After a banner year, Johnny Curiel won’t be slowing down in 2026.
The Michelin-decorated chef, known for his one-star LoHi spots Alma Fonda Fina and Mezcaleria Alma, will debut a “tasting menu restaurant” this spring called Maize.
It will be the Guadalajara, Mexico, native’s sixth opening of the past two years, a list including Cherry Creek spots Alteño and the upcoming Mar Bella Boqueria.
Maize will be located at 3455 Ringsby Court inside RiNo’s Taxi campus. Curiel’s wife and business partner, Kasie Curiel, signed a five-year lease with landlord Kyle Zeppelin for the 1,750 square feet. The space was formerly home to Fuel Cafe, which closed in 2015.
Maize will feature an 18-course menu and will seat only eight guests at a time, according to a news release, which said it will pay homage to Curiel’s house-made masa, a corn-based dough traditional to Latin America. It is sourced from an “ancestral Mexican corn harvest project” just outside Boulder.
Patrons will be greeted with “a libation that sets the tone for the story to come,” according to the release. They will move to a cold counter for “raw specialties” and then go through a glass-enclosed wine and fermentation room before concluding at the hot counter. The menu will have six different moles. A butcher’s block in between the hot and cold areas will showcase dishes such as carne asada, made with a Colorado lamb rack.
Curiel earned his second Michelin star this year for Mezcaleria Alma, which was also named one of the 50 best restaurants in America by The New York Times.
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