Mallory Gabsi: we tested 140°, his Belgian fry shop in Paris that opens with a smart deal

Head to the Montorgueil district, in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, where the Belgian chef Mallory Gabsi (discovered on Top Chef in 2020) has opened 140°, a street-food counter devoted entirely to the Belgian fry. This Saturday, we’re headed to check out the spot before it opens, especially since the first 100 customers will get a free cone of fries! The place opens at noon.

We pushed open the door at 6 rue des Petits Carreaux to test this fritkot of the new generation, and here’s what we saw: a piping-hot cone crowned with its sauce, a crowd of homemade mayonnaises, and a mitraillette that doesn’t mess around.

For those who follow the chef, Paris isn’t new territory. After a pop-up on a barge in 2020 and a first 140° venue opening in Brussels in 2021, Mallory Gabsi (also Michelin-starred for his restaurant in the 17th arrondissement) returns here with a more accessible, crowd-pleasing kitchen, without sacrificing his precision.

The name is no accident. 140° is the perfect temperature to start the first fry—not a degree higher, not a degree lower. An obsession born on TopChef, when chef Christophe Hardiquest reminds him to shoot for 140 and not 130 degrees. On the decor side, duo Emma Collet and Thomas Diettert reinvent the Belgian fritkot for the modern era: glossy majolica tiles, Formica, colorful 60s-style checkered patterns, and a large yellow enamelled lava stone counter facing the fryer, the true beating heart of the place.

Fries, a mitraillette, and croquettes: what we tasted at 140°

Here, fries are taken very seriously. Fresh, peeled and cut on site from Agria potatoes grown in Hauts-de-France, they undergo a first fry at 140°C before emerging golden, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside (priced from €4.20 to €7.70 depending on size, served with either fine iodised salt or a surprising house salt with grey shrimp). We loved them—generous in their cone with the sauce dolloped on top: the perfect to-go combination.

And since a good fry never goes without its sauce, the house offers a whole lineup of house-made options at €1.10: classic mayonnaise, 140° mayo, truffle or garlic versions, ketchup, Andalouse, Algerian, samouraï, or chili garlic. The mayo actually tastes like real mayonnaise, and the samouraï and chili garlic varieties, properly spicy, really stand out from the rest.

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On the à la carte menu, you’ll also find all the fritkot classics, perfect for nibbling while standing around a steaming hot cone:

• The croquettes (two pieces) with gray shrimp or aged Bruges cheese, not skimping on either shrimp or cheese
• The burgers, from Classic to Double Classic, including the Chicken & Lemon Crush and a Fried Eggplant vegetarian option (from €10 to €13, or as a combo with fries and a drink)
• The Belgian crowd-pleasers: fricadelle, poulycroc and lucifer, all nicely crispy
• The summer’s signature mitraillette, dubbed Summer is Black, in a squid-ink baguette stuffed with crispy cuttlefish, aioli, bergamot gel, fresh herbs and fries

Côté burger, we were won over by a beef that's incredibly tender, almost melts in the mouth (watch out — it drips generously, likely helped by the blazing heat of the moment). The hungriest diners will want to go all out with the XXL mitraillette, generously stacked to satisfy. And for thrill-seekers, a big fry named La Moscovite (dried caviar, trout roe, sour cream, lemon zest) leans squarely into the festive side of things.

open every day is the foodie spot, open daily from 12:00 to 22:00 Sunday through Thursday and from 12:00 to 23:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.

Our take on 140°

For those with a small or big appetite, here’s a new street food spot that packs a punch. We go there to savor the work of a Michelin-starred chef in a casual cone, on the go, solo, with friends, or after a shopping spree in Montorgueil. The only downside: given the early buzz, a bit of patience at peak times is worth it, as the place is compact.

To keep riding the wave of Top Chef’s table-hopping, check out Cramat', Alexy’s pop-up restaurant, which we tested on the edge of Paris. Not far from there, you’ll also find Hugo Riboulet and Albane’s spot, called Groot. And if you want to glimpse the other side of the chef, his star-studded gastronomic table in the 17th arrondissement, which we also tested, is well worth a detour. All the details and the full menu are on the official 140° site.

This test was conducted as part of a professional invitation. If your experience differs from ours, please let us know.