On Anderson Boulevard, a couple blocks off State Street in Geneva, sits a modest building inscribed with the name Enigma.
Area residents who head over for a bite may not at first realize that anything’s different — that it’s no longer Altiro, the first of a chain of Latin fusion eateries created by Roberto Avila, who first opened the restaurant in Geneva more than a decade ago with his wife, Erika Villanueva.
No, Altiro’s Geneva location moved downtown — to Third Street, just steps away from the city’s Metra station.
But that move paved the way for Avila and his wife to undertake their latest project: Enigma, a new restaurant concept they opened in July, that serves seasonal dishes and is meant to be more of a fine dining experience than their other ventures.
Avila, 50, is no stranger to the restaurant business — or to the western suburbs, where all of the restaurants he owns that are currently operating are located. The chef and owner of Altiro — who is a former professional soccer player and real estate developer in Mexico City — first moved to Geneva more than two decades ago.
After landing in the United States, Avila began working in restaurants, eventually working his way up.
“When you come to this country, it’s like … you have to work in whatever, you know?” Avila said of his start in the restaurant business. “You can work in any kitchen.”
But, eventually, he and Villanueva ultimately decided to try starting a place of their own.
Altiro opened in Geneva in 2013, he said, and the pair later opened locations across the area: in Aurora, Plainfield, Wheaton, Chicago and more.
The COVID-19 pandemic eventually led them to close a few locations, Avila told The Beacon-News recently, and focus more on the suburbs closer to them.
Next, they tried their hand at an Italian restaurant, with Amore Mio in Aurora — and its accompanying speakeasy.
Villanueva has been the interior designer for all of the restaurants, and their children and daughter-in-law work in the business, too.
Then, after opening up an Altiro in downtown Geneva, Avila and his wife ultimately decided to make their original location off of Anderson something different.
So, Enigma replaced their original restaurant location, a few months after the downtown Geneva Altiro got going.
Nevertheless, some regulars still come into the restaurant expecting the restaurant they knew, Avila noted.
“A lot of people, they don’t know we’re here yet,” he said. “When they see, like, ‘Oh, that’s different,’ so they (get this) experience, different food and everything. People like it.”
He described Enigma as more modern, more of a fine dining experience compared to his other ventures. It didn’t make sense to make another Altiro, he said.
“The thing that here on this menu (is) we try to do seasonal,” Avila said of the latest project. The restaurant’s plan, he explained, is to rotate dishes out every few months.
Right now, for example, their menu features things like pumpkin soup, ravioli, lamb chops and paellas.
Their “salmon fumet” is a customer favorite, Avila said, as are their tetelas, a sort of corn masa pocket that is stuffed with fillings.
“The good thing with this one (is) we can make it everything,” Avila said.
Avila also has plans to bring in chefs to spend stints at the restaurant making different kinds of dishes, he said.
The family doesn’t have plans to open another restaurant — not yet at least. They’re putting more attention into their family as they have a grandchild now, Avila explained.
But, having weathered years of business, the pandemic and several different restaurant concepts, Avila said their success in the restaurant business over the years has come down to customer service and the experience they provide.
“If you don’t have … customer service, people, they, they’re not coming back,” Avila said. “Even if the food is really good.”
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
