Greater Portland, Oregon residents have been hogging all of the commercial food cooked up by Native Filipino chef Carlo Lamagna since 2019. Come 2024, however, the 2022 James Beard Finalist for Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific plans to combine menus from both of his Oregon restaurants to deliver authentic Filipino fare to Denverites. Under the name of Magna Kainan (which combines the names of Lamagna’s two Oregon eateries), the restaurant will set up shop at 1350 40th St. in the NOVEL RiNo mixed-use development next year (per Westword). For the well-traveled chef, expanding to Denver from the Pacific Northwest was an easy choice.
“Filipino food is having its moment right now,” Lamagna told What Now Denver in an email. “I have a crush on the city of Denver and have always admired it from afar. It was even on our list of places to move when we decided to leave Chicago nine years ago.”
Lamagna arrived in Chicago after high school and college in the Philippines. He found his way to the Windy City from Detroit when he enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America. During this time, the burgeoning cook earned his chops under chef Paul Virant in his Michelin-starred restaurant, Vie. After Lamagna mastered the kitchen, he made good on a promise to his since-deceased father, opening Magna Kusina in Portland in 2019. The restaurant has since earned many accolades for his modern slants on classic Filipino plates like escabeche, oxtail kare kare, and “Mom’s Crab Fat Noodles.”
In 2023, Lamagna will extend the Filipino culinary concept into Beaverton with a vintage lechon, dubbed Magna Kubo. The “lechoneria” will specialize in delivering juicy rotisserie meats — whole fish, crispy-skinned chicken and pork, smoked brisket, and rice bowls. And in 2024, these concepts will collide in Denver.
“Magna Kainan is an amalgamation of both of my restaurants in Oregon, Magna Kusina and Magna Kubo,” Lamagna said. “We are taking elements from both concepts, upgrading them a touch, and putting it into action in a beautiful RiNo space.”
Lamagna won’t be making the leap alone. The chef partnered with local restaurant group Culinary Creative towards making the dining vision a reality. This pairing came about through a collegial friendship with partner and CC culinary director Max Mackissock who had been bugging Lamagna to open a Denver location “for years.”
“He finally caught me at the right time I guess,” Lamagna said. “After meeting (founder and CEO) Juan (Padró) and other members of the team, and realizing that we have very similar philosophies and values, it just seemed like a natural fit to be able to expand with such a great group.”
This will be quite a luxury for the residents of the 483-unit apartment community at NOVEL RiNo when the approximately 3,000 square foot Magna Kainan debuts sometime in 2024.
