One year ago this month, chefs Tiffany Leong and Cody James started their pop-up concept Magnolion, and it’s been a hit ever since.
“So much is similar in southern and Asian foods, with styles and techniques, that acid and heat and braised greens and pork–they share commonalities,” said James, who spoke with us for this article. “Once we started talking about recipes that exemplified that, we were like, ‘Wow, there’s so much we can work with.’”
The couple each come from a rich pedigree of Denver restaurants. For James that includes holding the sous chef position at the two-Michelin-starred The Wolf’s Tailor and, his current “day job” at BRUTO; and Leong, she worked as a sous chef for Duo, as well as for Brigaid, a company aimed at using chef skills to elevate the quality of school foodservice programs. Leong also runs a Mahjong club called the Honour Tile Society, which pop-ups at venues around town as well.
For James, the desire to become a chef first started when he was a kid and got into watching the Food Network’s Good Eats, hosted by celebrity chef Alton Brown. It was the science behind the cooking methods that really struck a chord.
“I started buying things to experiment with, though the first episode was [Alton Brown] breaking down a lobster and my dad was like, ‘I am not buying you a lobster.’” James recalled, adding he really started gaining an understanding of the kitchen in middle school. “I’m self taught and jumped right into it. I’ve never been the biggest fan of being in debt, and at the end of the day, I wanted to just start doing it. I was paid to learn.”
The southern side of Magnolion comes from James’ upbringing. His mom’s side of the family hails from Florida and his dad’s from Mississippi, so he spent summers in the South. On the Chinese side, James worked at Q House (now closed) in Denver, where he got “an eye opener in Chinese cuisine.”
“Once I got in the pantry and got my hands on the cuisine, everything I tasted I loved,” he said. “Working a wok was the happiest I have been while cooking.”
While James worked at Q House, Leong had just started Honour Tile Society. She put on an event at Jeff Fierberg’s Hot Shot Coffee and when the need for food arose, she knew exactly who to call. From there Magnolion was born, and the couple has plans to continue the southern-Asian magic with more events and pop-ups around town.
One of the couple’s signature dishes includes the Nashville Hot Laziji, a type of spicy chicken tossed in a chili oil spiked with red chili flakes and Sichuan peppercorns and served with pickled celtuce. Other a la carte dishes include a dirty fried rice with lap cheong (Chinese sausage) and chicken, Hot and Sour Coleslaw, and Salt and Pepper Catfish, which gets done dry-wok style and subs breaded catfish for the traditional shrimp.
Right now Magnolion does around one or two pop-ups a month, but they hope to increase volume. Possibly, winked James, they will do a residency at Peach Crease Club next. Brandon Soto, the co-founder of UP NXT DEN, has plans to move into the former Magna Kainan space in RiNO and make his restaurant incubator concept more permanent.
With that, said James, Magnolion may have another chance to shine in a steadier way. Until then, book a table for the last dinner at the UP NXT DEN BearLeek series on Sunday, July 26 starting at 5 p.m., with the last seating at 8:30 p.m. Book here.
“We’re getting our name out and we have been getting steady momentum,” said James. “We have recipes, we have people willing to work with us, now we just need to get more exposure.”
