--- title: "Grégoire Becomes The Official Home of the Potato Puff" url: https://burnaze.com/article/6637fe13-8dbe-41dc-aaa7-90f7261eba15 source: "1851 Franchise" original_url: https://1851franchise.com/gregoire-becomes-the-official-home-of-the-potato-puff-2722773 category: "Restaurants" industry: "Restaurants" published: 2023-06-26T12:07:00.000Z modified: 2026-11-01T02:07:49.687Z image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/0f8dd256c5751d6e6b72262107e3482f8942.jpg --- # Grégoire Becomes The Official Home of the Potato Puff **TL;DR:** Grégoire has become the official home of the potato puff after trademarking the name, and plans to expand its franchise opportunity in the Greater Bay Area market. The restaurant's potato puffs have become a beloved item on its menu, with customers craving them and the trademark helping to differentiate the brand. *originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2023-06-26. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/gregoire-becomes-the-official-home-of-the-potato-puff-2722773).* ## Story For over 20 years, Grégoire has become a go-to institution for diners craving fine dining-style food but with a quick carry-out experience. Alongside mouthwatering sandwiches, salads and sweets, the restaurant has become particularly famous for one thing: its beloved potato puffs. And now, following a recent trademark, Grégoire can officially call itself home of the potato puff. “Having the trademark really helps differentiate us as a brand,” said chef Grégoire Jacquet, owner and founder of Grégoire. “The potato puff is something that is so famous and popular with our customers, and having it in different markets all over the United States will really put us on the map.” The story behind the potato puffs starts with a happy accident. When Jacquet was first starting his business, he knew he wanted to incorporate some finger foods into his “gourmet to-go” menu. While he was trying to recreate a deep-fried potato recipe from his native country of France, he messed up the proportions. The result was something he said was “so much better.” The crispy on the outside puffs have a gooey mashed potato-like consistency in the middle that customers’ simply can’t get enough of. The potato puffs started off as just a seasonal item at Grégoire. But customers loved them so much, Jacquet decided to keep them on the menu permanently. Today, they are one of the restaurant's most sold items every single day. And Jacquet continues to innovate with the product, adding new ingredients such as parmesan cheese, garlic butter and truffle oil to complement the product. “People really crave the potato puff,” said Jacquet. “I have a lot of people telling me that every time they come back to Berkeley, as soon as they land, they come to Grégoire to get their potato puffs because they've been thinking about them forever. So it's really an addicting product.” By trademarking such an integral part of its brand identity, Grégoire can give franchisees something no one else has as it embarks on its expansion plans. “The potato puffs are ours,” said Jacquet. “I created them and I know no one else has done it. So we decided to trademark it. Although you can’t really trademark a *recipe*, we can say that we were the first ones that made the potato puff happen.” In 2022, Jacquet launched Grégoire's franchise opportunity, inviting prospective franchisees to bring the brand's unique combination of carry-out and fine dining to the Greater Bay Area market. Over the next few years, Jacquet hopes to establish a presence from Santa Cruz to San Francisco and Napa. Prospective franchisees have a unique ground-level opportunity in the Bay Area, as there is already a built-in customer base of residents who not only love the potato puff, but all that Grégoire has to offer. “I always felt that this was just a fantastic business model,” said Jacquet. “It's a really profitable business with low food and labor costs because it's so compact. It's perfect for high-density metropolitan locations, perfect for food on the go. I see one day having a Grégoire in every major city.” ## Entities - 1851 Franchise (publication) - franchise expansion (topic) - General (sector) - menu item (topic) - San Francisco, California (location) - brand differentiation (topic) - Gregoire (company) - Grégoire Jacquet (person) - Napa (location) - Berkeley (location) - Greater Bay Area (location) - Santa Cruz (location) --- Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/gregoire-becomes-the-official-home-of-the-potato-puff-2722773). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/6637fe13-8dbe-41dc-aaa7-90f7261eba15).