Grant Crilly is the Executive Director and cofounder of ChefSteps. Grant is a classically trained chef and, prior to ChefSteps, he worked on the award-winning cookbook series Modernist Cuisine and cooked at various restaurants, including L’Astrance in Paris, Busaba in Mumbai, and Mistral Kitchen in Seattle.

Grant Crilly

Steak frites is a bistro classic: seared steak with a deeply browned crust and medium-rare (or “bleu”) interior, a towering pile of crispy golden fries, often accompanied by an aromatic sauce that’s just as delicious when doused over the meat as it is when used as a dipper for the spuds. The most iconic steak frites has to be served at <a href="https://www.relaisentrecote.fr/?page_id=205&lang=en_GB">Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecôte</a>, a Parisian institution that has gone worldwide. They don’t have anything else on the menu: just steak frites, served with a side salad, although you can get a second helping of steak—and dessert, if you want.What’s funny about it is the steak and fries ... they’re just all right. The real draw is their secret sauce. It’s got it all: It’s creamy and savory, it’s briny, it’s got a pronounced acidic tang, and it’s got a raft of herbs mixed up into it—not quite a hollandaise, not quite a mayo, but 100 percent delicious. We reverse-engineered it and came up with something very close but better, fresher, and super simple to make. Since the steak and fries are only so-so at the restaurant chain, we knew we—and you!—could do better. Pick your <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/ultimate-guide-to-steak">favorite steak</a>, give it a <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/presearing-for-sous-vide">quick sear</a> to jump-start the Maillard reaction, <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/sous-vide-steak">cook it sous vide</a>, and then sear it right before serving for the ultimate steak, perfect for saucing.The fries? We’ve developed the <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/ultimate-crispy-french-fries">ultimate crispy frites</a>, which are basically the Pringles of fries—riced potatoes mixed with starch and formed into batons before getting double-fried to produce an ultra-crispy exterior with a light and fluffy center.

Ultimate Steak Frites