About a week ago I got an email about Frysmith, a new “ethnically-infused” fry truck soon to be launched in Los Angeles. Curious, I fired off a barrage of questions to Erik Cho, a co-owner.

1) Ethnically infused fries? Huh? How do you pick who makes the cut and who doesn’t? How much are they? What’s the best way to eat them? What are they made from?

Okay, “ethnically-infused” is something my buddy in marketing came up with. Who knows what that actually means, and come to think of it, I think that dude markets mostly women’s hair care products, so I shouldn’t have taken his wording advice. Basically, I just figured fries were an awesome blank slate for toppings and proceeded from there with the kind of aggressive flavors that I grew up around in LA. They’re best eaten with a fork. Unless you like chili hands. The fries are hand-cut Kennebec potatoes cooked in canola oil.

2) What gave you the idea of creating this? How big of an influence were existing taco trucks, and/or Kogi? How do you feel about this sudden trendy-ness of LA mobile food vendors?

Brook and I have thought about starting a food business for years but never had the balls to do it. When we were in school at Berkeley, I had an idea for a push-cart with soups. I wanted to be a traveling campus soup Nazi, but anyone who knew me in college can tell you I wasn’t particularly motivated in those days.

I’ve been hitting taco trucks for years, and I love that it takes less than a minute from when the meat hits the tortilla to when the tortilla hits your mouth. That idea is perfect for something like chili fries. If they sit around, they get soggy, but if you get to them right away, there’s a perfect blend of soft and crunchy.

Kogi was huge for us and everyone that’s involved in the LA mobile truck movement (and I guess movement is just a fancy word for big-ass trend). LA’s long been a taco truck town, but Kogi showed that the sky’s the limit if you can pair a good concept with good food and four wheels.

3) When do you launch? Where/when will you be operating? How do you choose you’re route?

We’re getting delayed on the launch due to backorder of some equipment for our truck. It sucks, but we still hope to get going by late August. We’ll keep everyone informed on our site and through Twitter. Our plan is to be all around town chasing events and crowds for the first couple of months to build awareness. Then, we’ll probably settle on some weekly locations. We’re open to suggestions.

4) What did you do before you started the truck? How much did it cost? What’s surprised you about cooking/operating a truck?

Before the truck, I worked in the film industry and Brook was a magazine editor. The truck cost a lot, but we got a steal on the truck itself and good pricing from the builder to make it work in our pretty limited budget. As a first-time small business owner, there are so many more things to take care of than I imagined, and we haven’t even hit the road yet.

5) What beers do you recommend that I pair with your fries?

It pains me that I can’t offer beer with the fries, but we’re doing some kick-ass soda pairings to make up for it. If I could sell beer…the chili cheese fries would be nice with an Alaskan Smoked Porter. Kimchi pork makes me want something dry and light, like a Sapporo. For the rajas, you can’t go wrong with the classic Corona and lime but something real bitter, like a Green Flash West Coast IPA is an interesting contrast. The sweetness and fruity complexity of Lost Abbey would be my choice for the chicken tomatillo sweet potato fries. For the vegan chili, maybe a Fuller’s ESB. In the end, though, they’re fries, man. And fries taste good with pretty much whatever beer’s in your hand.

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