de-Calais, in second, Chic Frites, in Dunkirk, in the North, and in third position, the Friterie du Parc, in Grenay, in Pas-de-Calais. Its manager, who calls himself Kim, received this news with joy, a first for his establishment. “It’s a bit like my work medal, a kind of recognition,” he says, adding, however, that his life “was not going to change”.
“I’ve been making fries for 26 years”
It must be said that Kim is not a six-week-old rabbit in the fry business. “I’m 51 and I’ve been making fries for twenty-six years,” he says. He started in Grenay, his hometown before succumbing to delusions of grandeur: “When I was 40, I wanted to show off and get a big deal in Liévin, but I didn’t like it,” recalls -he. In 2019, the master fritier had another whim: to open a chip shop in the South, near Cavaillon. He and his wife lasted two years before returning to Pas-de-Calais, overtaken by “homesickness”. “I took over my chip shop, I found my customers. Me what I like is the contact with people without killing myself with the task, “jokes the fifties.
However, the last few months have not been easy for the boss of the Friterie du Parc. Like many catering professionals, Kim has been affected by difficult economic conditions. “It was complicated, because we took good increases in the price of gas and oil,” he laments. Other products have also seen their prices soar: “Mayonnaise has gone from 11 to 22 euros for five litres, beef fat from 13 to 27 euros. Even my mystery ingredient has increased, but I won’t say what it is, I’ll take this secret to the grave,” the manager lists. Despite everything, Kim does not complain, “must not exaggerate, we make margins, he assures. I manage to pay myself a small salary and that is enough for me”. Trader above all, he still had the hollow nose by enriching his prices last February. An increase which remains reasonable since a cone of the third best fries in France, Kim sells it for 2.50 euros.