Opening Alma Fonda Fina was a leap of faith for chef Johnny Curiel and his wife Kasie, who debuted the Denver restaurant last December. Both had long-established careers in the Colorado hospitality scene, and quit their jobs to pursue opening their own eatery, inspired by local neighborhood spots in Mexico. Curiel, who was born in California and raised in Guadalajara, paid his dues for years working for other chefs, including Richard Sandoval and Troy Guard. But he eventually realized that he had to embrace his own vision—an instinct that led to Alma Fonda Fina being awarded a Michelin star in their first year.
“It’s all been worth it,” Curiel tells Observer. “All of those moments, both positive and painful, led to opening our own restaurant. And it’s not just about Michelin. It’s about working with my wife, and the team being happy, and the guests being happy and people coming in again and again and saying that what we have is special. It’s validating, and it was worth it. I would do it all again just to get here.”
Alma Fonda Fina, located in Denver’s hip Lower Highlands neighborhood, showcases authentic Mexican home cooking, drawn from Curiel’s many research trips back to his home country. The dishes are thoughtful, complexly layered and deeply flavorful, served with tortillas crafted with imported masa. It’s a casual, local spot and Curiel hopes to keep it as welcoming as possible, even with the newfound acclaim.
“I’ve made it really a point to talk about how nothing is changing,” he says. “So many people have reached out to me and said, ‘You need to raise the prices. Take opportunities.’ But we’re doing well and people are loving it as it is. Why would I change something? Alma is not changing. The menu obviously changes the same way we always do, but the concept, the prices, the happy hour—all of those things are staying the same.”
Since opening Alma Fonda Fina, Curiel and his team have unveiled Cozobi Fonda Fina, a sister restaurant, in nearby Boulder. It has a similar approach, with an emphasis on wood-fire cooking, although the menu is adapted to better fit its locale. It’s been a big year for the Curiel family, which also includes the couple’s young son, and the chef hopes to give back as much as he has been given to get here.
“What I’ve always thought about in connection to success is the mentorship I’m able to give and the guidance I’m able to give to other chefs, and the hands I’m able to lend,” he says. “It’s the same now, but I have an even bigger commitment to that. In the same way that I got here by people trusting me and believing in me and coaching me, I want to pay it forward and do the same. This has to be an organic and continued growth for everyone.”
On the heels of the big award news, Curiel tells Observer what it felt like to earn a Michelin star, his dedication to Mexican cuisine and what’s next for the restaurant.
Observer: How did it feel to learn Alma Fonda Fina had earned a Michelin star?
Johnny Curiel: It felt wild. I was on cloud nine for at least a full day. I didn’t even know what to feel or what to expect, but it was definitely great. It felt like it validated everything that we had been doing and it validated, for me and Kasie, doing the hardest thing, which was leaving our jobs a year and a half ago with no restaurant. At the time we felt like, “We want to chase our dream, and if we don’t step out of our comfort zone right now we’re never going to do it.” It was a hard decision and this helped to validate that. But honestly, I’m still processing it.
It is especially meaningful that you’re the only Colorado restaurant with one star that doesn’t do a tasting menu?
Last year, five restaurants got a Michelin star, and all of them were tasting menus. This year, those five restaurants retained them, and one restaurant got a new star and it was us. It was super amazing that we broke that cycle, because the expectations in Colorado were, “Well, if you’re not doing a tasting menu you pretty much don’t have a chance.” Because that’s what was done. But Oxomoco in New York City has a star. Casa Enrique has a star. Holbox has a star. All of these amazing Mexican restaurants that don’t do tasting menus have a star. So this feels like we’re up there with them. Not just because we have a star, but because we believe in our concept.
Has getting the star added a sense of pressure to what you do in Alma Fonda Fina?
