Flying High

By 2018, chef Sue Kim had found culinary success. Raised in Seoul, South Korea, she worked in kitchens across New Zealand, Japan, Thailand, South Korea and the U.S. She opened an Italian restaurant named Buccumi in Los Angeles. She ran multiple kitchens simultaneously for The Standard Hotel, also in L.A. And she operated as the chef de partie (head of a kitchen section) at the Michelin-starred Melisse in Santa Monica.

It’s impressive from 10,000 feet, but these experiences also taught Kim what she didn’t want in her day-to-day life.

“There are limitations to a big corporate operation,” Kim says. “I don’t care how big your kitchen is — even if you have to take care of 10,000 people in a day for a huge banquet, and I get that people need to do that sometimes — I just do not like food that has to be produced in that way. I was complaining a lot back then, which is probably why Eugene [Sanchez, her husband] decided I needed to be pushed into doing my own thing.”

To finally leave those career frustrations behind, the couple's answer was to simplify. In the summer of 2018 they moved back to San Antonio, where Sanchez grew up and Kim previously worked at Dough Pizzeria Napoletana and Minnie’s Tavern. In November 2019 they soft-opened The Magpie, a small East Side dinner kitchen that Sanchez calls “our anti-institutional move.” For the past three years, in 650 square feet imagined and operated by the duo — Kim the culinary veteran, Sanchez the professor who worked in kitchens as a kid — things have been kept intimate and manageable while the menu changes constantly and without restraint.

When I started this restaurant, everybody was like, ‘Is it gonna be a high end restaurant? Is it going to be a casual dining restaurant?’ But I never even actually thought it would be in any category of restaurant. I just wanted to deliver some delicious food,” Kim says. “Sometimes I choose ingredients because I miss them so much, [because] I have been away from my country so long. And sometimes I’m just thinking about ingredients and figuring out how I’d like to eat them, or what is the best way to consume them. That’s the way I think about food.”

“I mean, we are curious people. I’m always looking for new things,” Sanchez adds. “Sometimes when you feel a certain kind of way, a certain kind of food will enter your mind. And if that food doesn’t exist, but it should exist, then you just have to make it. Lots of Magpie dishes have come from that. Like the meatloaf patty melt — that was a dream, for me.”

Maybe San Antonio seems like an odd home for a restaurant where one week customers enjoy a black rice banchan set featuring soy-braised tofu and black sesame tuile and then dig into a poutine ribeye topped with cheese curds and beef just the next. But Kim and Sanchez were intentional about settling here instead of Seoul or Los Angeles. To start, the logistics looked right — rent for a tiny space was “cheap enough,” says Sanchez, and competition on the East Side was minimal despite the area becoming much hipper than what he remembers from his childhood in the 1980s. Kim also knew surviving a restaurant opening takes a village, and the couple had great family support waiting in San Antonio. “And they have supported us a lot,” she emphasizes. “If they hadn’t, we might have closed already due to the pandemic.”

But perhaps the most surprising factor to those not as familiar, the couple say customer tastes in town have broadened. Today’s San Antonio has many more open-minded eaters than the place where Sanchez and Kim used to live.

“San Antonio hasn’t really changed how I cook, but if I want to do these 20 things, back then I could only maybe get away with one or two of them. Now, I know the San Antonio culinary area has become more … vivid?” she says. “People have more experience with different things. So now, if I do three or four new things instead of one or two, people won’t be shocked.”

Vivid has been a good word to describe The Magpie. During the early days of the pandemic, it became a coveted destination for a takeout order, and the restaurant’s handful of tables (just 22 seats initially) have been full more nights than not since reopening. “The vibe has never really changed,” as Sanchez puts it. “We used to just be that little space inside, and we just wanted that space to be full all the time.” The corresponding demand eventually led to more seats on the patio. And to start 2023, The Magpie closed for all of January to remodel in the name of capacity, expanding to accommodate at least 40.

“Practically speaking, we never had a choice about whether or not to eventually expand or relocate. There was too much pressure from customers — we outgrew the space a long time ago,” Sanchez says. “During the pandemic we were hit as hard as anyone could have been and had to break every single one of our rules. We swore we’d never do reservations. Sue vowed she’d never do takeout. I never wanted a patio, but it was either offer outdoor seating or perish outright. Eventually we had so many employees that we couldn’t even fit another body into our space.”

“Really it’s not for us that we’re expanding, it’s for our customers,” Kim adds. “Yes, the menu will change, and the kitchen will change. We will feel bored and want to change something.”

“A feeling can be held, though,” Sanchez interjects. “Even while everything changes.”

Kim agrees. She says that if anyone wonders if the changes to the restaurant’s structure will change what The Magpie is, her answer is no.

“Expansion won’t change what we are.”

Learn more and see menu at magpie.us

Journalist Nathan Mattise (@nathanmattise) is always working to perfect his sourdough bagels. He also enjoys bocce, amaro, road trips, and a good playlist.

Seasonal Highlights

ThisSpring

Bok Choy, Green and Red Cabbage, Kohlrabi, Napa Cabbage

Broccoli, Cauliflower, Romanesco

Easter Egg Radish, Scarlet Turnip, Watermelon Radish, Fennel, Beets

Garlic, Leeks, Shallots, Spring Onions, Sweet Onions

Microgreens, Salad Greens

Mustard Greens, Rainbow Chard, Spinach

Texas Ruby Red Grapefruit (until April)

And... Strawberries!

From the Water Crawfish

Soft-shell Crab (from April) Black Drum, Sheepshead, Spanish Mackerel

For more information on farmers markets, seasonal recipes and what’s in season, visit ediblesanantonio.com

Blackberry Compote

Parfait with Basil Infused Whipped Cream

Recipe and photos by Heather Barnes Serves 4

½ c. sugar

2 c. fresh blackberries

1 T. corn starch or arrowroot starch

Juice from ½ lemon

2 T. water

PREPARATION

Dissolve the sugar with blackberries in a saucepan over low to medium heat for about 5 minutes until the blackberries become mushy. Add in the remaining ingredients and reduce heat to low. Stir every minute for 10 minutes until it thickens. Remove from heat and cool completely before serving.

WHIPPED CREAM

2 T. fresh basil

1 c. heavy cream

2 T. powdered sugar

PREPARATION

Chop basil to release flavor and add to a bowl with the heavy cream. Let sit in the fridge for 4 to 8 hours. Strain the basil out and beat with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Add powdered sugar a tablespoon at a time and continue to beat. Serve right away.

Assemble your favorite yogurt in layers with granola of your choice, a layer of blackberry compote and top with the basil-infused whipped cream.

Butter Lettuce Salad with Roasted Carrots and Beets and Fresh Cilantro

Recipe and photos by Heather Barnes Serves 4

4 beets, quartered

6 carrots, cut in half longways

2 heads butter lettuce, chopped

½ c. strawberries, halved Cilantro, for garnish

VINAIGRETTE

3 T. olive oil

½ T. Dijon mustard

½ T. fresh lemon juice

1 t. honey

Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION

Set oven to 450°. Drizzle beets and carrots with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast beets and carrots for 30 minutes or until browned.

After going to art school and culinary school, Heather Barnes found her passion for photography and food styling. She loves spending time with her family, cooking, and entertaining. You can view more of her work at HeatherBarnes.com or on Instagram at @heatherbarnesphoto.