GETTING TO KNOW CHEF BRIAN MALARKEY

With quite a few successful restaurants to his name and an appearance on “Top Chef ” already on his resume, San Diego chef and restaurateur Brian Malarkey decided to go back on television again to compete in “Top Chef: All Stars” in Los Angeles. Why? “I’m a better chef today than I was the first time I was on there,” Malarkey said of competing on “Top Chef: Miami” in 2007.

It’s also because Malarkey is in a new era of his career, with a slate of new restaurants opened in 2019 including Herb & Sea in Encinitas and Animae — which closed for a few months of the pandemic but recently reopened — in Downtown San Diego with his business partner Chris Puffer. His “All Stars” competition filmed last year but debuted on Bravo in March.

Like other restaurateurs and chefs in San Diego,

Malarkey has been adjusting to new coronavirus-related policies and guidelines and finding ways to cook, teach and raise funds for local charities in the digital space. He recently called in to the Name Drop San Diego podcast from the dining room of Animae. Read excerpts below or listen to the full episode in your favorite listening app.

Are you super competitive with these television shows or do you just enjoy the experience?

“Top Chef ” is exhausting.

It took me 10 years, I guess, to forget how horrible it was. When you’re locked up in a house, it’s like “The Truman Show.” You’re in a fishbowl and there are cameras everywhere.

They’re watching you brush your teeth. They watch your every move. You get deprived of sleep. You have these insane challenges. It’s exhausting.

I’m a better chef today than I was the first time I was on there. I went on there also for exposure for the new brands. The brands I was previously representing, I’ve sold and moved on from . ... I would say I went more for a marketing reason than for the joy of it, but when I do get into the competition, I do love it. I’m extremely fast, I’m very quick on my feet and I can tell a good story, also.

You’re from Oregon and have worked and competed in many cities. Why make San Diego your home base?

When I was up in Seattle working at The Oceanaire Seafood Room there, I was in my late 20s and they were opening a brand new restaurant in San Diego and they asked if I wanted to be the chef-partner. I was like, surf? Yes. Sun? Beautiful. Incredible city. Close to L.A., but so much more relaxed.

I jumped at the opportunity with my wife and we bought a house down here and fell in love with the city and the fact that I did appear on “Top Chef ” representing San Diego, I’m very fortunate and happy that the city has essentially adopted me. I’m not going anywhere now.

It’s great when you can get ... a city behind you to support your restaurants and your concepts. I help with the charities and do as much as I can do here to influence new chefs and new restaurateurs. I love this city and I’m just so proud of it and where it’s going and how it’s doing it and, you know, the dining scene in Little Italy and what’s happening in Encinitas, and at the tuna harbor over here ... just a really great community of great chefs and great people really trying to do something special.