Owners Of MOCO Open Taco And Tequila Restaurant In Fredericton
FREDERICTON— When Brian and Shawna Foster said they were opening a third restaurant in Fredericton, their friends in the restaurant industry said they were crazy.
The Fosters, who own MOCO Downtown and co-own MOCO Mactaquac, will add Dos Toros taqueria and tequila bar to the family this October. Dos Toros plans to be open five to six days a week, with later hours than usual.
Located on Queen Street, they want Dos Toros to be a fun downtown destination, “where not-too-fancy people can come in, dressed however they want and have one too many drinks and three too many tacos,” said Shawna.
The idea for a taco and tequila restaurant was something the pair always had on the backburner. The couple has visited Mexico before and fell in love with the food. Brian said the Mexican-Canadian menu will be made up mostly of casual food and appetizers.
Over his years in the kitchen, Brian has also worked with a lot of people from Mexico.
“At first I thought it was just tacos and all that but then they introduced me to some nuances in regional cuisines,” said Brian.
They aren’t trying to tackle authentic Mexican food but instead will put their own spin on the cuisine. Brian said the ingredients of Mexican cooking don’t give a chef much to hide behind.
“Mexican cooking is kind of like Italian cooking in that it is basic and true to the ingredients,” said Shawna. “So you just execute those really well and the rest really comes together.”
Shawna has been working with their current bartender at MOCO to create a drink menu for Dos Toros. She wants to import different kinds of tequila through ANBL to put on tequila tastings in the future. If people like a certain tequila there will be bottles available for purchase.
Opening another restaurant has meant hiring new wait staff and kitchen workers. Shawna said that staff will bounce back and forth between MOCO and Dos Toros throughout the year.
“It was a hard year with Covid for the whole business,” said Brian. “But this kind of just fell into our laps.”
Shawna has been interested in the Queen Street location for a while. As soon as she heard the space was up for sale she contacted the landlord. The couple is excited to join restaurants like 540 and Naru that make up the downtown food scene.
After getting into the space around a month ago, they are in the process of moving decorations in. The decor will follow a bright theme, with one wall taken up by a mural from local tattoo artist Ryan McLaughlin.
They announced their opening on Facebook earlier this September. The post has now been over 54,000 views. The couple thinks their success opening MOCO Downtown five years ago has helped them take the leap with Dos Toros.
“It’s not quite as daunting,” said Shawna. “Like, ‘okay, we did this before we can do it again.’”
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Rachel Smith is an intern for Huddle, based in Fredericton. Send her story suggestions: [email protected].