I remember the opening event for the very first Francesca restaurant. Chef/owner Scott Harris was greeting guests, answering questions and talking about the qualities that defined the restaurant. Thirty-one years, eight-plus concepts and more than two dozen restaurants later, Harris, Fat Rosie’s culinary director Dudley Nieto and I are in the recently relocated Fat Rosie’s in Naperville, a concept Harris’ company, Scott Harris Hospitality, describes as a “Mexican taqueria and sea food bar.” Citing his impressive track record, I ask Harris what it takes for a restaurant to be successful.
“Food, hospitality, service and fun… those are the “musts,” he says. “And since Covid,” he adds, “the fun part is more important that ever.” Listening to the Thursday lunch crowd, it’s obvious that the “fun” part of Fat Rosie’s is a success.
The first Fat Rosie’s opened in south suburban Frankfort in 2015, followed-in short order- by venues in Schaumburg, Lincolnshire and-in 2018- Naperville. According to Harris, the original format envisioned guests ordering a tequila and a mix of two or three tacos and tostados. Very casual, lots of variety.
Enter Dudley Nieto, a chef with an A-list resume, a penchant for creativity and a thorough knowledge of his native cuisine. With Harris giving the green light to rolling the beachy ambiance and exuberant personality of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula into the Fat Rosie’s concept, Nieto set out to do the same with the food.
“Like all cuisine, Mexican food is inherently regional, since cooks had to work with ingredients that were available locally,” he explains. “The tip of the Baja Peninsula is surrounded by water, with the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other, so putting more seafood on the menu was a natural.”
While Nieto’s cooking is emphatically Mexican, he’s not adverse to expanding the cuisine’s pantry. He partners Alaskan salmon, for example, with thick slices of zucchini, seasons them with an array of spices typical of Mexican cooking, and then grills them both over charcoal. Served atop a creamy poblano sauce with a side of rice, the dish, as Nieto puts it, “is authentic yet contemporary.”
Underscoring the regionality of Mexican cuisine, the menu identifies the birthplace of the various tacos and tostadas, a list that includes marinated grilled steak drizzled with avocado-tomatillo salsa from Nuevo León and crispy battered or grilled fish drizzled with an avocado/habanero aioli from the Baja Peninsula. The beverage menu, with only a few exceptions, is devoted to Mexican tequillas, margaritas, beers, wines and soft drinks.
For Nieto, food is always a work in progress. As he puts it, “For the foodies that have had street tacos in Mexico, I want to deliver a taco that’s even better. For first-time diners, I want to provide an experience they’ll never forget. And for people who come back time and again, I want to make sure they’re never bored or disappointed.”
And FYI-If you’re curious about the identity of the restaurant’s namesake, the story is on the menu. Check it out the next time you’re there.
Fat Rosie’s:
22 E. Chicago Ave. Naperville, IL 630.328.0060
28 Kansas Street, Frankfort,IL 815.534.1640
870 Meacham Road, Schaumburg, IL 847.807.2850
940 Milwaukee Avenue, Lincolnshire, IL 224.377.2395