Boardwalk Brings Fry Recipe to Hermosa

East Coast transplants may have recognized a familiar smell coming from the former location in Hermosa Beach on Friday as Maryland-based Boardwalk Fresh Burgers & Fries opened on Hermosa Avenue and brought with it a popular fry recipe.

Boardwalk, which was started simply as a French fry and soda stand on the East Coast, has now expanded to include burgers and a range of other menu items at its standalone stores. However, the fries are what made the company famous. 

"Boardwalk Fries is a 30-year brand, and coming into California, I have been amazed at how many people are actually familiar with the brand," Boardwalk Ventures CEO Andrew Ritchie said at last week's soft opening in Hermosa. 

During construction, Ritchie also said he would hear people walk by the uncompleted store, see the Boardwalk signage and tell their friends about the restaurant's fries.

Boardwalk co-founder and Executive Vice President Fran DiFerdinando, who was also in town for the restaurant's opening, said that multiple East Coast transplants in Hermosa Beach have also had the same reaction. 

"I have been here for a week and have probably had 20 or 30 people come up to me and say 'Hey, are you the Boardwalk fries that used to be in the malls? I love those things ... Thank God you are back,'" said DiFerdinando.

DiFerdinando said that the restaurant's five-step fry recipe starts with fresh cut potatoes that are soaked in water and then blanched in low-temperature oil to cook in inside of the fry.

From there, the fries are cooked two more times in two varying oil temperatures to achieve a crispy outside and fluffy inside, DiFerdinando said.

The Hermosa location is only the second location to open in California. Ritchie said there are plans to open 150 to 250 additional stores throughout Southern California and Texas in the coming years. 

Although the restaurant is technically a chain, Ritchie said each store will integrate with the local community.

"It is supposed to be a local feel," said Ritchie, who added that the store has plans to participate in the multiple summer events happening in Hermosa.

According to Ritchie, to help create that local feel, the Hermosa location features rough, boardwalk-like wood flooring, paintings of local beaches as well as wood-framed HD television screens showcasing beach scenes and boardwalks from around the world.

"The whole idea of the concept is it is a nostalgic feel," said Ritchie. "The hope is we create a memory."