The chef behind some of Denver\u2019s most beloved modern Mexican food has opened a \u201clistening bar,\u201d referencing the concept\u2019s Japanese origins on the menu and spotlighting mezcal and Latin music.<\/p>\n
Malinche Audiobar, 1541 Platte St., is Jose Avila\u2019s long-awaited follow-up to La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal, which opened near Coors Field in 2021. It\u2019s the first of several new concepts<\/a> that Avila \u2014 who has been repeatedly recognized by the Michelin Guide<\/a> and the James Beard awards \u2014 is working to open in the city.\u00a0Listening bars in Japan are places where people can sip whiskey, smoke cigarettes and listen to jazz records on a high-fidelity sound system.<\/p>\n Like La Diabla, Malinche is a den for lovers of Mexico City, where Avila is from, albeit smaller, with a 35-person occupancy. (It takes reservations through Resy<\/a>.) Its narrow hall, located along Platte Street\u2019s strip of cocktail bars, coffee shops and restaurants, has barely enough room in the back for Avila\u2019s team to prepare the food on the menu.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, music and food, and especially good mezcals, bring people together,\u201d Avila said recently, seated at a high top in his new space. Soon, he\u2019ll sell tacos from a trailer parked on the street to the nighttime crowd as well.<\/p>\n More of a snack bar than a full-on restaurant, Avila\u2019s small menu is titled \u201cNikkei-Mexa.\u201d The word \u201cNikkei\u201d refers to both immigrants from Japan and a style of food that mixes Japanese and Peruvian traditions.<\/p>\n In Malinche\u2019s case, \u201cNikkei-Mexa\u201d means that instead of chips-and-dip, he is serving the licorice-flavored plant, hoja santa, fried in tempura batter and topped with cream of huitlacoche, a delectable corn fungus that is garnering attention in Denver<\/a>. The tamales, made from nixtamalized corn masa<\/a> (corn that is ground into flour in a specific way) and filled with rabbit meat braised in miso and pasilla pepper, are wrapped in dark-green Mexican pepper leaves (acuyo leaf). And the crudo is a \u201cblanket\u201d of raw tuna with Spanish sausage underneath, seasoned with a miso, guajillo and yuzu sauce.<\/p>\n Spherical jugs of different mezcals dangle from a rope slung across the bar. Bartenders pour from the jugs throughout the night, whether that\u2019s for flights of mezcal or for bespoke cocktails, which were developed by Dragan Milivojevic and range between $14 and $16 .<\/p>\n Just as important, though, is the music. Diego Andre\u0301s Martinelli \u2014 who helped open the music venue Public Records in New York City,\u00a0where some of the world\u2019s best DJs grace state-of-the-art sound systems \u2014 and sound engineer Darrien Williamson equipped the bar with its speakers, amplifiers, turntables and mixer.<\/p>\n On the night of the opening, Williamson christened the turntable with Antonio Carlos Jobim\u2019s \u201cThe Girl From Ipanema.\u201d At other times, Avila\u2019s streaming playlist of Latin rock, cumbia and Andean music serenaded guests through the speakers.<\/p>\n Malinche\u2019s walls, save for one made of red brick, are splattered with a mixture of adobe, clay and hay, and the ceiling is covered with panels of brown curtains hanging at different heights. The ideas came from bars in Mexico and Thailand, respectively, Avila explained. It was only after designing the interior that he learned it also provides excellent sound insulation.<\/p>\n With Malinche\u2019s launch, Avila\u2019s next anticipated openings are a restaurant next to Union Station, a food hall adjacent to La Diabla and a permanent home for El Borrero Negro<\/a>, where he slowly barbecues animals in an underground pit. Currently, that operation is taking place behind La Diabla, at 2233 Larimer St., on weekends.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/TDP-L-Malinche-Audiobar-RJS-14922.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1\")
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