Everything We Ate at Mar Bella Boqueria’s Chef’s Counter

Chef Johnny Curiel has given us another reason to dine in Cherry Creek North with his latest restaurant, Spanish neo-bistro and wine bar Mar Bella Boqueria, which opened inside the Clayton Hotel and Member’s Club earlier this month.

The restaurant marks a big change for Curiel, who has focused on Mexican cuisine since opening his first venture, Michelin-starred Alma Fonda Fina, in 2023. Since then, his career has taken off. Fonda Fina Hospitality, which he runs with Kasie, his wife and the company’s operations guru, also includes Alma Fonda Fina’s Michelin-starred neighbor, Mezcaleria Alma; Bib Gourmand eatery Cozobi Fonda Fina in Boulder; and Michelin-recommended Alteño, which is also located in the Clayton Hotel.

This week, Curiel was named a James Beard semifinalist in the Best Chef: Mountain region category. The night after the news broke, he was behind the twelve-seat counter at Mar Bella Boqueria, serving his first omakase-style offering. (Later this year, he’ll introduce an eight-seat tasting menu concept, Maize, in RiNo.)

Mar Bella is inspired by the Curiels’ travels in Spain, particularly Barcelona, and the chef’s excitement about the cuisine is apparent as he reminisces about the memorable meals he’s enjoyed while visiting the country where tapas are a way of life.

The majority of Mar Bella’s dining room is filled with tables and a large bar, where dishes can be ordered a la carte (small plates average around $21-$28, while larger entrees start at $42). But we opted for the $125 per person, eight-course chef’s counter experience on our first visit, which — spoiler alert! — was a complete pleasure.

While this is Johnny Curiel’s first foray into Spanish cuisine, the progression feels totally natural thanks to some familiar elements, like the dry-aged seafood that’s a staple at Mezcaleria Alma and, of course, some mezcal in the mix, alongside lots of Spanish wines. Less than a month after opening, the team’s strengths are already on full display.

Here’s everything we ate at Mar Bella Boqueria’s chef’s counter:

The chef’s counter experience is not a set-in-stone menu; it will shift day by day, table by table, and beverages are ordered separately. We started with the light and fruity French martini ($15) topped with coconut milk foam. Other cocktail winners were the brandy carajillo ($14) and the blood orange “gin” and tonic made with mezcal and sage oil ($25 for a large sipper that includes a can of the remaining Strongwater Spanish tonic on the side, so you can extend your cocktail experience).

The energy was high in the space as we began our meal, set to a playlist of some Spanish tunes alongside a lot of American pop music, which echoes Curiel’s experience in Spanish eateries.

A large island occupies the space in front of the chef’s counter, where cured meats are almost always being sliced fresh by the team during service. Our first course included a variety of olives marinated in citrus and garlic, and a plate of thin slices of Iberico jamón and pan can tomate, which was less garlicky than other versions we’ve had of this standard tapas dish. The bread is sourced from Grateful Bread. “We were going to make our own, but this kitchen doesn’t have a hood,” Curiel explained, joking that every other restaurant he’s opened is hood-less (including both his Michelin-starred spots).

Then we moved into the dry-aged fish dishes, neither of which is on the regular menu. The dry-aged smoked salmon toast was paired with creamy whipped goat cheese and the real flavor booster, a drizzle of truffle honey. Next was a tartare-like preparation of dry-aged tuna, cut into small chunks and topped with uni, which added a lovely layer of richness to an otherwise very clean bite, piled into house-made potato chips.

The most popular dish on the menu so far, according to staff, has been the croquetas, and for good reason. This one-biter (“take it all at once,” Curiel advised, “and if you think you can’t, do it anyway”) takes the traditional potato croquetta and ups the culinary ante with Maine blue crab and Mahón cheese, a pop of piquillo mayo, and a slice of otoro on top.

The seafood courses concluded with the gambas al ajilo: white prawns swimming in a mix of olive oil, parsley, lemon and chiquilin pepper. (You may want to ask for some more bread to pair with this one, as there’s plenty of good olive oil to soak up.)

A dish that hasn’t been as popular but should be is the endive and melon salad, a palate refresher that brought a palate-pleasing mix of slightly bitter Belgian endive, creamy sheep’s milk cheese, sweet compressed honeydew and cantaloupe, and a bright citrus dressing with pops of briny shallot throughout.

While Mar Bella is decidedly seafood-centric, the meaty dishes we tried were hits, too. The piquillos rellenos are a saucy treat, stuffed with coffee-braised oxtail and topped with both tomato frito (a sauce made with slow-cooked tomatoes, creating a concentrated umami flavor) and bright green salsa verde.

Our final savory course was the solomillo de res, a tender Certified Angus Beef filet over a hash brown, topped with a generous slice of seared foie gras and completely bathed in a rich demi glace reminiscent of mole, a nod to chef Curiel’s heritage and his other hit eateries.

The meal ended with a slice of Basque-style cheesecake made with brie and MitiCaña de Oveja, both made from sheep’s milk, and paired with a berry compote made with blackberries, raspberries and blueberries and finished with flaky salt.

“Here, you can take a trip to Mexico, or to Spain,” our server noted, pointing across the Clayton’s lobby to Alteño, which was also buzzing with a filled dining room as we dined at Mar Bella.

So we now have two reasons to visit Cherry Creek North more often, and Curiel has yet another hit on his hands.

Mar Bella Boqueria is located at 233 Clayton Street and is open from 3 to 11 p.m. daily. For more information, visit marbellaboqueria.com; reservations for the chef’s counter and the main dining room are available via OpenTable.