June 6, 2010

Frietkot

Eric Wolf, owner of Lovejoy's in downtown Austin, opened his Frietkot fries trailer after much market research and development.  His concept is European in nature.  Having been in Belgium, he realized there were multiple fry stands outside of bars with people lined up.  In his words, the french fry trailers were a "cool, simple idea, and also something that went well with the bar scene."  Additionally, he and his friends were inspired by the Austin trailer scene in general, eating at trailers more than brick and mortar restaurants.  Thus, Frietkot was born in February of 2010.

Indeed the potato seemed like the perfect ingredient for a crowd pleaser across the boards.  They have a built in gluten free and vegetarian product that is also popular with the late night crowds looking for a starchy snacking option.  Marc Levine, the chef and culinary creative behind Frietkot liked the idea that a fry is a 'blank canvass' with room for multiple different sides and toppings with endless possibilities.  Eric's personal favorite is the garlic aioli, while the bacon aioli is their best-seller.

Eric and Marc grew up going to camp together in Bruceville, Texas and have stayed friends ever since.  "This is something we wanted to do for a long time; we had spoken for several years about a business.  The trailer made sense because it was something we could get up and going without doing a full restaurant.  Meaning, we could get started for a relatively small amount of money and still put out good food."