Pressure, 100 percent. I’ve been more stressed and hard on myself the past four days than ever before. Which I shouldn’t be. I should soak this in and celebrate it, and that’s what I tell myself when I’m not in the heat of the moment. But you can even feel a change in the diners. We always got great reviews and people loved it. And now it’s the same thing, but when people get a dish and take a bite, there’s a new mindset. They’re like, “Oh my God, this is so amazing. It’s Michelin-worthy.” But I didn’t change the recipe overnight. That just what a star does.
When I was growing up in Colorado, there wasn’t much of a culinary scene. But it’s evolved so much in recent years, and this seems like proof of that.
Yeah, I grew up Breckenridge and came to Denver and left for a little while [for New York], and came back and it’s not the same scene I grew up in. There are some really great restaurants here. Chefs like Alex Seidel, Troy Guard and Paul C. Reilly—those guys started the movement. But there were not as many as there are now. It feels like now you can point your finger to any neighborhood and there’s going to be a badass restaurant there, or even two, or three, or four. There’s also a sense of community here now that didn’t use to be here. You hear chefs talking about going to check out each other’s restaurants with zero ego. Everybody’s looking out for Denver and for Colorado, rather than for personal gain. I’m a younger chef, but everybody’s been so supportive.
What are you most proud of in terms of showcasing Mexican cuisine on a higher level?
The proudest moment of my life was not Michelin or having the best new restaurant. It’s the fact that I, as a Mexican, was able to come to Colorado and share my story about what Mexican food means to me, and what I think of Mexico as a country. It feels gratifying. It makes me feel like I’m doing my part by being proud of my country, proud of my heritage and trying to expose Mexico to a lot more people. That’s one of the reasons why we opened a fonda fina. Because I wanted to share with 95 percent of the diners who are going to come out to dinner there. Not the five percent who can afford a tasting menu.
For me, it’s been a lot more than just having a good restaurant. I am a chef and an owner and I cook really good food, but I also want to share my story. And my parents are so proud. My dad started crying when I got the Michelin star. He probably didn’t know what Michelin was until now, but he knows his youngest son, who left home at 16, is doing the right thing with his Mexican heritage. I try to bring as much authenticity to the dishes and the ingredients as possible. I don’t want to create the illusion of food that doesn’t exist in Mexico. I want to cook what I grew up eating.
How much time have you spent in Mexico over the years?
With the last trip I took there, I think I’m at 120 trips to Mexico. It’s definitely more than 100. People think I’m crazy. The first time I went back to Mexico, I was 16 years old, and I got in my car and I drove there from Colorado. I got stopped by immigration. I drove all the way to Guadalajara non-stop from Denver. It was about 36 hours. That was how it started. And then whenever I had a few days off, I would drive to the border, like to El Paso. Just eat a taco and learn more about it. I wanted to tell a real story and not to research by going to restaurants here or looking at my phone. My thing was to leave any time I could. That’s why I didn’t save any money in my twenties.
Which dishes have established themselves as the must-haves on your menu?
The camote asado. There would be a riot outside of Alma if we took that off. The frijoles puercos and the birria de Borrego. We can’t touch those. They have become a staple of Alma. Those a must-get. But everything is amazing. But if you don’t get the camote asado, you didn’t go to Alma. And it’s been the diners who have done that, not me.
How did opening Cozobi Fonda Fina in Boulder compare with opening Alma Fonda Fina in Denver?
Boulder is super different when it comes to diners. We built it for that. There’s a lot more allergens. I was really cautious when I was building the menu to think about allergens and, the biggest one, being gluten-free. The restaurant is 100 percent gluten-free. The menu has several vegan dishes. It was challenging. We had the formula of Alma and Alma was doing great, but we didn’t want to copy and paste it. We wanted to go and do something different. It was a challenge, but I accepted the challenge.
Are you planning to continue to expand?
We are opening Mezcaleria Alma, next door to Alma, this fall. The food will be inspired by Mexico City. It’s not necessarily going to be a fonda—it’s going to be a completely different restaurant. The food I cook at Alma is home cooking. Mexico City, to me, is one of the biggest funnels in the world for world cuisines and migration around the world, so it will be a lot more adventurous. That also allows our chefs to be a lot more creative.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
