Brian Malarkey is a chef and TV personality best known for being a judge on the cooking competition show The Next Food Network Star and later, Top Chef. He also appeared on the Food Network series The Next Iron Chef and Guy’s Grocery Games as a judge. Outside of his TV career, Malarkey is the owner and executive chef of several successful restaurants.
Brian Malarkey’s Restaurant Career
Malarkey got his start in the restaurant industry working under acclaimed chefs like Wolfgang Puck and Jean-Georges Vongerichten early in his career. In 2004, he opened his first restaurant, Oceanaire Seafood Room, in San Diego with partner James Brennan. The restaurant specialized in sustainably sourced fresh seafood and drew praise from critics. This launched Malarkey’s career as a celebrity chef and restauranteur in Southern California.
In 2009, Malarkey and Brennan opened a New American Brasserie called Searsucker in the Gaslamp Quarter of Downtown San Diego. The restaurant played with bold flavors and whimsical presentations while utilizing local, seasonal ingredients. Searsucker became hugely popular and expanded to locations in Austin, Texas and Denver, Colorado in later years.
Next, Malarkey opened restaurants focused on Asian cuisine – an upscale Pan-Asian dining spot called Herringbone in La Jolla, CA in 2012 and South Asian eatery Indigo Grill in Little Italy San Diego in 2018. Malarkey also opened Animae, an Asian-inspired cocktail bar with a Pacific Rim small plates menu in 2015. These restaurants expanded Malarkey’s repertoire of international cuisine.
Malarkey’s Restaurants on The Next Food Network Star
In 2009, Malarkey first appeared on Food Network’s reality show The Next Food Network Star where up and coming chefs compete to win their own show on the channel. Malarkey made it to the top 3 finalists before being eliminated. His exuberant personality and business success from his San Diego restaurants made him a standout on the show.
When Malarkey returned to The Next Food Network Star as a judge in Season 7 in 2011, he featured dishes from one of his San Diego restaurants – Searsucker – on a challenge episode. The contestants were tasked with making their own versions of some of Malarkey’s successful appetizers and small plates from Searsucker’s menu. His Spicy Fried Chicken and Waffle Sliders, Salmon Tartare Tacos, and Crispy Beef Tenderloin with Creamy Peppercorn Sauce were some of the dishes made by contestants on the episode.
In Season 9 of Food Network Star in 2013, Malarkey again incorporated one of his restaurants into a challenge. This time, contestants visited his Asian restaurant Herringbone and were challenged to create their own appetizers utilizing the restaurant’s seafood and Asian ingredients and cooking techniques. Dishes like Tea-Smoked Scallop with Ginger Slaw and Sesame Seared Tuna with Wasabi Cream highlighted the eclectic Pan-Asian menu at Herringbone.
Malarkey’s Restaurants on Top Chef
After establishing himself as a Food Network personality, Malarkey became a featured recurring guest judge on Bravo’s Top Chef starting in Season 10 which took place in Seattle in 2012. Top Chef came to San Diego for Season 14 in 2017 and incorporated Malarkey’s restaurants into two challenges for the chef contestants.
In one episode, the Quickfire Challenge required chefs to create a dish utilizing ingredients found at Malarkey’s seafood restaurant Herringbone. Chefs had access to items like smoked salmon roe, preserved Meyer lemon, sea beans and squid ink which were favored ingredients on Herringbone’s real menu. Herringbone’s executive chef was also featured.
Later in the season for the Elimination Challenge, the chefs competed in a progressive dinner visiting three of Malarkey’s San Diego restaurants: Searsucker, Herringbone, and Animae. At each restaurant, the chefs were tasked with creating a course complementing that restaurant’s cuisine. Malarkey assisted the chefs in designing dishes and offered feedback on their creations. The winning chef got a rare glimpse into Malarkey’s successful culinary empire in San Diego.
Malarkey’s Restaurants on Guy’s Grocery Games
Malarkey has made frequent appearances as a recurring judge on Guy’s Grocery Games also on Food Network. On this game show, chefs compete in cooking challenges using unknown ingredients found in a grocery store set. In a 2016 episode titled “Brian Malarkey’s Secret Ingredient,” all the mystery ingredients given to the chefs were items featured on the menu at one of Malarkey’s restaurants.
In the opening challenge, chefs had to make a dish using pretzel croutons, a staple topping from Herringbone that added saltiness and crunch to salads and soups. In another round, chefs cooked with Puffed Farro, an ancient grain featured in many Searsucker dishes. And in the final round, chefs were challenged to make ice cream using Sweet Cream Cheese Ice Cream and Goat Cheese Mousse, two of Animae’s signature frozen desserts.
Showcasing ingredients from his restaurants demonstrated Malarkey’s skilled use of unexpected and quirky components to create memorable dishes.
Malarkey’s Restaurant – Nimble Pizza Co.
Malarkey’s most recent restaurant venture brings him back to his roots, both geographically and culinarily. In 2021, Malarkey opened Nimble Pizza Co. in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. The fast-casual pizza restaurant was born out of the pizza truck called Big Fire Pizza that Malarkey launched during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to provide jobs to struggling restaurant workers.
Nimble Pizza serves wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizzas with creative twists on classics and unique flavor combinations. Some interesting pizzas on the Nimble Pizza menu include:
- The Reggie – red sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, jalapeño, pineapple
- The Hunter – white sauce, mozzarella, sausage, thinly sliced potato, rosemary
- The Campfire – red sauce, mozzarella, roasted chicken, smoked cheddar, toasted marshmallow
With Nimble Pizza Co., Malarkey mixes his fine dining background with more casual, accessible dining options to bring wood-fired artisan pizza back to his Midwestern roots.
Conclusion
Throughout his career on Food Network and Bravo cooking competitions as well as a celebrity chef and restauranteur, Brian Malarkey has showcased an array of his own restaurants from upscale seafood and steakhouse concepts to Asian fusion. His restaurants like Searsucker, Herringbone and Animae in San Diego have been featured on shows where contestants utilize ingredients and recreate menu items from these eateries. Malarkey’s latest restaurant Nimble Pizza Co. brings high quality wood-fired pizza back to his hometown. While Malarkey has expanded his restaurants across the country, he frequently references and incorporates his San Diego roots and flagship restaurants on cooking TV shows.