The Realization of an American Dream

December 5, 2024

By April Pearson

Mexican Heritage. Midwest Heart.

In 1995, Arturo Mora emigrated from Mexico to put down roots in the U.S. 

Over the next 20 years, he honed his culinary craft in some of the Midwest's best, most diverse restaurants. “I started working in the kitchen when I was 14, and I worked with a lot of different people,” Mora says. “I worked in Chinatown in Chicago, getting to know the spices and ingredients I love. Then I moved on to Splash in Des Moines, where I learned everything about seafood. After that, I was the executive chef at Christopher’s, where I learned how to prepare Italian cuisine from scratch.” 

From there, Mora worked for the Cheesecake Factory, traveling all over the world, collecting international flavors and developing an idea. After opening a new restaurant for the Cheesecake Factory in Mexico City — and eating a lot of street tacos — he decided to act on his idea to open a food truck stateside. “We started Flame about seven years ago,” he says. “My brother Artemio joined the team, and for two years, we worked the food truck part-time and at a different restaurant part-time.”

Fueled by Mora’s appetite for success and the community’s appetite for Mora’s food, Flame flourished. “I think if you give customers nice-sized portions of high-quality food and great service, they’re going to support you as a restaurant,” he says. Flame Group now employs more than 65 local people for its catering business, two food trucks headquartered in Grimes, Flame Cantina restaurant in Ankeny, Flame the Taqueria restaurant in Johnston, and Roots 95 Craft Kitchen and Bar in Johnston.

Strong Roots. Steady Growth.

There’s a reason why Roots 95 is the only enterprise in Flame Group without “flame” in the name. “I was really struggling on the name, because obviously I wanted to build a brand around Flame Group,” says Mora, “but I wanted to do something different with this restaurant.” His family encouraged him to come up with a name that was meaningful to him. 

“So I started thinking. As an immigrant, the first thing you want to do is put down roots — maybe start a business, join a community, have a family,” says Mora. “It’s like a dream.”

Mora’s dream of putting down roots culminated in Iowa. “Where I come from in Mexico, everywhere you go, people always say, ‘Hi, how are you?’ or ‘How’s your day going?’ My first interaction with someone in Iowa was, ‘Good afternoon! How are you today?’ It was like being back home.” Moreover, Mora grew up in a farming community in Central Mexico, where his grandfather raised cattle and grew corn. “When I first came to Iowa, I saw the farmers getting up in the morning, earlier than the sun, taking care of the land and animals,” he says. “I just loved it.”

Mora married his wife Hayley, an Iowa native and a special education teacher in Johnston. “If you think owning a restaurant is tough, you should try doing her job,” he says. Mora’s also proud of his and Hayley’s 18-year-old son Sam, who’s about to graduate from high school, and their 16-year-old daughter Julia, who recently met her personal goal at a cross-country meet. 

Strong family roots, strong community roots, strong business roots. “That’s how I came up with Roots,” he says. And the 95? “That’s the year I emigrated to this country.” 

International Flavors. Universal Appeal.  

The menu at Roots 95 is an eclectic mix of Mora’s favorite flavors from his world travels and kitchen experiences. Korean pulled pork. Scottish grilled salmon. Thai pasta. All-American burger. Spicy tuna tostada. Chicken carbonara. Roots 95 offers something for everyone, all made with as many fresh, local ingredients as possible.

“One of the advantages of having food trucks is that we do a lot of farmers markets, so we know a lot of local producers,” Mora says. “For example, we have a tomato guy who comes to our truck at the end of the market because he knows we’ll buy whatever fresh tomatoes he has left. Next year, he's also going to grow asparagus for us. We buy local honey; we only use beef from Iowa and Nebraska — we know local is best.”  

And nothing but the best will do for this restauranteur, whose culinary creations are about feeding one’s soul as much as one’s belly. “I'm a romantic when it comes to food,” Mora says. “Maybe I bring out the perfect dish of Korean short ribs, and they remind you of someone back home. Or maybe these shrimp tacos remind you of eating mango in Central America when you were a kid. I want to represent global flavors that customers can experience as they sit down to eat and talk about their day. It’s what I like to do with my wife and kids.”