Fancy fries

It’s the cheese

The Brasserie serves shoestring fries cooked golden brown and tossed with Parmesan, cracked pepper, fresh chervil, a little salt and a generous drizzle of earthy truffle oil. (Truffle fries, $5.95.)

The Brasserie, the Edgemar Complex, 2435 Main St., Santa Monica, (310) 399-6504.

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Good thyme

First you notice that Troquet’s fries are a beautiful amber color, then that they’re perfectly crisp -- and finally, just before you swallow, that they melt in your mouth. These skinny shoestring potatoes are deep fried in peanut oil and immediately sprinkled with sea salt and fresh thyme. (French fries, $6.)

Troquet, South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, (714) 708-6865.

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Duck treatment

Chef-owner Alex Scrimgeour cuts potatoes into wedges with the ends trimmed off, poaches them in chicken stock with thyme and parsley, then fries them in duck fat at a low temperature. They come out golden on the outside but fluffy inside.

While they’re still hot, he sprinkles them with fleur de sel, so the salt sticks to the potato. They accompany various dishes on the prix-fixe menu. (Four-course prix-fixe menu, $60.)

Alex, 6703 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 933-5233.

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More truffles

At Jaan, potatoes are cut into shoestrings, fried in canola oil until golden, sprayed with truffle oil and then tossed with fleur de sel, chopped chives and lots of Parmesan. (Truffle and Parmesan French fries, $8.)

Jaan, Raffles L’Ermitage Hotel, 9291 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, (310) 278-3344.

-- Jessica Strand