At a typical Southern restaurant, you might expect sweet potatoes to appear on the menu in pie or under the unappetizing name "yam." However, thanks to its strong New Orleans influence, Magnolias in Inman Square is always quick to transform traditional Southern cuisine.

So instead of appearing as a dowdy side dish, the root vegetables here put the "French" in "French Quarter." Chef/owner John Silberman uses a mandolin to slice the sweet potatoes into delicate strings, and then tops the fries with crumbled Maytag blue cheese.

The result is an appetizer as salty, sublime, and satisfying as pommes frites dipped in garlic aïoli. So order up a heaping plate big enough for two, and bon appétit. (Or, rather, y’all chow down now.)

Available for $3.95 at Magnolias, 1193 Cambridge Street, in Cambridge. Call (617) 576-1971, or visit www.magnoliascuisine.com.