Denver’s hottest chef of 2025 announces another new restaurant

Perhaps no other chef dominated the Denver scene this year quite like Johnny Curiel, the transplant from Guadalajara who received a new Michelin star, a James Beard Award nomination and a place on the New York Times’ list of the best American restaurants.

Curiel began the year by opening his fourth restaurant, Alteño, inside the Clayton Hotel and Members Club in Cherry Creek. He’ll end it with news of a fifth, the Spanish-themed Mar Bella Boqueria, next door, at 249 Clayton St.

A departure from his Mexican restaurants — Alteño, Alma Fonda Fina, Mezcaleria Alma and Boulder’s Cozobi Fonda Fina — Mar Bella Boqueria will instead set its sights on the cuisines of Spain’s Basque country and its culture of pinxtos, which are a version of tapas.

The idea originated from Curiel’s travels in the region with his wife and business partner, Kasie Curiel. Their management company, Fonda Fina Hospitality, introduced the upcoming restaurant concept on Thursday.

Mar Bella, described by the Curiels as a “Spanish neo-bistro and wine bar,” will have a menu consisting of seafood-forward tapas, as well as “in-house conservas, pâtés, terrines, and a dry-aged fish program.” There will also be hand-cut Jamón Ibérico and Serrano, meats and cheeses. “A Spanish-driven wine list complements the menu (with porróns, of course), alongside a cocktail program with a roving gin and tonic cart and cocktails,” Fonda Fina Hospitality said.

The restaurant is expected to open sometime this winter.

This year, Alma Fonda Fina was nominated for best new restaurant at the James Beard Awards. Though it did not win, it retained its Michelin star.

The travel guide company also awarded a star to Mezcaleria Alma, Alma Fonda Fina’s sister restaurant. The New York Times included it in its annual compilation of the 50 best restaurants in the U.S.

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