Frituur files an objection against the arrival of La Patate from Average Rob in Ostend | Region

Average Rob announced his new chip shop concept ‘La Patate’ last week in the first branch near Antwerp Central Station. Additional branches will soon follow. For example, the stickers on a building in Vlaanderenstraat in Ostend already make it clear where a new branch is in the making. However, a chip shop operator a little further away had already objected to the arrival of the business.

The first fries of the new ‘La Patate’ concept will be sold on May 8 at the De Keyserlei in Antwerp, close to Central Station. Average Rob, together with a number of partners, wants to give the classic Belgian ‘fries barracks’ a place in city centers again. “Anyone who follows me a little knows that a good pack of fries with stew sauce and a bland mayonnaise is sacred to me,” says Average Rob. “I breathe the frying culture, I promote it everywhere I go.”

In the longer term, the team aims for rapid expansion. At least twenty branches should open at central locations in Belgium within four years. After Antwerp, the Diestsestraat in Leuven and the Vlaanderenstraat in Ostend will follow in September. In the coastal city, the branch would be located in the building where Dunkin’ Donuts used to be located. In the extension of the famous Kapellestraat there are already several fast food restaurants, such as McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Belchicken.

However, another entrepreneur a little further away filed an objection against the environmental permit issued by the city to La Patate. The file is now with the deputation of the province of West Flanders. Such a procedure can easily take several months. The entrepreneur involved did not wish to respond, but it allegedly concerns technical objections. It remains to be seen whether the arrival of La Patate will be delayed as a result.

The concept of La Patate deliberately focuses on a limited and classic offering. The menu includes fries fried in ox fat, stew and meatballs in tomato sauce according to our own recipes, supplemented with traditional deep-fried snacks in collaboration with suppliers. The initiators emphasize that they want to return to the “identity of the Belgian chip shop culture”, without extensive or innovative menus.