MK_041819

22 | April 18, 2019 | the mokena messenger dining out
mokenamessenger.com
The Dish
Francesca’s Fortunato focuses on community, fresh flavors
Nuria Mathog
Contributing Editor
Francesca’s Fortunato
general manager Jenny
Yohe has seen Frankfort
grow and change over the
years — and watched her
restaurant make a home
for itself within the everevolving
community.
“We were still all cornfields
out here 13 years
ago,” she said. “I can remember
even then, going
down [Route] 30, and
there was nothing there.”
Today, the restaurant
at the corner of Oak and
Kansas streets is part of a
thriving downtown Frankfort.
Francesca’s Fortunato,
which opened in November
2004, is the 13th
addition to the Francesca’s
family of Italian restaurants,
which operates 22
locations throughout the
Chicago area.
Yohe, a Mokena resident,
has previously
worked at Francesca’s
locations in Chicago and
Naperville, and is glad to
finally be close to home.
“Frankfort has so much
to offer,” she said. “We
have the movies in the
park, everything, and the
restaurant’s in the center.
It’s just great, and I find it
so amazing. From nothing
being down here to everything
being down here —
it’s just wonderful.”
What sets Fortunato —
and the Francesca’s company
as a whole — apart
from the competition is the
freshness of the ingredients
used, Yohe said. Everything
at the restaurant
is made from scratch, all
the way down to the stock.
“If you ordered a dish
and said, ‘I don’t want this
and this in it, but can you
add this?’ we can do that,
The filetto con crema al Tartufo ($46) features an
8-ounce filet mignon from Creekstone Farms, a crab
and lobster cake, Bloomsdale spinach, and shaved
Umbrian black truffle fondue.
because we make everything
from scratch, and
it’s all fresh, and it’s all
top-notch product,” Yohe
said. “We do everything,
and that’s what makes our
flavor so good.”
Best-sellers at Francesca’s
Fortunato include
the pollo arrosto alla Romana
($18.95), a roasted
half-chicken cooked with
shallots, rosemary, garlic,
lemon and olive oil, served
with roasted potato, and
the filetto con crema al
Tartufo ($46), which is an
8-ounce filet mignon from
Creekstone Farms, a crab
and lobster cake, Bloomsdale
spinach, and shaved
Umbrian black truffle fondue.
The restaurant also offers
a special menu through
the end of Lent, featuring a
variety of seafood dishes,
such as the fettuccine alla
Genovese ($24.95), which
features pasta sauteed with
a mixture of shrimp, scallops,
French green beans
and potato in a basil-pesto
sauce.
Francesca’s Fortunato
also carries a variety of
wines from smaller vineyards
and has its own signature
pinot grigio that can
be purchased for $8 a glass
Francesca’s Fortunato
40 Kansas St. in
Frankfort
Hours
• 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m.
Sunday-Thursday
• 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.
Friday-Saturday
For more information ...
Web: www.
miafrancesca.com/
locations/profile/
francescas-fortunatofrankfort
Phone: (815) 464-
1890
or $30 for a bottle.
Diners can cap their
meal with a number of Italian-inspired
desserts, such
as the tiramisu ($7.75), a
concoction of ladyfingers
soaked in espresso and
rum, with mascarpone
cheese, garnished with cocoa
and chocolate sauce.
Customers are always
welcome to order offmenu,
Yohe added, explaining
that as long as the
ingredients are available,
the kitchen is happy to
honor diners’ requests for
special dishes.
“Chicken Parmesan
isn’t on our menu all the
time, but people come
At Francesco’s Fortunato in Frankfort, the fettuccine alla Genovese ($24.95) includes
pasta sauteed with a mixture of shrimp, scallops, French green beans and potato in a
basil-pesto sauce. Photos by Nuria Mathog/22nd Century Media
The pollo arrosto alla Romana ($18.95) features a roasted half-chicken cooked with
shallots, rosemary, garlic, lemon and olive oil, served with roasted potato.
in and they order it,” she
said. “It’s going to take a
few minutes longer, because
we have to pound
the chicken and do everything
for it, but we’ll make
it for you. We go out of our
way to cater to our guests
and whatever their needs
are.”
In addition to serving
high-quality Italian fare,
Francesca’s Fortunato
continually looks for ways
to bring the community
together. The restaurant
regularly offers cooking
classes that teach residents
how to create gnocchi and
pasta, in addition to hosting
special events, such as
the Witches & Warlocks
wine dinner, which invites
attendees to dress up in
their Halloween finest.
“We’re a community
store — at least, that’s
what we consider ourselves,”
Yohe said. “If you
ever come in here, everybody
knows everybody.
So, you can be walking
someone to their table, and
they’re stopping along the
way talking to 20 different
people. And it’s really
neat. ... On a Friday, Saturday
night at the bar, it’s
just one big, happy party.”