Executive Chef Carlos Anthony is leaving San Diego's Herb & Wood restaurant after an eight year stint to focus on full-time content creation with his longtime boss and mentor, celebrity chef Brian Malarkey.
Charles "Carlos Anthony" San Martano was drawn to Chef Brian Malarkey's charismatic energy and television persona ever since he was a boy, so much so that he initially reached out to Brian in July 2009 with the goal of relocating from his home state of Arizona to San Diego to work for Malarkey's growing restaurant company. Carlos eventually did just that and joined the opening team at Searsucker and worked for several of Malarkey’s fabric restaurants.
Carlos broke off from Team Malarkey during the Hakkassan era and launched his own restaurant in San Diego's Hillcrest, the short-lived Salt & Cleaver. In 2016, he returned to Malarkey's employ to help open Herb & Wood in San Diego's Little Italy and has been working as the restaurant's Executive Chef ever since.
Carlos announced to staff at a meeting this past weekend that he would leave Herb & Wood after service on March 5 to focus on building content with Malarkey and expanding his own television resume. Carlos has appeared on such culinary television shows as Cutthroat Kitchen, Chopped and even faced off against his mentor Malarkey (and won) on an episode of Food Network's Superchef Grudge Match cooking competition. Carlos and Malarkey recently launched their own YouTube channel, where the duo do a variety of food-related content and hi-jinx.
On the last day of Chef Carlos Anthony's employ at Herb & Wood, Tuesday, March 5, the restaurant will host Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives star Guy Fieri, who will help judge an all-star cocktail competition. The event will be called "Tournament of Cocktails," in honor of Food Network's Tournament of Champions cooking competition, which includes both Carlos Anthony and Malarkey as competitors.
It was recently announced that another of Brian Malarkey's proteges, Chef Tara Monsod, would soon be pulling double duty for Puffer Malarkey restaurants. In addition to continuing her role as Executive Chef of downtown San Diego's Animae, the James Beard Award semi-finalist would also be leading the kitchen at Malarkey's incoming Le Coq restaurant, which is expected to unveil this April in the former Herringbone space on Hershel Avenue in La Jolla.
Herb & Wood is located at 2210 Kettner Boulevard in San Diego's Little Italy. For more information, visit herbandwood.com.
Herb & Wood is located at 2210 Kettner Boulevard in San Diego's Little Italy. For more information, visit herbandwood.com.
