In early March, nearly 100 people gathered at BearLeek for the launch party for Up NXT, a chef incubator founded by Denver hospitality professional Brandon Soto. The idea behind the program is to give emerging food concepts the opportunity to operate a recurring residency inside a restaurant, without the overhead of opening their own brick-and-mortar.
“Being able to bridge that gap and close the barrier to entry is something that I saw as a major need in our hospitality community,” said Soto, whose culinary resume includes a pair of New York City hotspots, Devil’s Thumb Ranch near Winter Park, as well as Tavernetta, Bruto and the now-closed Bistro LeRoux in Denver.
That barrier is even bigger for first-time operators. As an example, a recent report estimated that it costs between $1.8 million and $3 million to open a 3,000-square-foot restaurant in Denver.
Pair that with the fact that Colorado faces the highest restaurant inflation in the country – labor, rent, maintenance and property taxes all continue to rise while earnings have fallen by 20% — and itap never been harder to launch a food establishment here, according to the recently released 2025 State of Denver Restaurants report by the Denver Restaurant Liaison Project.
So for Up NXT participants like Josh Bednar, who showcased his concept, Workbench, on Sundays through the end of March, the residency is an opportunity to determine whether that investment would be worth it.
“We’re in this in-between space where we can do really unique things that we might not be able to do if we just jumped into a restaurant,” Bednar expressed. “This opportunity [with Up NXT] is great because it lets me experience firsthand what running service in a restaurant space like this would actually be like, and gives me direction on where I might want to take things.”
More than a pop-up
Up NXT hosted its first series in January and February of 2025 at the now-closed Koko Ni, which featured 14 chefs over the course of 16 nights, including the current chef de cuisine for Dio Mio, Cheyenne Langis, who highlighted Stuzzi, her small Italian plates pop-up; and Hannah Cunningham who went on to open Bon Vin wine shop in Sloan’s Lake last October.
Rema Maaliki, co-owner and chef de cuisine at BearLeek, also joined the inaugural Up NXT cohort after Soto attended one of her Poppy pop-ups. Now, she and Harrison Porter, co-owner and executive chef at BearLeek, are returning the favor by offering their space for this next iteration of the series, which allows for a more intensive experience.
“I met Rema last year through Jeff Fierberg, who hosted one of her Poppy pop-ups benefitting the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund,” Soto recalled. “We met through food industry things, and effectively that’s how I’ve had the pleasure of meeting almost everyone – either mutual friends or just being a part of the industry and sharing our love for the craft. It’s all been very natural and organic.”
Each month-long takeover will have a different format decided by the chefs, ranging from intimate tasting menus to walk-in brunches. Collaborators have access to BearLeek’s full kitchen, equipment, dining room and flatware. The restaurantap staff can pick up shifts if they choose, or Up NXT will help fill those roles. BearLeek’s bar will handle the drinks for each event, showcasing a natural wine program curated from underrepresented regions and domestic wines from Colorado.
In return, Up NXT retains 15% of total sales while BearLeek retains beverage revenue. “Itap important to me that we’re not skimming the cream from the top,” said Soto. “We’re reinvesting that cream back into the brands.”
The support goes beyond the space. Participating chefs also receive labor and food stipends as well as professional photography and media assets thanks to the program’s sponsors, which include Regular Architecture, Bowery Creative Dept., Cannolo Family Farms, Chef’n It, and Soto’s own Blue Sun Foods (an upcycled food company) and Shine Bev to Bar (a chocolate alternative).
The 2026 cohort
Bednar typically hosts his Workbench private dining experiences out of the first floor of his mixed-use loft, where he lives upstairs. For the residency, he brought his flagship tasting menu to BearLeek, where he’s offering an eight-course prix fixe menu priced at $125, with seatings between 5-9:30 p.m.
“We’re taking over the whole restaurant space [each] night. We’re going to have music bumping and Japanese barbecue grills fired up,” Bednar explained. “It’s going to be a blast, we’re so excited.”
Prior iterations have featured courses like handmade cavatelli, hamachi in leche de tigre, short rib tart, a carpaccio tostada and his signature A5 wagyu dish – which is grilled over imported Japanese charcoal and brushed with Bednar’s eight-year-old Tare, a continuously fed glaze made from aged soy sauces. “Itap kind of what we’ve become known for,” Bednar said of the wagyu. “The one time we took it off the menu, people started to rage on us.”
Beyond Bednar, Up NXT’s 2026 cohort highlights just how varied and ambitious Denver’s next generation of chefs are.
Matthew Drazick Halip recently left his full-time gig at The Wolf’s Tailor, Colorado’s only two-Michelin-starred restaurant, to focus on building domī, his pasta omakase concept, which he will showcase at BearLeek in June.
“Sharing this experience with the community is about opening the work outward, letting it live beyond a single room, a single counter,” said Halip. “Denver has shaped how I cook. Itap a place that values intention, experimentation, and hospitality that feels human. Bringing domī into this space is a way of participating in that conversation, offering something personal, something in progress, something intentional.”
“For me, cooking has always been about connection,” added David Arnold of Freehand Provisions, who sharpened his skills at spots like Uchi and The Counter at Odell’s. He will utilize BearLeek’s chef’s counter to host an intimate, eight-course tasting menu in May.
The chef aims to highlight his culinary philosophy, which centers around play. “‘Play with your food’ has been Freehand’s motto, and I love creating space for curiosity, experimentation, and joy at the table. When you approach food with that openness, you also start paying closer attention to where it comes from and how itap grown, making sustainability and relationships with local farms an essential part of my work.”
Industry veterans Cody Peeler and Tiffany Leong of Magnolion will be taking a slightly different approach. Their concept, which presents a blend of American Southern cuisine and regional Chinese fare, will showcase a range of experiences throughout July, including a chef’s counter tasting menu, a la carte dinner service, and a special collaboration with the Honour Tile Society Mahjong social club.
“Denver has grown so much and the food scene has really boomed in the past few years,” said chef Peeler. “[B]ut underneath all the exposure and platforms are people who have committed everything to their craft and strengthened the relationships they have forged through countless hours, services, triumphs and heartbreak.”
Additional participants include Pradyut Bansal, who will bring his Chaatwala pop-up in April with a Dosas and Mimosas brunch featuring his signature dosas (South Indian crepes); Eric Vollono and Emily Taylor will present their Eric Vollono Private Dining experience in August; and BearLeek’s own sous chef Benjamin Carolan will be featured in September.
The series will close in October with collaborative dinners from Jesse Albertini’s Sfoglina, known for hand-rolled pastas made with Colorado heritage grains, and Will Harris’ Denver Mussel Club, which highlights sustainably sourced shellfish.
Soto ultimately hopes the Up NXT series makes these pop-ups easier for people to discover.
“Having a consistent space and bringing multiple concepts under one umbrella helps close the gaps in exposure so Denver diners can participate beyond the usual ‘in-the-know’ crowd,” said Soto.
“A rising tide raises all ships,” he added. “By moving together, we can cast a larger net than we would be able to individually.”
Sign up for and selecting any Sunday through October.
