Musical kitchen chairs: Fat Duckling Matthew Sullivan is Maléna’s new head chef
Last week we reported that Maléna had lost executive chef Doug Neigel to Mercatto after its head chef Rob Rossi split to open his own place. Neigel’s replacement, Matthew Sullivan, is now in his fourth week and has made a few alterations. “The menu’s changed completely,” he told us. “There’s not one item that’s the same. The concept, the suppliers, the presentation are all different.” Sullivan previously completed a stage in the U.K. at the three-Michelin-starred Fat Duck under celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal, before moving to Spice Safar in Toronto. More recently, he garnered some buzz with his erstwhile roving pop-up operation Boxed Toronto (it popped up only once, at The Mascot on Queen West).
When we spoke to him, Sullivan was particularly excited about the Perth pork, a shoulder and belly dish that requires some considerable effort in the kitchen. “It is a farmhouse sort of dish,” he said. “We’re using harder cuts, but with technique we’re really elevating it. We’re not interested in pork tenderloin.” Still, the menu doesn’t look like a completely radical departure to us so far (Jon Sufrin took a tour of it over at Post City). Sullivan is also in talks with a yet-to-be-named local chef about running a new pop-up dinner this winter.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/food/matthew-sullivan-malena-head-chef/&title=Musical kitchen chairs: Fat Duckling Matthew Sullivan is Maléna’s new head chef&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/matthew-sullivan-food-transfer.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_94093" align="alignleft" width="320" caption="Sullivan ferries food across Queen Street West to The Mascot during his Boxed pop-up (Image: Natalie Castellino)"][/caption]
Last week we reported that Maléna had lost executive chef Doug Neigel to Mercatto after its head chef Rob Rossi split to open his own place. Neigel’s replacement, Matthew Sullivan, is now in his fourth week and has made a few alterations. “The menu’s changed completely,” he told us. “There’s not one item that’s the same. The concept, the suppliers, the presentation are all different.” Sullivan previously completed a stage in the U.K. at the three-Michelin-starred Fat Duck under celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal, before moving to Spice Safar in Toronto. More recently, he garnered some buzz with his erstwhile roving pop-up operation Boxed Toronto (it popped up only once, at The Mascot on Queen West).
When we spoke to him, Sullivan was particularly excited about the Perth pork, a shoulder and belly dish that requires some considerable effort in the kitchen. “It is a farmhouse sort of dish,” he said. “We’re using harder cuts, but with technique we’re really elevating it. We’re not interested in pork tenderloin.” Still, the menu doesn’t look like a completely radical departure to us so far (Jon Sufrin took a tour of it over at Post City). Sullivan is also in talks with a yet-to-be-named local chef about running a new pop-up dinner this winter.){kind=link}
I went to Malena a few of times when the old chef was in the kitchen and recently went to check out the restaurant again after reading about the squid ink ravioli with lobster in Sheryl Kirby’s Toronto.com Word of Mouth blog. Can’t remember the exacts of the old menu, but I do remember the taste, and have to say, the new items aren’t at all what I remember. Our meal was quite superb. Didn’t try the Perth pork but will next time. FYI: It was pretty crowded and loud on a Sat, might be better on a weekday.
Funny, I went to the ‘new’ Malena last night for the first time, I just googled it now and saw that there was a new chef which makes perfect sense. I used to go to the ‘old’ Malena because I lived near there, pretty standard, tasty reliable food but last night’s meal was pretty outstanding. I had the ‘brick’ chicken, not the pork, and it was so flavorful and delcious. It’s exciting to have a fresh ‘new’ restaurant in the neighborhood!
New Malena is plain awful. The new chef is trying too hard to impress at the expense of the quality of his dishes: overcomplicated, oversalted, overly oily plates can’t hide his inability to cook food that simply tastes good. With the fresh, high quality ingredients of Malena’s kitchen – simple is key. I wonder how much longer this beautiful dimly lit room can fool the Yorkville crowd…