Just past the doorway at ALTO, off busy Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, the bar opens up under exposed post-and-beam ceilings, tanned cowhides hanging along the walls like abstract art.

Grab a seat at one of the small tables and settle in for the open-fire South American restaurant’s new, more casual bar concept, where street food takes center stage from executive Chef Esteban Klenzi and co-founder Juana Castellanos.

In its first year, ALTO has already landed a spot in the Michelin Guide California.

One culture, two chefs

Both chefs came up through fine dining — including time in Spain’s Basque Country — and watched their peers wear rigid, high-pressure kitchen culture as a badge of honor.

But Castellanos and Klenzi wanted something different.

For Klenzi, cooking is as much about feeling as it is about food — an idea his new bar menu extends directly.

“It’s like cooking at home for my friends or my family,” he said.

Black-and-white portrait of two ALTO chefs standing against a plain gray backdrop, facing each other in profile. The woman on the left wears a white apron over a T-shirt, her hair pulled back, one hand resting thoughtfully at her chin as she smiles. The man on the right wears a dark apron over a light T-shirt, arms crossed, a tattoo visible on his forearm, smiling back at her.

ALTO Co-Founder Chef Juana Castellanos and Executive Chef Esteban Klenzi.

Their connection runs deeper than the kitchen, though. Both chefs grew up around the Río de la Plata, the shared basin uniting Argentina and Uruguay into a single Rioplatense identity — once part of the same Spanish colonial territory before an 1828 treaty, brokered under British pressure, split them apart. Not unlike the Basque Country straddling Spain and France: one culture, divided by a border neither side chose.

What to order

The bar leans into what Klenzi calls the rotisserías tradition — the everyday, prepared-food spots common across Argentina. That shows up in the Tongue & Trout Roe Toast ($17): sous-vide beef tongue over brioche, finished with a celery-carrot vinaigrette and a crown of trout roe. It’s a savory, briny bite, perfect for sharing to start the meal.

The Tongue & Trout Roe Toast, one of the standout bites on ALTO's new bar menu.

Close-up of two pieces of toast on a dark plate, each topped with ruffled, thin-sliced beef tongue tinted pale pink, scattered with chopped herbs and diced vegetables, and crowned with a generous mound of glistening orange roe.

(

Soledad Recatume

/

Courtesy ALTO

)

The Real Deal ($18) — ALTO’s take on the classic choripán sandwich — pulls from the dinner menu, too: short rib and smoked pork, the same cuts used in the Asado Banderita and Pork Txuleta.

When the pair first sat down to design the menu, Klenzi found himself facing a deceptively simple question: “Should we make a burger? Or shall we make a choripán?”

They chose the choripán, prizing the way beef and pork together deliver, in his words, “the best flavor you can get from both of them.” Lard from the pork chop trim adds richness; the short rib’s fat keeps the sausage moist, with smokiness carried over from that same applewood-smoked chop.

For something heartier, there’s the Banderita & Frites ($39): a thinner cut of short rib than its dinner-menu counterpart, seared on both sides.

Alongside it, try the smashed potatoes from Weiser Family Farms, cooked in the charcoal oven with beef tallow. Klenzi refuses to serve french fries — this is his answer instead, crisp outside, rich with tallow underneath.

What to drink

Close-up of a deep red vermouth cocktail in a rocks glass, poured over a single large, cloudy ice cube. A thin metal cocktail pick rests across the rim, skewering two dark red pieces of dried fruit garnish. Light catches the glass, casting a warm reddish glow across the table below.

A pour from ALTO’s Vermucito Experience, served over ice with soda water.

(

Soledad Recatume

/

Courtesy ALTO

)

Ever since I wrote about Spanish vermouth last month, I’ve been a magnet for the stuff — not complaining, especially during these warmer months. ALTO had me covered, though the serving style looked nothing like what I’m used to.

Unlike the Spanish and Italian style of an orange slice and olive, Argentine vermouth is served over ice with soda water — lighter, easier to drink.

Interior shot of ALTO's lounge area at dusk, showing four burgundy velvet armchairs arranged around small black side tables with lit candles. A brick fireplace with three votive candles sits at the center of a warm, plaster-textured wall, flanked by two textured tapestry-like wall hangings under sconce lighting. A neat stack of firewood is visible to the left.

A cozy corner of ALTO’s dining room, where velvet chairs surround a wood-burning fireplace.

On the table: a trio from the Vermucito Experience — Las Flores blanco from Uruguay, and La Fuerza’s rojo and sideral from Argentina, Malbec-based pours ranging from $12 to $22.

“When you pour it in the glass, it’s almost red. It looks almost like a wine,” Klenzi said of La Fuerza’s rojo, made with Malbec. “You can really feel the pure essence of the Malbec wine.”

ALTO

Location: 12969 Ventura Blvd., Studio City

Hours: Tuesday–Friday 5:30–9:30 p.m., Saturday 5–9:30 p.m., Sunday 5–9 p.m. Closed Monday.

ALTO celebrates its first anniversary Aug. 13 and 14 with an à la carte collaboration dinner featuring chefs Clara Corso and Lucas Canga. Reservations are available via ALTO’s Instagram.

The regular dinner menu is a great choice for a special night out. But the bar is for every other night — the “almost every day” Klenzi imagined when he decided a choripán, not a burger, was the answer.

“If we see your face every day, we’re gonna take care of you every day,” Klenzi said.