Three years ago, Nestor Fortini decided to leave the corporate world behind, and along with his wife, Jennifer, follow his dream of sharing Argentina with an American audience. Nestor didn’t want to be a teacher, and he didn’t want to dance the tango. He wanted to share Argentine food with the masses. Thus began Nestor’s transformation into the Grumpy Gaucho.
Based out of Naperville, the couple has garnered such a loyal following that they can be found out and about almost every day of the week and have even dedicated one Saturday per month to catch up with their fans in Plainfield at the public library.
While Jennifer handles the business side of things for the Grumpy Gaucho, Nestor focuses on the product: preparing, freezing and baking fresh empanadas in a commercial kitchen space that is rented in Naperville.
The menu has six standard empanada offerings: beef Criolla, beef traditional, chicken pesto, chorizo egg, spinach and ricotta, and BBQ pork. On top of the standard menu, there are often special, off-the-menu empanadas like buffalo chicken, ham and cheese or apple. Along with any order of empanadas, the Grumpy Gaucho’s signature chimichurri sauce is crucial. Thanks to the ingredient list right on their menu, you don’t even need to buy an extra one to take home for reverse engineering.
Having previously had the opportunity to try both the beef Criolla and beef traditional empanadas at Miskatonic Brewing Company on a snowy day last winter, I decided that now was my chance to try something new. (They had also sold out of both beef empanadas dizzyingly soon after showing up at the library.)
With chicken pesto, BBQ pork, buffalo chicken and apple empanadas in hand, I said my goodbyes to the Fortinis and made my way to the very conveniently located Werk Force Brewing Co. to sit down and see what these Argentine pastries had in store for me. Think savory turnovers, self-enclosed sandwiches or even gourmet hot pockets. Even better than imagining them, find out where the Grumpy Gaucho truck is right now and get some for yourself.
The Fortinis sell their empanadas fresh as well as frozen and are available for public and private events. Grumpy Gaucho can be found on their website, on Twitter and most of their events can be tracked on Chicago Food Truck Finder.
