WEST READING, Pa. – “You want fries with that?” is not a phrase you’re likely to hear this weekend at the 8th annual French Fry Fest in Berks County.
Because there, the fried spuds are the main entrée.
David Calvo owns Chef David’s Pizza & More, just down the street from the big event.
“Last year we did something very simple, but it was my first year,” Calvo said.
Chef David’s “simple” French fry concoction combines chicken, mozzarella sticks, bacon, pepperoni and — of course — French fries, smothered in vodka sauce, all bitable atop a pizza pie.
He calls it “WALLAH.”
“Wallah, baby,” he said. “Made with love. Always.”
And that’s just one of many ways vendors get creative at the West Reading French Fry Fest.
Organizers estimate that between the 70 vendors — 24 of those French fries, the rest, other food, art and retail — thousands of pounds of fries will be served.
“Oh, my God. Hundreds of different types of fries,” Calvo said. “Waffle fries, curly fries, Jersey fries, a lot of different types of sauce,” he added.
The various fries are arranged in folks’ favorite dishes from around the world.
“We’re going to have a lot of different types of fries, and I promise you, everybody’s got good fries,” Calvo said. “Not only Chef David. Everybody,” he added.
An event that began with just four vendors and 500 people, organizers say, last year turned up some 18,000 people. And this year, they’re expecting even more to come out.
“It’s getting better and better every day,” Calvo said.
The West Reading French Fry Fest happens between the 600 and 700 blocks of Penn Avenue this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It’s free, and food is pay-as-you-go.