If you are used to frozen chips, you'll be amazed by the taste of these. It's a fair bit of work, but the result is worth it.
You can improve on
stage 2 by putting the pre-cooked chips in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Stage 1 and
stage 2 can be done hours beforehand, even the previous day. You can freeze the chips after
stage 1, maybe even after
stage 2, but I've not yet tried this.
For me, nothing goes better with these chips than
béarnaise sauce. In a good restaurant they are already great, but home made: a pure delight.