When Dallas Chef Blythe Beck opened Pink Magnolia near the Bishop Art’s District last summer she had a plan. It included Southern cooking in an upscale dining environment with a menu that featured Deviled Eggs, Biscuits and Butter and even Texas Lamb Chop Lollipops for an opener. If you still have room, and you should save room, the entrees are diverse and wickedly tasteful too like the Cayenne Garlic Shrimp and Grits, Candied Orange Smoked Duck Breast or Cornmeal Fried Catfish.

Yep, tasty to say the least, but Beck knows tasty well since she did an eight-month stint at Kitchen LTO. Prior to that spent time at the Mansion on Turtle Creek, Hector’s on Henderson and Central 214 in Hotel Palomar.

Located in the old Driftwood space in Oak Cliff, Pink Magnolia sees Beck partnering with Restaurateur Casie Caldwell.  Caldwell was the brainchild behind the permanent pop-up restaurant idea Kitchen LTO incorporating rotating chefs and designers at Trinity Groves and it is where she met Beck too.

Fast forward to Pink Magnolia and remember, Beck has been coined the Naughty Chef since it was while at Central 214 that she worked on the television project The Naughty Kitchen with Chef Blythe Beck. She was also featured on Beat Bobby Flay – Season 3 on the Food Network in 2014 and through it all she has kept her cooking style as naughty as her previous show.

Earthy with cayenne red hair, Beck talks the talk and also walks the walk with her menu options and while her choices are about pleasing the taste buds, she goes for the soul as well. The name Pink Magnolia was inspired by the magnolia flower as a nod to southern strength and hospitality, which Beck has in spades. It is also all about her “pink positivity,” a southern favorite — much like her latest venture has become.