Ni Tuyo’s Molcajetes Are Spicing up Denver’s Mexican Food Scene

Pho. Gumbo. Chicken pot pie. This deep into winter, Coloradans are likely getting tired of the same old belly-warmers—making it a perfect time to visit Ni Tuyo in Bonnie Brae. In July, chef Silvia Andaya and the team behind South Broadway’s Adelitas Cocina y Cantina and La Doña Mezcaleria opened the chic eatery and mezcaleria, which specializes in meats and veggies stewed in flavor-packed sauces and served in piping hot volcanic-rock molcajetes, aka mortars. Start with Mexican comforts such as tlacoyos—corn-based flatbreads topped with black beans, chorizo, a nopales (prickly pear cactus) salad, and queso fresco—then share one of the bubbling cauldrons (each feeds two to three). We’re partial to the mariscos, which marries a blend of mussels, tilapia, and shrimp with a rich butter and white wine sauce spiced with red pepper flakes, and the Ni Tuyo, whose rib-eye steak, chicken, longaniza (Spanish-style sausage), nopales, and melty panela cheese swim in a roasted tomatillo sauce. Any one of the five varieties, however, is sure to enliven your cold-weather cuisine routine.