La Pataterie

An American Tourist Broke French Twitter With a Ham and Cheese–Topped Baked Potato | Eater SF

"While vacationing in Arles, I ate at a location of the French chain La Pataterie—what my wife found and what I described as “basically a French Chili’s”—a deliberately potato-forward restaurant. I ordered the Pom’ au four Savoyarde, a baked potato topped with ham and melted gruyère (served with sides of raclette, herbed crème fraîche, and two little cornichons), and called it “easily the best baked potato I’ve had.” The potato itself had a superbly creamy interior (I suspect it was steamed then baked) while the waxy, thin skin kept the exterior intact, and the blanket of melted cheese and ham made it revelatory; my enthusiastic Twitter thread about it went viral (liked more than 262,000 times), generated international buzz, and even drew comment from the chain’s CEO as the brand struggles during the pandemic—an episode I used to encourage donations to Les Restos du Coeur and the Alameda County Community Food Bank." - Lauren Saria