MANHATTAN – Just as President Biden’s Supply Chain Task Force announced to Americans there was nothing to worry about, because shelves are stocked and inventories are up— word broke that JG Melon, an Upper East Side institution, was facing a supply chain shortage of its own hitting its beloved cottage fries.
“The much-predicted crisis didn’t occur,” President Biden announced this afternoon during a meeting of his Supply Chain Task Force.
“Packages are moving. Gifts are being delivered. Shelves are not empty.”
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Even such, the popular cash-only hamburger restaurant and pub on Third Avenue at East 74th Street on the UES is feeling the supply chain crunch— for the past couple of weeks photos have popped up on social media showing bowls of pretty regular looking fries being served at JG Melon’s— not the giant circles of potatoey goodness with a crinkle cut for which their cottage fries are known.
Along with the new fries came lots of speculation, but no true answer.
On Wednesday, JG Melon settled the debate over the disappearance of their famous cottage fries by revealing that the french-fry switch that set food influencers ablaze was a result of the supply chain crisis.
“The rumors are true,” JG Melon wrote in a statement. “Due to a supply chain issue, we are temporarily not serving our legendary cottage fries.”
“We are working hard to remedy this and have identified some choice replacements in the meantime.”
While the disappointment was palpable, the new fries are already a hit with die-hard JG Melon fans.
“The new fries are spectacular,” Kristen Creed commented on Instagram.
Liz Peters added, “to be quite honest, I prefer the new, stand-in fry.”
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The new fries, for their part, appear to be your standard diner or burger shop fries— thicker than a shoestring, but not too heavy— perfectly fried until they’re extra crispy.
Have you had JG Melon’s new fries? Waiting for the cottage fries to return?
How does the supply chain issue affect the shape of fries? Potato, potahto, right?
There’s no supply chain issues. We just have more people going out now and wanting to order French fries. Just deal with it.