‘Italy to table’ – that’s the motto at Che Figata – Naperville’s newest Italian restaurant.
“So, the sourcing of the ingredients and that “Italy to table” mentality is super important for us to deliver to the guests what we’re trying to get them to experience – a really cool, innovative, modern Italian restaurant,” said Founder and Executive Chef Mark Grimes.
Che Figata, an Italian phrase meaning cool or awesome, is different from many traditional Italian eateries.
The open kitchen design allows guests to see their food and drinks prepared right in front of them. Whether it’s a steak on the wood-fire grill, a Roman-style pizza from the oven, or even charcuterie straight from the slicer, the restaurant wants to show you how your food is made.
But what really makes Che Figata stand out is the marketplace greeting you right when you walk in the door.
“So what we wanted to do was have a guest that comes in and really enjoys themselves and enjoys the products that we have going to their server and saying ‘where do you get this?’ and we wanted to have an outlet for that for our guests,” said Grimes.
Guests can purchase specific ingredients, or ready-to-go meals like a Caesar salad or a chicken pesto sandwich.
“When Mark first talked about that, we were like ‘oh I don’t know if that’s going to be something that will really fit here’. But once we started putting everything together, actually it’s one of my favorite spots in the restaurant,” said Mae Calamos, owner of Che Figata.
Che Figata officially opened to the public on May 31 in Citygate Center.
Buon appetito!
Naperville News 17’s Casey Krajewski reports.
