Searsucker

By Friday Puppy

Without Bravo TV I’d definitely be a bunch smarter but so much less entertained by shit-crazy women and wise guy chefs. Although I’ve never eaten at The Brownstone (because I like to leave dinner with all of my hair), I did have the opportunity to eat at a  Top Chef affiliated restaurant in San Diego last week, Searsucker.

I live in Rochester, New York and our food scene here isn’t necessarily set up to cater to celebrity chef eateries.  The most well known chef in town is probably this guy.  So when I found myself unexpectedly sitting in a restaurant run by a former Top Chef contestant, I was apprehensively excited, mildly intrigued. The chef is Brian Malarkey and he was on Top Chef season3, Miami.  I remember him being a likable guy, hard working, and edited into the resident family man/seafood enthusiast role.  The food he prepared looked pretty good but rarely seemed to really WOW the judges.  It’s here that I usually feel jipped by this show…that I have to trust what the judges say the food tastes like, because I never obviously get to taste it myself. At least when I’m watching American Idol live, I can actually see and hear what the kids are doing..I don’t need Randy to describe what Jacob Lusk sounds like  ( a cat in a dryer), I can do that for myself.  I do actually know a way to work this all out for myself once and for all…stop watching so much fucking television.

So my wife and I had a really good time and some  delicious  food at Searsucker.  We were walk-ins so the only seats available were at the “Chef’s Table”, which in this case means bar type seating that overlooks the one open  kitchen in the space.  One of the guys on the line was pretty annoying.  He had worked out  his routine into a very laid back, “dude, this is  so first year culinary school” vibe that was forced and contrived. ..fake cool.

The food that arrived was anything but.  The menu was right in my wheelhouse…we ended up getting a couple salads (my chopped salad was really great), the Bacon and Eggs (which was a tower of pork belly and a poached egg+a limp sauce reminiscent of bearnaise), the prosciutto wrapped Albacore (which came overcooked and underseasoned), and the Hanger with truffle. Brian Malarkey was all over the restaurant, apparently working his ass off.  If you read this blog you know how much some folks in  my family loves seeing celebrities in public…but even though this guy barely registers as a celebrity in most circles, I was thrilled.  It was fun eating his food and comparing what I thought of his cooking on Top Chef to the food that I was actually eating.  He finished fourth that season and that’s just about where I’d put the meal as well…not one of the three best meals I’ve had lately, but definitely better than eleven.

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