New owners, new name, new menu for Campton Hills eatery

Luis Maldonado bought Lupita’s Cucina, a Mexican eatery at 40W222 LaFox Road, Campton Hills, last month, and changed it up, name and all.

The new name is Ikal Y Sanse, which sounds complicated, but it isn’t.

Ikal is Mayan, Y is Spanish and Sanse is Aztec.

“It means unique spirit,” Maldonado said.

In the past month, he’s been changing 75% of the menu.

“We’re going back to the roots,” Maldonado said. “What is lacking around the area was just going back to do good sauces and simple, plain Mexican cuisine.”

One example, he said, are the quesadillas.

“We are making it from fresh dough. The masa is fresh, we make it every day in the morning,” Maldonado said. “This is not a premade tortilla. It’s not processed, it’s handmade from yellow corn. You have to go to Mexico to get those at the market.”

Another is pork ribs simmered for hours in green tomatillo salsa and purslane.

Ikal Y Sanse, at 40W222 LaFox Road, Campton Hills will offer traditional Mexican dishes. The top plate is camarones cucharacha, or spicy shrimp; the left is aguachile, a shrimp dish; and the right is costillas de puerco, pork ribs cooked in green tomatillo chile and purslane. (Photo provided by Luis Maldonado)

Purslane? Like that weed people kill or pull out of their yards? Purslane?

Yes. That purslane.

Known here as common purslane, its scientific name is Portulaca oleracea, and in Spanish, it is verdolaga.

According to the University of Wisconsin Horticulture Extension, verdolaga or purslane is rich in vitamins A and C, and contains more omega 3 fatty acids than some fish.

“Let’s not kill verdolaga, let’s eat it,” according to the website.

“It is so delicious, it just gives a different flavor it’s not only an aromatic, it almost gives an umami flavor to the dish,” Maldonado said. “It is super traditional in Mexican homes.”

Ikal Y Sanse, 40W222 LaFox Road, Campton Hills – the name means unique spirit – opened Tuesday, Aug. 27. It is at the former location of Lupita's Cucina. (Photo provided by Luis Maldonado)

Maldonado, who grew up in St. Charles, now lives in Naperville.

He compared what he is doing to the menu with how old school Italians cooked the food they would eat at their house with fresh-made pasta.

“Mexican cuisine just got here when they started to elevate their food,” Maldonado said, referring to Italian restaurants. “Mexican cuisine had to catch up to that. ... Everybody is trying to do something cool and creative. They forget what real Mexican food is. ... The food we are making is the food Mexicans eat at their houses.”

Maldonado credited Chef Chris Gonzales – who worked at McNally’s, El Charco Mariscos, The Office and Hotel Baker – with creating their menu.

More information is available by calling 630-377-0703, as a new website, ikalysanse.com, is still under construction.