San Diego Reader

Thursday night I ran into Brian Malarkey, star of ABC’s The Taste, at Gingham in La Mesa. Malarkey, Top Chef season 3 Runner-up, owns six local restaurants: Gingham, Gabardine, Seersucker, Burlap, Herringbone, and Campine.

The 34-year-old was sporting patent leather Danskos. Thanks to his all-American preppy quirkiness and a nice pair of argyle socks, Malarkey was able to pull of wearing clogs with ankle-skimming pants.

You can find Malarkey’s Dansko clogs at Nordstrom for $124.99.

Every Tuesday night at Gingham they host a viewing party of The Taste. If you plan on attending, I recommend ordering The Ballerina and the Czar, a blend of vodka, cucumber water, and blueberry honey.

“We were number one in our time slot last week,” Malarkey said of his new reality program that airs Tuesdays @ 8/7c on ABC.