On January 9, longtime friends and collaborators Brandon Soto and Silvino Sanchez debuted their newest project, Up NXT DEN. The month-long pop-up activation is being hosted in the home of Koko Ni, the tasting menu concept originally founded by Texas chef Paul Qui at Zeppelin Station in 2021 before moving to Five Points the following year. It went on pause at the end of November after the departure of chef James Gnizak and is currently “on a break to prepare a reimagining of a space to better serve the community," according to FAM Hospitality managing partner Johnny Hoang.
For now, Up NXT DEN has taken over the space at 1441 26th Street. It's open from 3 p.m. to midnight Thursday through Sunday; the series also includes two ticked multicourse dinners on January 25 and February 2. The wine bar and incubator's goal is to usher in the diverse next-gen talent pool of Denver’s finest chefs, bartenders and wine stewards for evenings of natural wines, non-alcoholic libations, elevated snacks and lively conversations.
In December, Sanchez held a pop-up dinner at Koko Ni for his Mexican-meets-Southeast Asian venture Sana Sana, with help from Soto and his brand Not Chocolate, which focuses on sustainable and ethical cacao alternatives. When Koko Ni closed, the opportunity to temporarily occupy the space became available and a new concept took shape. “We thought, ‘Why don't we just reach out to our friends and see if they want to pop up here and be given the same opportunities that we had?” Sanchez recalls.
Up NXT DEN is serving an à la carte menu and a cozy guest environment while forging connections within the food and beverage industry. “The opportunity to work and grow together removes the barriers to entry and empowers those involved to take action and create their individual impact on our local community," notes Sanchez, adding that as fledgling small-business owners, “we tend to get caught up in our own bubbles, and that is just focusing on what it is that we're doing. We don't look outwards to see that there are other people that are figuring out and struggling with the same things that we are.”
The incubator acts as a catalyst for large-scale cross-promotion, with each collaborator participating with partial or full-menu takeovers throughout the run. The first week features a house menu developed by Sanchez and Soto. It includes leek cake fries with nam prik pao aioli; fresh bread and butter; tacos árabes with lamb kebab and Not Chocolate mole; and the duo's take on chips and dip as well as chopped liver. This menu will also be served alongside beverage partner pairings throughout the month.
The week two schedule includes:
- January 16: The launch of a new ice cream company from Yna Zuniga, the pastry chef from Michelin-starred Brutø.
- January 17: Beverage professional Paul Webb will bring forth his elevated libation concept, Sipping Art.
- January 18: Christopher Ryan, fermentation specialist from another Michelin-starred eatery, the Wolf’s Tailor, will showcase his Grounded Coloradan Cuisine.
- January 19: Menu takeover from Rema Maaliki, chef/operator of Poppy, a philanthropic Palestinian and Lebanese experience.
Soto and Sanchez are proud to have curated such a diverse roster of professionals, not only for their skills in the kitchen, but for the shared understanding that building community is not merely a platitude, but rather a consistent effort to challenge flawed systems, create space for shared opportunities, and uplift the disenfranchised through education, access to resources, and sustainable and regenerative practices.
"Without the community, we have nothing," Sanchez says. "As hospitality professionals, if no one was there to support the work that we're doing, then the whole the whole system falls apart. So we definitely feel a duty to steward that push forward."
Up NXT DEN will culminate on February 2 by paying tribute to local chefs and iconic dishes that have shaped the Denver food scene. The multi-course dinner, led by Soto and Sanchez with contributions from the pop-up's collaborators, will include interesting plays on dishes such as the Denver omelet and the Market's much-missed Spring Fling Cake, as well as courses that honor culinary talent like Jen Jasinski, Justin Brunson, Alex Seidel and Jeff Osaka, many of whom are expected to attend the event.
“Longer tables and bigger plates" is the motto that has guided this project, Sanchez says. "There's plenty of room for everyone to have a seat at the table. As people in the industry, we need to work to keep extending that table and keep adding leaves to this ever-growing community.”
"Nothing without divine will," concludes Soto, referencing the Latin phrase that appears on the Colorado State Seal, nil sine numine. “If you believe in something greater than yourself — if that's your community or something else far more than you — with a sense of insight and togetherness, you can move mountains.”
Up NXT Denver is located at 1441 26th Street and is open from 3 p.m. to midnight Thursday through Sunday until February 2. For more information, including updates on ticket sales for the multi-course dinners on January 25 and February 2, follow @sandonbroto and @vino_sancho on Instagram.
