Tom Keller's Frozen Fries?

Thomas Keller, the inventive chef who brought us The French Laundry in Yountville, California and Per Se in New York's Time Warner Center, appears to have given in to the wonders of frozen french fries. Say it isn't so.

This, after claiming that the fresh fries are superior and including a recipe for fries in his cookbook Bouchon. It turns out that Bouchon is using frozen fries.

In his cookbook Bouchon, Thomas Keller explains how to make the perfect French fries, instructing readers to hand-cut and then refrigerate russet potatoes submerged in water for several hours. As it turns out, Keller isn’t going to quite so much trouble at his Bouchon Bistros: A tipster told us he uses Sysco fries, and though a rep from the restaurant didn’t offer the brand name, she did confirm, after speaking with Keller, that he favors frozens.

And why would that be?

One of the top reasons Bouchon uses frozen French Fries is consistency. The quality of the frozen fries we use, and that of frozen fries in general today, is very good. We use fries which are 100% potato, which do not contain additives. The consistency in these fries is often better than that of fresh potatoes.

I sense a mea culpa forthcoming, but then again, if he's using shortcuts for fries, and no one is complaining about the quality of those fries, does this matter?