A Conversation with Michelin-Starred Chef Johnny Curiel

Editor's Note: This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

Last year, for the first time, five Colorado restaurants were added to the exclusive world-famous fine dining portfolio that is the Michelin Guide. This year, only one additional restaurant was invited to join the prestigious rankings: Alma Fonda Fina.

You’ve likely heard of the contemporary Mexican newcomer from the rave reviews it’s garnered online and in local media. (Fellow Michelin star-holder chef Michael Diaz de Leon praised Alma Fonda Fina in a conversation we had with him last year! 🎧) So we called up Alma Fonda Fina’s chef/owner Johnny Curiel to ask him about this shiny new accolade, and what it means for the restaurant’s loyal Denver diners.

Tell us about the moment you found out you’d earned a star:

I found out exactly when everybody else found out. Nobody lets you know early. Nobody gives you a head’s up. I found out on Monday at 7:30 in the morning with my wife and my son. We were sitting in the bed and then we opened our email and we saw “Alma Fonda Fina gets a star.” And damn, it was a shock moment. I was crying. My wife was crying.

I'm still on cloud nine. If you would have asked me 10 years ago if I was going to get a star — if my goal was to get a star — I would have said no. Like, I just want to share my story. I just want to be a great chef.

Denver eaters have been debating value for months — arguing that it's too expensive to go out to eat and that some restaurants are charging too much. How do you think about providing ‘good value’ to your customers?

To me, value doesn't just come from a big plate with a lot of food. I think people see value as the experience; the way that they're treated. People will forget what an item tasted like, but they will never forget how you made them feel. [People want to say], “Wow, I got this amazing experience, for under 200 bucks.”

Everybody's been asking if there’s going to be a price increase at Alma. But no. I made a commitment when I opened this restaurant to be true to who we are. You're still going to be able to come into Alma from 2-5 p.m. and enjoy our happy hour menu — no price increase.

For someone that’s never been to Alma Fonda Fina, what’s the first-visit must-order?

The Camote Asado. That's been our core menu item and it will never go anywhere. It's an agave roasted sweet potato with a fennel whipped requesón and a broken salsa matcha.

There’s a lot of prestige — but also a lot of pressure — that comes with a star. How do you imagine that might impact you and your staff?

Earning a Michelin star is the biggest accolade internationally that a chef can get. It doesn't get better than that. It's great. We see that as a compliment. We see it as, “Hey, we're doing our thing and they recognized us, they looked at us.” That's a massive pat on the back. So let's keep doing what we're doing. We're still a team. We're not better than anybody. We're not worse than anybody. We're just Alma Fonda Fina. Don't let it change you. Do we have a bigger target on our back? 100%. But we’ve had really good conversations with the staff about what this means and how we're going to handle it.

What do you think a star could mean for your restaurant? Have you already seen a spike in reservations?

Oh, 100%. Alma Fonda Fina was already a hot ticket. Getting a reservation for the restaurant was already three or four weeks out. But in a matter of two days, we are completely booked up for the next 60 days. So like two months from now, that day is already at over 100 reservations. And our space is only 34 seats. It's like, damn, now what do we do? We keep doing what we're doing because we're doing it really well.

As someone with obviously impressive taste, which other local chefs and restaurants deserve the spotlight?

Man, there's so many out there right now, but I think for sure Kawa Ni in LoHi. Chef Bill is doing amazing things there. I think the guys at Sắp Sửa are doing an amazing job as well. I really, really love Cart-Driver. It's a pizza place, but they do some amazing conservas. And last but not least, for me, one of those places that I can go any day of the week — Barcelona Wine Bar.