If you’ve spent any time on food social media over the last two years, you’ve likely seen “potato pavé” creations, those mesmerizing, crispy-edged cubes or cuboids of stacked, paper-thinly sliced tubers. At Mayfield in San Juan Capistrano, owner George Barker and chef Jon Sarmenta have taken that viral architecture and combined it with a Levant bent to create their phenomenal Batata Harra Thousand Layer Potatoes.
“There’s a traditional Lebanese dish called batata harra, which basically means ‘spicy potato,’” in Arabic, said Barker. “We didn’t want to just do french fries or smashed potatoes with a spicy sauce. We wanted to add value where the guests can see the creativity.”
The process isn’t easy. It’s a two-day labor-of-love affair that involves a good chunk of the kitchen team. Sarmenta and his crew slice potatoes wafer-thin on a mandolin, mix them with ghee and Aleppo pepper and “other chiles and flavors,” then layer them into pans to bake for over an hour. “Overnight we compress them with some really heavy weights,” explained Barker. “As the butter solidifies and the potatoes press together, they form a solid block.”
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Shortly before serving, the blocks of compressed spuds are portioned and fried until the edges shatter like glass but the interior remains soft. While the technique draws inspiration from London’s iconic Quality Chop House (Barker hails from the U.K. capital), the flavor is purely Mayfield.
To balance the richness, the team swapped out heavy chili oils for a bright, confit garlic labneh. “It was just too much fat. It’s already pretty decadent,” said Barker. “So, we strain the labneh overnight and top it with lemon zest and micro-cilantro instead of fresh lemon and regular cilantro.”
The result is a striking blend of texture and balance. Each cube offers the buttery crunch of spiced potato layers meeting a cool, aerated tang of garlic-tinged labneh, with Aleppo heat and citrus humming beneath it all. Mayfield is hardly a novice when it comes to potato perfection; their twice-cooked sweet potatoes, another standout dish at the San Juan Capistrano spot, converted this onetime sweet-potato scoffer.
The dish, which costs $16, will be available for the time being.
Find it: 31761 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano, 949-218-5140, mayfieldoc.com