A sizzling entrecôte served with crispy golden frites, invoking the bustling energy of a Parisian boulevard café.
Codified in late-19th-century Paris bistros — particularly Le Relais de l'Entrecôte (the format predates that 1959 restaurant). The pairing comes from Belgium and northern France, where deep-fried potato batons (frites) were street food by the 1850s. Bistro economics fixed the ratio: a single small steak (200g) stretched by a generous pile of cheap fries fed a working diner.
Codified in late-19th-century Paris bistros; Le Relais de l'Entrecôte (1959) didn't invent the format. Frites do double-fry: 140°C cook-through, rest, 180°C crisp. Single-fry potatoes go limp before you finish the steak.
A flat slab of seared beef — usually entrecôte or bavette — with a deeply browned crust, served on a warm plate with a heap of thin fries and almost nothing else. The bistro version comes with a knob of maître d'hôtel butter melting on top, or a pepper-cream sauce, or béarnaise. Frites are eaten with fingers; the steak rests in its own juices and the butter pools.
The frites do the heavy lifting. Proper Belgian/French method is double-fry: 140°C to cook the inside through, rest, then 180°C to crisp the outside — single-fry potatoes go limp by the time you cut into the steak. Steak goes on a hot dry pan, flipped once, rested 5 minutes; the rest releases the juice that finishes the butter sauce on the plate.
Variations
Le Relais de l'Entrecôte runs a single fixed menu of thin-sliced sirloin (contre-filet/entrecôte) with a secret green sauce — a butter-herb-mustard-anchovy-caper emulsion descended from Geneva's Café de Paris butter; brasserie Lipp pairs entrecôte with béarnaise; the Belgian sister format steak-frites adds mayonnaise and runs the fries thicker.
On the Palate
Where Steak Frites sits in the French flavor cloud
Ingredients
How it's made
4 steps · 38 min active + 5 min waiting
- 18 min
Pat the beef dry and season generously with salt and black pepper. Heat a heavy skillet over high heat until it's nearly smoking, then add a splash of sunflower oil. Sear the steak on each side for 3-4 minutes until a deep brown crust forms.
Watch outDon't overcrowd the pan — sear in batches if necessary to maintain high heat and get a good crust.
- 215 min
Meanwhile, peel and cut potatoes into thin fries. Rinse under cold water to remove starch, then pat dry thoroughly. Heat sunflower oil in a deep fryer to 350°F and fry the potatoes in batches until golden and crisp, about 4-5 minutes per batch.
Watch outEnsure the oil temperature remains constant; too low will make fries greasy.
- 310 min
In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add finely chopped shallots and cook until translucent. Pour in red wine and beef broth, then reduce by half until the sauce thickens slightly.
- 45 min
Let the steak rest on a warm plate for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving alongside the fries and sauce.
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