Alma Fonda Fina
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First it was Maize. Then it was Fonda Maize. Today, it’s Milpero.
The imminent launch of the 16-seat, 18-course tasting menu concept from Johnny and Kasie Curiel is one of the more anticipated restaurant openings of the year. After all, the couple’s Fonda Fina Hospitality group already has two Michelin stars under its belts — one for Alma Fonda Fina and one for Mezcaleria Alma — as well as a Bib Gourmand nod for Boulder’s Cozobi Fonda Fina and a Michelin recommendation for Alteño in Cherry Creek
The couple’s new restaurant, scheduled to open in RiNo on May 13, is the first to feature the tasting menu format so commonly found among other Michelin-starred establishments. However, the path to opening has not been without its bumps along the way. Specifically… the name.
Most restaurants today struggle with licensing issues, broken appliances, and challenges staffing up. But the most visible complication that the Curiels faced was settling on a controversy-free name.
Originally, the concept was going to be called Maize, a seemingly innocuous choice given that it simply means corn — an ingredient that chef Curiel plans to feature in great detail at the new restaurant. But the name brushed up uncomfortably close to that of former food truck Maíz, which owner Maria Rangel relocated to Assembly Student Living in 2025 shortly after Westword named it Best Food Truck/Cart in 2023.
According to statements posted to Instagram, Rangel was concerned that their respective websites were similar enough to cause confusion (maizdenver.com vs maizedenver.com). The resulting social media comment storm raised some interesting questions around the legitimacy of claiming ownership to a common ingredient like maize, as well as community responsibility and support among restaurant owners.
Earlier this month, the Curiels and their team updated the name and website to Fonda Maize, which calmed things to a degree, but not completely. Whether this latest name change is a direct response to the simmering controversy or just a natural pivot as part of the creative process of opening a new restaurant is not completely clear.
According to the restaurant’s Instagram post announcing the new name, a Milpero is a farmer who tends a traditional corn field, called a milpa.
“It reflects not only our reverence for maize as an ingredient, but our commitment to its broader cultural and agricultural legacy,” says the post. “More than a name, it embodies our purpose to honor corn in its entirety, from the hands that grow it to the history and traditions it sustains.”
Based on the menu details shared in advance of the launch, maize will remain a very core part of the experience, which includes maize being ground into masa using the traditional nixtamalization process. The restaurant is partnering with the Masa Seed Foundation to use grain from a field southeast of Boulder for the vegan corn pechuga-style mezcal.
Other highlights include a cold counter for raw preparations, a glass-enclosed wine and fermentation room, six types of moles, and a butcher’s block for breaking down dry-aged fish and meats.
