One of our new favorite instragram accounts exclusively archives local french fries

by | Nov 30, 2016 | PHOTOGRAPHY

As the fate of the free world hangs in the tiny hands of President Elect Donald Trump, there’s one thing we can still count on in this great country – French Fries.

As the fate of the free world hangs in the tiny hands of President Elect Donald Trump, there’s one thing we can still count on in this great country – French Fries.

And one local man, we’ll call him Ben as he asked to remain anonymous to help add to the mystic, is aiming to create a kind of visual archive of the tasty fried spuds from Richmond’s fine (or less-than-fine) dining restaurants.

And from that brilliant, simple idea, frenchfriesofrichmond was born.

Can Can

A photo posted by French Fries of Richmond, VA (@frenchfriesofrichmond) on

Ben moved to RVA to be a baker back in 2013 – things kind of got away from him and before long he spent a year and a half traveling through India and Nepal. While the spiritual journey may or may not be directly connected to his love of fries, he did make the life choice to become vegan on October 1st of this year.

That food-decision left few options for the fan of plated meals; few options except of course french fries.

“I’ve been inspired by any number of other simple things,” he said about the project. “I noticed I just started eating a lot of french fries for no other reason then they’re great and they’e vegan. And so I was going around eating all these french fries, and some pictures [on the account] I already had to send to friends for random reasons, and so I said ‘Oh, I should just start an instagram page.”

Now, with only a little more than a month under its belt, the account has 12 pictures of fries from such locations as Lee’s Fried Chicken, Tarrant’s Cafe and (my personal favorite fry spot) Pearly’s.

“Pictures tell a lot,” he said, after agreeing to my praise of Pearly’s. “French fries are like pizza where they’re all good, except the great ones are great. One out of 10 are worth special mention, and the rest or just french fries but they’re still really good.”

While the account is still small, we here at RVAMag thing the project is great – lord knows we have a competitive enough food scene here that maybe picking at a specific and causal item like fries will help inspire those with lesser products to step up their game.

Lee’s Fried Chicken

A photo posted by French Fries of Richmond, VA (@frenchfriesofrichmond) on

Ben agreed – but he’s just in it for the limited food options and the lols.

“The dream is someone would accidentally find the site 10 years from now and see hundreds and hundreds of french fries pictures,” he said laughing at the idea.

But that sounds (and tastes) good to us. Keep up with Ben over at frenchfriesofrichmond.

Brad Kutner

Brad Kutner

Brad Kutner is the former editor of GayRVA and RVAMag from 2013 - 2017. He’s now the Richmond Bureau Chief for Radio IQ, a state-wide NPR outlet based in Roanoke. You can reach him at BradKutnerNPR@gmail.com




more in photo

Northern Lights, Northern Lives: Queer Life Beyond the Lower 48

Northern Lights, Northern Lives: A Spectrum of Gender Across Alaska and the Yukon is a collection of 50 striking photographs of LGBTQ+ people and their allies that is set in the breathtaking landscapes of Alaska and Yukon. The images are accompanied by personal essays...

Photos | Lamb of God Tear Through The Dome in Virginia Beach

Lamb of God returned to the region Sunday night, headlining a stop on their 2026 North American tour at The Dome in Virginia Beach. The Richmond-born band brought a stacked lineup with them, featuring Kublai Khan TX, Fit For An Autopsy, and Sanguisugabogg, part of a...

Photos | Holy Roller Packs The Camel for Back-to-Back Shows

A sold-out night at The Camel is one thing. Doing it back-to-back is another. Holy Roller (read our last interview HERE)  has been quietly building toward this for a while now. A Richmond band rooted in good time rock with a bit of country twang, pulling from all over...

Photos | Thousands Gather for No Kings Protests Across Richmond

Two separate “No Kings” demonstrations took place across downtown Richmond on Saturday, March 28, drawing crowds to both Kanawha Plaza and Monroe Park as part of a coordinated nationwide day of action. The first gathering began earlier in the day at Kanawha Plaza,...

Homegrown Stories Isn’t Content, It’s a Shared Experience

This Friday, March 27, a different sort of experimental prompt video event will showcase a collection of work made for Homegrown Stories. In the early days of RVA Magazine, that space existed through Project Resolution, a monthly prompt-based series that gave new...

Famous / Not Famous People: Photographer Matt Licari

Over a decade ago, some of Matt Licari’s earliest published photographs appeared in our printed pages, back when he was living in Richmond. Since then, Licari has gone on to become a sought-after editorial photographer, shooting globally recognized actors, musicians,...