Brian Malarkey’s Searsucker

This is the original of the now 3 Searsucker locations (San Diego, Del Mar, and Austin) and Malarkey also has sister restaurant Herringbone (LA & La Jolla).  Opened in 2010, Malarkey's vision was to create the "New American Classic" through gourmet cuisine and a casual atmosphere.  The ever-evolving menu has a strong focus on the sea (the SEA in Searsucker).  In addition to the seafood you will find bites and small plates as well as plenty of farm and ranch selections.

For the GCIA board dinner, we elected to do the family style/large party menu.  For starters, we has the shrimp "spicy" and bacon grits; the beer braised short rib with horseradish & fried onion; artichoke hearts plus gruyere and tomato; and the crowd favorite turned out to be the egg + bacon "pork belly".  This was a thick cut pork belly piece topped with a fried egg and hollandaise on top of toast.  For "Greens" we has a choice of field greens with strawberry, goat cheese and walnut or "Caesar" romaine with kale and smoke.  For mains we had a selection of sockeye salmon with summer squash, cilantro and stewed tomatoes, Butter poached Alaskan Halibut with baby carrots, French fingerlings and watercress sauce; Australian Wagyu New York with crushed fava beans, morels and a charred scallion salsa verde; and last but certainly not least...the pork butt + grilled peaches + bacon emulsion.  The sides were butter potatoes, jalapeno-chorizo corn off the cobb, and probably the best Brussels I've ever had with walnut.

Desserts were simple, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate trifecta, and a creamy buttermilk panna cotta topped with blueberries and crumbs.  Searsucker serves lunch, weekend brunch, and happy hour in addition to their dinner menu.  I definitely recommend making it to one of his locations when in the area, but especially the San Diego location in the Gaslamp Quarter.