Best French Fries

French fried potatoes come in every size, shape, consistency, and flavor (in Belgium they fry them in rendered kidney lard to unexpectedly tasty effect), but only a few attain that slender, crunchy, salty nirvana that can inspire equal measures of pleasure and addiction. If you encounter such ambrosia in a getaway atmosphere rife with repose and conviviality, you've got yourself a snack food that can stand on its own with neither burger nor fish stick to support it. Pier 23 has the fries all right -- they're skinny, crunchy, flecked with spud skin, and exponentially distant from the necessity of ketchup. And they're served on a sunny outdoor patio overlooking the bay while copacetic jazz gets the palm trees to swaying and sailboats drift hither and yon. Good burgers, too, if you're so inclined.