Houston. Alberto Alfonzo may be a native Texan who grew up in Venezuela, but his heart, soul and palate is Spanish. His father is the son of first generation Spanish immigrants and his mother is the daughter of Texas cattle ranchers.  Growing up in a large and very close family with twenty-five aunts and uncles, and dozens of first cousins, cooking was a major focus of Alfonzo’s early years. From the time he was just a boy, Alfonzo knew that he wanted to be a chef, and some day be involved in the restaurant industry. For more information about Alberto Alfonzo and his restaurant, Tintos Spanish Restaurant & Wine Bar, please visit our website at TintosRestaurant.com or call 713-522-1330.

 

Alfonzo spent most of his childhood in Venezuela within its large Spanish immigrant culture, tasting and cooking the foods of his parents’ homeland with family and friends.  He returned to Texas to attend high school before enrolling at Texas A & M University, where he graduated with a degree in Economics in 1989. He met his future wife Idania while salsa dancing with friends in 2002, and they were married in 2006.

Alfonzo began his restaurant career as general manager of a Pizza Hut. In 1995, he joined Landry’s Joes’ Crab Shack Restaurants as a Senior Kitchen Manager. He quickly climbed the corporate ranks from Opening Team Coordinator to Purchasing Manager, East Coast Corporate Chef, Research and Development Chef, Management and Culinary Training Chef to finally, Executive Corporate Chef, for Joe’s Crab Shacks nationwide. In 2006 Alfonzo left Joe’s Crab Shack to join the Tasting Room Group as the Director of Operations in charge of three Tasting Room Wine Bars locations and Max’s Wine Dive.  In his spare time, Alfonzo used his eighteen years of restaurant management experience to start his own restaurant consulting company, Restaurant Solutions, specializing in start up restaurants in the Houston area. In November 2008, Alfonzo decided to use his vast restaurant experience to fulfill his life-long dream of having his own restaurant.

 

To create his menu, Alfonzo traveled to Madrid, Spain, one of his favorite places in the world, to visit with family and friends, restaurant owners and chefs, not only to gather additional authentic recipes to augment the ones passed down by generations of his family, but also to explore the latest food trends in Spanish cuisine. He also met with purveyors and importers to ensure the food he served his diners, including the Serrano, wine and olive oil, was the same he ate in Madrid. With the resources in hand, combined with a lifetime full of dreams and experience, Tintos Spanish Restaurant and Wine Bar was born.

“Tintos will serve great Spanish food, both traditional and modern, where it will be all about flavor,” stated Alfonzo.  “Spanish food is represented throughout the new world,” he added. “The Caribbean, Central and South America all have great Spanish roots. Tintos will feature some tapas that will reflect these areas and will pair them with great wines from around the world. And if guests really like our wines,” he said, “I have a retail license that allows me to sell them a bottle or two, or a case, that they can take home with them. Good food, good wine and good friends is what its all about at Tintos.”