Taiwanese restaurant opens in Five Points with ‘Top Chef’ ties

Cold noodles, fried chicken, chili wontons and other Taiwanese snacks have arrived in Five Points.

Pig & Tiger, from chefs Darren Chang and Travis Masar, opens today at 2200 California St. in Denver. The pair have relocated and expanded from Boulder, where they started Pig & Tiger as a food-hall stall in Avanti Food & Beverage in 2020.

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Masar, who was a head chef at Uncle in Denver before becoming a contestant on the 11th season of Bravo’s “Top Chef”, met Chang after moving to Los Angeles in 2018, where they both worked for another of the show’s past contestants, Shirley Chung,.

Chang’s parents emigrated from Taiwan to Los Angeles, where he was born, though it was in Denver, under the tutelage of chefs Kevin Grossi and Carrie Baird (another “Top Chef” alum), where he got his start.

He and Masar bonded over Asian cuisine, then moved to Colorado to open Pig & Tiger. The restaurant was named after their Chinese Zodiac signs, Chang born in the year of the pig and Masar in the year of the tiger. Some of their recipes are based on what Chang’s grandmother prepared when he was a child, he shared in a statement.

The Pig & Tiger menu features rice and noodle dishes, dumplings and large plates such as pork belly and lamb buns, and onion-and-cilantro rolls made with beef shank and tongue. Smaller plates include “jellyfish” cucumber salad, popcorn shrimp and Taiwanese street corn, grilled in spicy and sweet soy sauces.

The drink menu includes and makes use of imported Taiwanese products such as Mr. Brown, a brand of canned coffee; dried salted plums; and Taiwan Beer. Boulder’s Ku Cha House of Tea supplies teas served hot and cold and cocktails are available in larger sizes to share among a group.

Pig & Tiger was one of The Denver Post’s eight most hotly anticipated openings of the year.

The restaurant shares its corner of Five Points with an escape room company, Woods Boss Brewing Co. and Denver Comedy Underground, a comedy club.

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