Meet Mixela, a neighborhood aperitivo bar serving sushi and sips in Phoenix

Imagine being invited to your friend’s home to eat, sip on some well-curated drinks and pass the time. Only, these friends have spent years working in fine dining kitchens around the world, and use only the best local, seasonal ingredients.

Such an experience exists in Phoneix’s new aperitivo bar, Mixela.

Located on 24th Street just north of Osborn Road in Phoenix, Mixela (pronounced MI-sche-la) represents the culmination of experiences and ideations of partners Valentina Huerta and chef Gian Franco Brugaletta.

The couple met about 20 years ago when they were both working in Monaco. After moving to the United States, they opened Old Town Scottsdale restaurant Nonna Urban Eatery in 2017. Although they had a successful start, the arrival of the pandemic forced Brugaletta and Huerta to reimagine the kind of restaurant they wanted to run.

“The way that people eat changed a lot after COVID. People were more into munching rather than sitting and having a big meal. People wanted to have a drink and something to nibble on,” Huerta says. “We live close to here and we used to own a wine shop in this building. So when we started seeing the changes, we said ‘I think the concept needs to be something simpler, something quicker.'”

Huerta and Brugaletta set out to create a bar with a community feel. Huerta describes it as a “let’s get together for a drink, happy hour kind of place. And so the idea of apperativo bar was born.”

The couple also had a food truck in addition to Nomada, the wine shop in the space where Mixela currently resides. Eventually, they let go of Nonna and the food truck and focused on building out the wine shop space for Mixela.

The couple built a small, but effective kitchen in the building, sans a walk-in refrigerator. For a restaurant, this is nearly unheard of, and means that they must be extremely resourceful and intentional when creating and executing their menu. Fresh produce and fish are delivered frequently, and stored in smaller fridges. The offerings revolve around hyper-seasonal ingredients from local purveyors.

“It’s a very small kitchen. So in Mexico, we call it ‘cocina de autor,’ which is ‘author kitchen.’ There’s no real name for it in the U.S., but it’s basically that the menu is built around what (Brugaletta) is really good at and who he is as a cook and as a person. There’s just no way of saying it in English. So, we just call it apperativo bar,” Huerta explains.

The line between wine bars and restaurants can blur, meaning customers might be unsure what to expect, Brugaletta says. But it also means the concept can become whatever customers are looking for.

“Two friends, they come in, they get a bottle of wine and bruschetta. And they chat,” Huerta says. “But you also have people who are here for date night and just have like eight different things.”

Since making its debut in August 2024, Mixela is fast becoming a beloved neighborhood spot.

“It’s a good area, it’s a good community. I think they’re a lot more receptive of things that are different, of things that are qualitative. They are much more receptive of trying things, of paying for good food that’s made from scratch,” Huerta says.

What’s on the food menu?

The menu features a selection of South American tapas and elevated sushi. That mix fulfills the restaurant’s name, and is a culmination of the couple’s life experiences.

Brugaletta was born in Venezuela in a Sicilian community, and studied cooking in Italy. Huerta was born in Mexico but has lived in Europe for much of her life. The mix of South American and Japanese cuisine was inspired by Brugaletta’s upbringing in Venezuela, and his lifelong love of sushi.

Brugaletta worked at Madonnina del Pescatore, a multi-Michelin-starred restaurant in Senigallia, Italy, where crudo was ever-present. After that, he moved to Monaco and opened Buddah-Bar, a restaurant in Monte Carlo that focused on sushi and other Asian cuisine.

When Brugaletta and Huerta first came to the U.S. and opened Nonna, customers were not surprised that a chef named Gian Franco Brugaletta was making exceptional Italian food. However, limiting the scope of the menu to one cuisine was not a true reflection of his or Huerta’s culinary identities.

“Fortunately we live in a world which is very globalized. Sometimes your name might be deceiving. And so when we moved to this concept we said, ‘this is truly going to be a menu that speaks to who he is.’ And we cannot conceive a menu with no sushi because he is really good at that,” Huerta says.

While unexpected at a tapas joint, sushi fits perfectly within the shareable small bites parameters of the menu.

“It’s always a pickle when you don’t fit into a label of what people think is what it should be. People I guess expect papas bravas, and they maybe expect chorizo, and there is some of it, but there are also things that are a lot more elevated than what you would think,” Huerta says.

Some standout plates are the Pulled Pork Arepas with tomatillo chicharron sauce, house-made pickle and Manchego cheese, or the Spicy Salmon Avocado Maki with yuzu tobiko and furikake. Desserts are treated with the same level of sophistication. Don’t miss the Red Wine Poached Pears and Amaretto Cream.

What to drink?

Far from just a wine bar, Mixela offers beer from local breweries and sake from renowned local maker Atsuo Sakurai of Arizona Sake. Wines are sold by the glass and the cocktails are “aperitivo style,” Brugaletta says.

“It’s meant to entice you to eat more, and it’s meant to be more of a happy hour cocktail,” added Huerta. She continues, “You’re having Aperol, you’re having a bitter, you’re having Fernet, things that are a little more complex.”

Mixela also offers a rotation of non-alcoholic beer, cocktails and still or sparkling wine.

Brugaletta and Huerta maintain relationships with several small, local beer and wine distributors, who frequently choose to host their clients’ tastings at Mixela.

“People who sell wine, often they like to eat well,” Brugaletta says.

Huerta also went to culinary school and has a wealth of experience in the food industry. For the couple, any concept that did not revolve around scratch-made, high-quality dishes would not be a true reflection of themselves. Before it closed down in 2022, Nonna was an expression of this dedication. Mixela is now carrying the torch.

“For me, it starts with the place. If I want to feel good somewhere, it needs to start at a place that is cozy, that is warm, that is not pretentious but that is elegant and clean and slick and a little sexy, and it feels good,” Huerta says. “I think we have created this here, first thing. And then comes the food.”

Being an open and intimate space, Huerta is often privy to guest reactions to the food, which she says are overwhelmingly positive.

“People don’t expect what they’re getting. It’s the same thing with the wine,” she says.

As Huerta notes customer reactions, they can also watch the chef at work.

“There’s no wall between the kitchen and people. That is very important,” Brugaletta says.

“People see who’s cooking for them,” Huerta adds, “It’s almost like inviting someone to your house.”

Mixela

3410 N. 24th St.