ON THE MENU Latin Fusion Gets New Home

ROLANDO'S BRINGS TRIED-AND-TRUE FUSION FAVORITES TO ROGERS

By SARA SULLIVAN <a href="mailto:ssullivan@nwaonline.

Posted: November 13, 2009 at 9:09 a.m.

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FAYETTEVILLE — We’re not a Mexican restaurant. This is essentially Hispanic fusion,” explains Suki Dancer, one of the managers of Rolando’s Nuevo Latino Restaurante in downtown Rogers.

There, the flavors of Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Argentina and more combine into items like the EcuaRico roast pork that goes into Jose’s Quesadillas (topped with mango and tomatillo sour cream sauce and served with black beans and rice; $7.75 for lunch and $13.95 for dinner) or the Cuban mojo sauce used to marinate chicken tenderloins for the Pollo Bohemio (which are sautéed in a lime-tequila sauce and served over rice and black beans; $8.75 for lunch, $15.95 for dinner).

“We have people call up and ask us if we’re the real Rolando’s,” says Dancer, which always cracks her up. “We’re not a franchise; we’re not a clone.”

The third and newest Rolando’s location - in the basement of the red brick Poplar Plaza building on Second Street - is every bit as much the creative product of Rolando and SherriCuzco as the other popular restaurants in Fort Smith and Hot Springs.

The Latin fusion menu is created by Rolando, who divides his time among all three locations.

“It’s a really different concept,” Dancer says. “He’s in all the different kitchens at different times duringthe week,” training staff and cooking.

And many times, “the kitchen is related; they’re friends and family.”

So the names mentionedin the menu - Josefina’s Tamales and Tencha’s Taquitos - belong to close loved ones. “These are all real flesh and blood people that different menu items havebeen named by,” Dancer says. “These are real people.”

Past the entrance’s scalloped black canopy, amuted waiting area is filled with deep mauve and brown tones, while the dining area glows with honey-golds.

Richly colored paintings and oversized portraits woven into tapestries decorate the walls. Most of the art is from Ecuador, and all of the decor was selected by the Cuzcos.

At the kitchen window in the back of the restaurant, a tinkling handbell announces an order ready to be taken to a patron.

A house specialty is the Plato de Adventura, a sampler platter with a chicken or pork enchilada, quesadilla with tomatillo sour cream sauce, guacamole and a tamale or taquito ($9.25 for lunch, $18.95 for dinner). Another is the Quesadillas de Chivo, which are grilled flour tortillas filled with goat cheese and vegetables and topped with Argentinean and mango sauces ($7.75, $14.95). Then there’s Popeye’s Burrito, whichis a flour tortilla stuffed with sautéed spinach, sour cream, vegetables, Argentinean sauce and cheddar cheese ($7.75, $14.95). All of the house specialties are served with black beans and rice.

Rolando’s offers a children’s menu with items like a cheese quesadilla ($4.95 for lunch, $5.95 for dinner), Andrew’s Favorite chicken tenders ($5.95, $6.25) and the Chico Burrito ($4.95, $5.95). The Especiales de los Ninos menu also offers a curious All American Hamburger: Laura & Trey Classic, which is a hamburger served on a corn tortilla with rice, beans and sour cream ($4.95, $5.95).

The restaurante also offers several desserts (D.D.’s Postres) like Rolando’s Bananas, a recipe brought from Ecuador described on the menu as “heaven in a bowl” ($6.95 for lunch, $7.95 for dinner), Key Lime Cheesecake ($4.95, $5.95) and Caribbean Rum Cake ($6.95, $7.95).

Entertainment, Pages 21 on 11/13/2009

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