The restaurant, which pays homage to homestyle Mexican food, made its debut on December 8, 2023, and in less than a year has racked up impressive accolades, including a Michelin star in September, when the latest edition of the Colorado guide was released.
Now it's nabbed another honor. On December 3, Esquire revealed its list of the Best New Restaurants in America. Alma Fonda Fina is among the 35 picks — and is the only Colorado spot to make the cut.
Of the buzzy spot with an eight-seat chef's counter, Esquire writes:
Johnny Curiel stands behind the counter at Alma Fonda Fina like he’s ready to pounce. There’s more than technique guiding his movements as the chef assembles the pieces of a tuna tostada with smashed avocado, salsa macha, and dollops of mayonnaise that has been infused with the nutty tang of chicatana ants. Curiel’s got the brassy smile and the coiled energy of a man on a mission: He’s all taste this and try this and I want you to know about this. He was born in Guadalajara and became so determined to bring Mexican excellence to Denver that he and his wife, Kasie, sold their house to raise money for the restaurant. (The gamble paid off: About a year later, the restaurant landed its first Michelin star.) In that spirit, the team at AFF seems incapable of phoning anything in, whether it’s the guacamole (with its anisey purr of hoja santa) or its avocado margarita (with the verdant fat of avocado puree giving the acid-treble cocktail some succulent bass notes). Tortillas, both corn and sourdough flour, have the heft and chew that only human hands can deliver, and the birria de borrego—a prodigious lamb shank towering over a lake of spice—makes osso buco look a wallflower.Curiel was also named Rising Star of the Year for his role in "leading a new Mexican revolution in Colorado," Esquire says.
It's been a huge year for Curiel and his wife and business partner, Kasie Curiel; they also opened two other concepts this year: Cozobi Fonda Fina in Boulder and the latest, Mezcaleria Alma, which debuted next door to Alma Fonda Fina just two weeks ago and is inspired by the food of Mexico City.
All three Curiel spots are part of a culinary movement in Denver and beyond that has chefs and culinary innovators placing heirloom corn and its ancestral preparation practices at the heart of their menus. “There's so much you can do with corn, and that’s why, whenever we change our menus, we focus on our masa section. I want to be able to bring a guest back to Mexico by a bite," Curiel explained to Westword in October.
He's doing a damn good job of making that happen.
