NEW YORK FRIES BRINGS ORIGINAL, NEW RESTAURANT CONCEPT TO THE CITY STREET (1/02)

New York Fries [NYF], an established brand specializing in the sale of premium quality, fresh-cut French fries in shopping centres throughout Canada since 1984, is launching a street-front restaurant, it was announced today by New York Fries President and CEO Jay Gould. The new concept expands on NYF's popular food court units by providing an original and entertaining venue where patrons can enjoy a complete meal.

THE MENU
"We knew that everyone loves to eat French fries," said Gould. "So we figured out how to make them into a full meal that could be savoured in a fun and easily accessible environment." Indeed, the new restaurant's menu is a fry fanatic's fantasy come true, boasting a full selection of NYF's signature spuds topped with a wide array of ingredients and sauces, including chili, bacon, green onions, sour cream, gravy, poutine and the company's new line of European-style mayonnaise-based dips. The fries are complemented with Debrazzini sausages and hot dogs and, to end the meal, ice-cream desserts.

THE Restaurant
Like its namesake and place of birth, the New York Fries brand and products are fun, youthful, irreverent, energetic and accessible, but at the same time they are also the very best in the world: premium potatoes prepared with the highest quality oils to deliver a rich taste experience evoking an upscale indulgence.

Providing a suitable backdrop for this somewhat contradictory set of attributes was a challenge that Jay Gould tackled by commissioning Hirschberg Design to design the new restaurant. "The decision to develop a street-front restaurant was easy in a sense because it was the logical, organic next step in our evolution," explained Gould. "But it was not rash: we took the time to get it right, and we worked for over a year on the prototype.

The result is a zany monument to the glory of New York City and the perfect embodiment of the product and brand. Taking a theatrical approach to the design, Martin Hirschberg created a romanticized New York streetscape. Like a film sound stage, the exterior of the two-story, 2,000 square foot restaurant is two- dimensional, not flat, creating a visual bridge from the reality of the street into the fantasy of the restaurant's interior. On the south elevation, visible to northbound traffic on Avenue Road, the exterior is a collage of city elements elements, including the illuminated façade of the Chrysler building.

The restaurant's interior is dominated by a full-size classic chip truck and a Hot Dog cart that stand a mere "city block" away from a magazine stand and the entrance to the subway. Cutouts between the first and second floors provide a visual link and enable patrons to glimpse the penny arcade, more streetscapes and a variety of skyline gargoyles that animate the upper floor. Furnishings are made of natural materials with faux finishes; seating for 40 is mixed in order to create a more interesting individualistic atmosphere. "Jay wanted a sense of magic, of escape - a nostalgic fantasy land if you will," stated Hirschberg. "The challenge lay in achieving this while creating a sense of quality: we had to make sure that it wouldn't look like a cartoon." The design, tailored to entice NYF's target demographic, has been a hit: the restaurant has been filled to capacity with drive-by and pedestrian traffic attracted by the dramatic design and strong street presence.

THE COMPANY
100% Cnadian owned, New York Fries was born after Gould and his brother discovered a 'New York Fries' chip stand during a visit to the South Street Seaport in Manhattan. Although the idea was just four months old, Gould was so impressed with the product, that he bought the Canadian rights and began an aggressive expansion plan to bring the world's best fries to Canadians. After just a couple of years, New York Fries had grown to approximately twenty-five units in Canada while the original location in New York City had closed. Gould bought out the American company in 1987, thereby acquiring ownership of all future royalty streams and the ability to expand the concept anywhere deemed viable. Today, New York Fries ranks as one of the most successful Canadian Fast Food stories and Jay is recognized as a visionary and industry trailblazer.

With 170 outlets in Canada and four locations in Asia and Australia, New York Fries serves over a quarter million customers a week in high-traffic venues such as shopping centre food courts, profile highway food malls, amusement parks, movie theatres and, after November 28, in street-front restaurants located in high-traffic urban areas.

New York Fries is a privately held, Canadian based chain of retail outlets specializing in the sale of premium quality, fresh-cut French fries. Established in 1984 by brothers Hal and Jay Gould, New York Fries operates 174 outlets, 15 corporate and 159 franchise-run, in Canada, South Korea and Australia.