Brian Malarkey

Brian has one brother named Palmer, and the two boys were raised by their mother as a single parent.

In October of 2007, Brian was added to the list of Top Chef alumni who have a blog at the Bravo website. His main topic is seafood, but he discusses other subject as well. He also blogs on the weekly episode of Top Chef season four.

A seafood chef in his regular life, Brian was noted for his constant use of seafood in the Challenges on Top Chef, but he surprisingly failed to execute a trout dish in the last Quickfire Challenge in which he participated.

Brian was one of the four chefs to reach the finals of the third season of Top Chef in Aspen, but was cut before the last round of the competition, leaving him in fourth place. He was, however, asked to be a part of the Judges' panel tasting the ultimate Challenge's dishes made by the remaining three chefs.

Brian says that his closest friend from season 3 of Top Chef is C.J., calling him a "best friend for life." He also became close with Casey, Hung, and Dale.

Brian admits that he doesn't have much advice to give to chef's aspiring to be on Top Chef. He says he'd rather "give advice to aspiring chefs than aspiring reality-TV chefs."

Brian hopes to one day open a restaurant in Portland, Oregon, where much of his family lives. He says he will name the restaurant "Teta," after his grandmother.

During the Top Chef episode "Restaurant Wars", guest Andrea Strong commented that Brian needed to, "get thee some Right Guard." Several days after the episode aired, Brian received a year supply of the product.

Brian spent one year as a theater arts major at Santa Barbara City College before turning his attention to cooking.

Brian admits that, on Top Chef, you are often judged on your charisma instead of your cooking skills.

Brian enjoys watching Entourage, Top Chef, and Chargers football.

In June 2007, Brian appeared on the cover of the San Diego based magazine Street.

Brian is married to Chantelle Hartman, a freelance photographer. They were married in an outdoor ceremony near Lake Harriet in Minneapolis.

Brian says the chefs he admires most are Bernard Guisse, Alan Gerrard, and Marcus Samuelson.

Brian says his favorite simple summer recipe is cold beer, cold wine, and cold seafood.

Brian's grandmother was a friend of famed Chef James Beard and became interested in cooking after watching her in the kitchen.

Brian's favorite chef from season one of Top Chef was Harold Dieterle. He calls Harold "level headed and focused".

Brian's motto is "Love, peace and happiness".