Bite of the Best

What it is: Waldy Malouf, Founder/CEO, HIGH HEAT; chef/owner, Beacon Restaurant Category: Guest Foodie

This is our second edition of our new Guest Foodie BOTB (Bite of the Best) feature. Every other week, we’ll be spotlighting friends from the foodie universe. Let us know if there’s a food professional you’d like us to feature.

Who: Waldy Malouf
Title: Founder/CEO (HIGH HEAT); Chef/Partner (Beacon)
Organization: HIGH HEAT pizza burgers & tap / Beacon Restaurant & Bar
Location: 154 Bleecker Street @ Thompson Street Greenwich Village, NYC/ 25 West 56th Street, NYC
Website: HighHeatNYC.com; BeaconNYC.com
Twitter: @highheatnyc

Waldy was one of my six international “Cooking with Olive Oil Around the World” chef-panelists on an Oldways conference in Puglia, Italy. That’s when we really connected.

His impressive career has included affiliations with The Four Seasons, La Côte Basque, La Cremaillere (Banksville, NY), Hudson River Club in the World Financial Center and the Rainbow Room, where — four months after being made Chef/Director — The New York Times awarded him three stars.

Waldy is the author of The Hudson River Valley Cookbook:  A Leading American Chef Savors the Region’s Bounty (nominated for a Julia Child IACP Award) and High Heat: Grilling and Roasting Year-Round with Master Chef Waldy Malouf (co-authored with Melissa Clark). He is currently working his next cookbook, and building two more High Heat restaurants.

- bonnie

Which specific food product or gadget would you never give up?  Olive oil and salt, a knife. With those I can make anything great!

What do you like to serve when you entertain? Rosé wine in the summer, bourbon cocktails in the winter. Paella is a great dinner party favorite. Or leg of lamb.

Describe your “last meal?” Grilled lamb chops, grilled scallops on a beach with a bottle — or three — of rosé, with a few oysters thrown in; finish with very ripe peaches.

What food is your secret guilty pleasure? Wise BBQ potato chips and the occasional Kentucky Fried Chicken.

What is your go-to neighborhood restaurant? Sammy’s in Bronxville, NY; we live nearby. It’s straightforward unpretentious food: I usually order poussin.

What is one food product most people don’t know about, but should? Dried Mushroom powder, shiitake or morel. I add it to a mixture of kosher salt (Diamond brand only!) and ground white pepper; then season everything with it. It can also be sprinkled onto anything and mixed into sauces and vinaigrettes.

Follow @BonnieBOTB