68
K IN G
ST N
TACO FARM:
T W ERB S
WATERLOO
AL L K I N D S O F F R E SH AND LO C A L BY CHRIS TIESSEN ‘Looking back now, I can say with conviction
Nick Benninger, Nat’s husband and partner
that we absolutely did not think things
– in this enterprise as well as all Fat Sparrow
through,’ Taco Farm’s Natalie (‘Nat’)
Group restaurants – nods his head. ‘Yep,’
Benninger remarks with a nervous laugh.
Nick remarks, ‘Taco Man Randy Savage has
I chuckle at her candidness before sinking
ultimately earned his keep.’ That’s right –
my fork back into the Queso Fundido – a
Taco Man Randy Savage. Or, to most of the
hot skillet of melted cheeses and chorizo. I
restaurant’s staff and patrons, Taco Farm’s
carefully spread the gooey deliciousness onto
fresh tortilla-making machine. Positioned in
a warm corn tortilla, then gobble it down.
clear view behind the counter at Taco Farm,
Nat continues: ‘We had no idea how much
this marvelous (and imposing) contraption
it would cost to ship it here. Or how often it
functions as the heart and soul of the
would need loving care. Or that it would need
operation – pushing out fresh corn tortillas
its own staff person to operate.’ She reaches
from morning through to close.
across the table, grabs a tortilla, and loads it with the melted cheeses and chorizo, before adding: ‘And yet I think we’d do it all over again.’
‘We’re one of the only restaurants in the country to have one of these,’ Nat notes of the contrivance that was imported from warmer climes. ‘And it makes all the
