Since its launch in 2015, 1 Hotels has championed sustainability, so it’s no surprise the brand chose an Austin restaurant concept poised to last: Alteño (altenorestaurant.com), a modern Mexican revelation. The brainchild of chef Johnny Curiel and his wife, Kasie, Alteño has already proven itself a winner in Denver, where the flagship earned a Michelin Recommendation and a place on Esquire’s Best New Restaurants list within its first year.
Curiel, who was raised in Guadalajara, says he and Kasie long hoped to become part of the Capital City’s dynamic food scene: “Opening a restaurant here has always been a dream.”
Alteńo at 1 Hotel Austin The restaurant’s verdant interiors 1hotels.com
Complementing the hotel’s natural palette and organic textiles, Alteño greets guests with woven chandeliers, soft tan leather banquettes trimmed with wood, and plants perched on wooden shelves. But the menu’s promise is also compelling. Alteño, meaning “highlander,” honors Curiel’s father and the bold flavors of Jalisco’s Highlands, where cornfields stretch to the horizon. That landscape comes through vividly in dishes like the pan de elote, an aromatic jalapeño cornbread served in a hot skillet and crowned with huitlacoche butter, smoked honey and fresh truffles. Order the chips and chipotle-tomato guacamole, also: nothing pairs better with the house’s spicy mocktail margarita.
