Former favorite restaurant spot west of Modesto to reopen, again offer Southern fare
A beloved former restaurant space is finding new, and hopefully delicious, life again just west of Modesto.
Magnolia Southern Kitchen is moving into a building on Beckwith Road that was the home of the Farmer’s Catfish House, a favorite for Wood Colony and Modesto residents for more than 30 years until its closure in 2016. The new restaurant will specialize in Southern food, including fried chicken, gumbo and, yes, even catfish.
Magnolia Southern Kitchen owners and chefs Trace Tedde-Vega and William Ross are nearing the end of a long road getting their restaurant up and running. Professional chefs for more than 30 years each, the Modesto couple had first tried to open in a vacant historic general store in the tiny Alameda County hamlet of Sunol.
But after moving from the Bay Area to Modesto to be with Ross about five years ago, Tedde-Vega would often pass by the then-open Farmer’s Catfish House location sitting on a rural stretch about two miles west of Vintage Faire Mall. And she always marveled at the lines out its door.
The building, tucked in between orchards and farms, started life as a a service station in the 1930s. Tom and Dolores Watkins bought the business in the early 1980s. At that time it had been operating as a meat-and-potatoes spot called Farmer’s Restaurant.
They added “Catfish House” to the name and through the decades the quaint space with its plastic red-checked gingham tablecloths was often elbow-to-elbow. Generations came back for its fried catfish, hush puppies and drinks served in Mason jars.
Then, one day, Tedde-Vega noticed the restaurant was dark. This was after her Sunol project fell through, so she made some inquiries — even showing up on the owner’s doorstep at his nearby farm. She left a note, not knowing what to expect. A couple of months later, she heard back and started planning.
The pair has been slowly working on renovating the place ever since. That includes bringing the building up to code for accessibility, as well as remodeling and upgrading the kitchen and interior. Outside they’ve added a new roof, taken down the rotting wood facade and given it some fresh paint.
Good honest Southern food
They hope to be open by spring, maybe late April or early May. They plan to put on a true Southern spread, showcasing food from throughout the region. Think black-eyed peas and collard greens, etouffee and boudin balls.
“This will be good honest Southern food — nothing too fancy,” she said.
Still, all this Southern goodness is coming from a somewhat unlikely source. Tedde-Vega was actually born in the United Kingdom, and didn’t move to the United States until she was in her late teens. She comes from a restaurant family, but their specialty was Italian. Still, she said, by the time she could hold a knife she was a prep cook.
She ended up marrying a Southerner, though they’ve since divorced. Before they wed her future mother-in-law, whose family all hailed from Louisiana, told her she need to learn to “cook right.” So she did, and said along the way she fell in love with Southern cooking. Over the years she worked in kitchens in Mississippi and the Bay Area.
Ross is from the Bay Area, but his grandparents are from New Orleans and he grew up watching them cook. He graduated from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco and worked in various restaurants throughout the Bay Area.
They also have both worked as private chefs, cooking for everyone from Tesla CEO Elon Musk to hip hop superstar Dr. Dre and soul legend Stevie Wonder.
Now they want to bring their love of food to the Wood Colony and Modesto community. The restaurant will be a true family affair with the couple’s children, nieces and nephews helping out. If the impatient neighbors who stop by almost daily to check on its progress are any indication, the area is hungry for another place to call its own.
“I want to build this as a business that will be there for the family for years to come,” Tedde-Vega said. “We’re excited about serving the community in Wood Colony.”
Magnolia Southern Kitchen will be at 4937 Beckwith Road in Modesto. For more information visit www.facebook.com/magnoliasouthernkitchen.
This story was originally published March 1, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
