Malarkey Book Signings & What He Said To Bourdain

At a recent cooking class, where he played the jocular host while a handful of past Top Chef contestants earnestly demoed their dishes, chef-restauranter Brian Malarkey chatted a bit with the audience about his very full plate, which currently holds five local restaurants (plus a campus cafe, and maybe more to come), a just-opened eatery in Scottsdale and others in the works for LA, Austin and possible other locales that he's keeping under his fedora for now.

Malarkey couldn't share too much about ABC's cooking competition "The Taste", his return to reality food television, in which he co-stars alongside Anthony Bourdain, Nigella Lawson and Ludo Lefebvre, other than the episodes have been taped and the series is scheduled to air in 2013. In a candid moment, he did say that his first words to Bourdain when they met on set were "you asshole" — playful retaliation for the three times that Bourdain tried to eliminate him during his Top Chef tenure.

Offhand, Malarkey wasn't able to name SD's best taco stands (Ed. note: Tacos El Pescador, La Fachada) but did mention that he'd just been to Cafe Chloe the night before, and was a fan of East Village's Neighborhood, Market in Del Mar, and Chefs Matt Gordon and Jason Knibb.

This week, he added the title of cookbook author to his growing resume with the release of "Come Early, Stay Late" and kicks off a week of book signings tonight. At 5p.m. he'll be at Point Loma's Gabardine, by 7p.m. you can see him at Searsucker in the Gaslamp. On Wednesday at 5p.m., he'll join Burlap's Anthony Sinsay in Del Mar and round out the week on Thursday at 5p.m. in La Mesa at Gingham and at 7p.m. at La Jolla's Herringbone. Each cookbook signing will feature tray passed appetizers and hosted Pick & Rocks cocktails.
·First Look At Brian Malarkey's Cook Book [U-T]
·Brian Malarkey [Official Site]