Fatou and Fama, a restaurant offering West African and West Indian cuisine, as well as soul food, will open in late November, adding another ethnic restaurant to those in the vicinity of 40th and Chestnut streets.
Owner Fatou Ndiaye Wilson has planned a menu mixing international foods from the West Indies and her native country of Senegal with the foods of the American South.
Wilson, a nine-year veteran of the restaurant business, previously ran a restaurant of the same name in Philadelphia at Lansdowne Avenue and 61st Street.
"We're very well known here in Philadelphia," she said.
"Fatou and Fama is not a new restaurant," she added. "It's an old restaurant [with] a lot of support from the city."
Wilson said she decided to move to the new University City location at 40th and Chestnut streets for several reasons.
"I decided to move to University City because my first location was smaller, and my business was good," Wilson said. "I needed a bigger place and better location."
Fatou and Fama sits between French-Asian fusion restaurant Nan and Indian restaurant New Delhi. The space is currently under renovation.
Fatou and Fama will also provide catering in addition to sit-down dining. Also, before opening, Wilson said she hopes to obtain a city permit to allow take-out food to be served.
Wilson said that she is accustomed both to serving college students, as well as working with the University.
"College students were coming in [the previous location] all the time," she said. "And I did catering with Penn."
Wilson also said she hopes to bring the knowledge she has gained from her mother to the new Fatou and Fama.
In fact, "Fama," the second name in the restaurant's title, is Wilson's mother's first name.
"I [chose] that name because of the love I have for her, and what she taught me in my life to be a great cook," she said.
In embracing three different cuisines, Fatou and Fama will serve a wide variety of foods.
Among the West African items the restaurant offers are chebujen, a fish and rice stew, and maafe, which combines "peanut butter sauce" with meat. The West Indian food includes dishes like jerk chicken and oxtail stew.
"For the soul food, [we have] southern fried chicken, smothered chicken and nice collard greens," Wilson added.
Before opening her first restaurant in Chester, Pa., Wilson worked in different African and soul food restaurants in the state. In Senegal, she was involved with a bakery, as well as catering.
"I [have] always been involved with food," she said. "My family is considered the best ethnic cooks in Senegal."
According to Wilson, construction is what remains to be finished before Fatou and Fama can open.
"Actually everything else is ready," she said.
Wilson said that she is very grateful to all the individuals who have helped her open her restaurant.
"I am thankful to everybody, to friends and family who have helped me to try to get my dream," she said. "This has been a very exciting business and exciting career for my family and my friends."
Tony Sorrentino, marketing manager for business development, said that Wilson's restaurant fits nicely into the 40th Street corridor area, particularly because Penn has a vision of making the area a "great place to hang out."
"There are already so many great ethnic restaurants there," he said. "It's going to add to the fabric of the area."
Sorrentino also said that Penn is always looking for people who can contribute a creative and special product to the area and also understand the local marketplace.
"We're very interested in bringing local entrepreneurs to the Penn area," he said. "What Fatou does is bring something unique."
