Watch: French Fries and Ice Cream At El Ideas
By Anthony Todd in Food on Nov 19, 2012 5:00PM
During the Chicago Food Film Fest, guests eat what they see on screen. At a special dinner at El Ideas last night, organizers took that concept one step further—in addition to eating the dish on screen, guests got to eat it at the restaurant where it was invented. Filmmakers Sam Jorden and Mikey Litchfield of Potluck Creative won the Best Filmmakers award at the festival for their short film French Fries and Ice Cream and brought it back to El Ideas for one night. We were there to watch.
The dish, one of the longest-running and most popular at El Ideas, was inspired by Chef Phillip Foss's visits to McDonald's with his young daughters. Like many kids, they liked dipping their french fries in ice cream. Being an amazing chef, his first thought was: We can do this even better in the restaurant.
Foss created a dish where vanilla ice cream is piped into a tube of fried potato, then served alongside a bowl of creamy, potato leek soup. Guests combine the two and experience the same interplay of sweet and salty, hot and cold, that you get from the fast food treat.
Check out all the dishes (including fries and ice cream) from the dinner in the gallery. The dinner was also a celebration of the upcoming Chicago launch of Kitchit, a service that connects chefs with diners for parties, events and other unique experiences.
Jorden and Litchfield filmed the entire process over two days and then compressed it into this two and a half minute film. You will definitely want to try the dish once you watch it. Will the dish come back on the menu? According to Foss, it'll be back for his daughter's birthdays and Father's day. Make your reservations now.