June 7, 2022 – Some of the elements sound a little scary: Beets that have been cooking over the hearth for days. Anchovy paste that’s been fermenting for five years. Moldy rice. Fiery homemade hot sauce dispensed from an eye dropper. 

And, in the wrong hands, they would be. At much-awaited Maligne in Seaside, which opens to the public Wednesday, they’re key ingredients that also provide a peek into what chef-owner Klaus Georis and his team want to do: Namely, deploy ferments, live fire, slow smoke, clever recipes and ancient techniques to give fresh product pop.

“It’s all about what you have in your pantry,” Georis says. “A lot of depth in food comes from those types of additions.” 

“We basically want to make everything as difficult as possible,” says sous chef Greg Delgadillo. 

The desired experience finds a parallel in the place itself: An unmarked cement and corrugated metal exterior is both understated-stylish and almost anonymous, but through the beautiful antique door, in a setting with an unfinished urban elegance and a vaulted ceiling, a vibe leaps to life.

Our sommelier/server Pyper Witt summed it up well. I think she was talking about the unexpected vegetal soul of the meadowsweet ice cream in lovage oil, but she might as well have been talking about the restaurant itself. 

“There’s a shock factor,” she said, “in a good way.”

Maligne (pronounced Ma-LEEN) is many things. 

The word itself is the feminine of malin, which in French means clever and mischievous. “When I was a little kid, I was called malin all the time because I was always getting into things I shouldn’t,” Klaus told me as part of a March 2020 pre-pandemic piece on downtown Seaside’s evolution. “And feminine suits the almost delicate style of cooking I like to do.”

The restaurant, in the simplest sense, is a wood-fired seafood spot. Note the yellowfin tuna steak, whole grilled branzino, grilled prawns and the tuna collar, which unfortunately uses red-listed bluefin ($32-$48). [There are also very few meat dishes, like a dairy beef ribeye ($75) and bone marrow with morels ($28).]

It’s a raw bar. The dozen items on the half page raw menu include littleneck clams, lobster rolls and crab claws from Maine ($3-$45); oysters shucked, Rockefeller or royale from rotating sources ($3-$5 each); peel-and-eat prawns ($8); caviar service ($75); seafood tower in standard ($85) or “royale” ($180) scale.

The mixed Prince Edward and Shigoku oysters we slurped proved fresh, slippery and satisfying, boosted by the house hot sauce and a tidy mignonette. The Old Bay-kissed prawns tasted as smoky as any I’ve ever had, which may be a lot for some but is my kind of shrimp situation.

Maligne is also a time machine. The contemporary feel generated by the style of design and dish is real. But so too is respect for centuries-old cooking traditions, like cultivating their own koji—the aforementioned moldy rice that’s central to soy sauce, miso and sake—to use as a natural tenderizer and seasoning in as many proteins and vegetables as possible.

“It’s the ultimate secret weapon,” says sous chef Austen Falls, whose resume includes Sierra Mar at Post Ranch and Single Thread in Napa. 

Later he adds that their habit of breaking down every piece of product to dehydrate, ferment or create stocks and tonics and jams harmonizes with the fact the oak burning in the hearth is from the Georis family yard.

“They grew up looking at that tree,” Falls says. “A lot of our philosophy here is to bring things full circle.”

Maligne is also a team sport, like all restaurants, but with its own version. Klaus Georis and his sous chefs clearly enjoy tinkering together. His dad and restaurateur Walter Georis—whose art hangs on the walls—is a constant presence. Brother Max Georis pops over from his Counterpoint Coffee Shop a block away. Londoner hospitality whiz Alex Mouzouris pulls everything together in his role as maitre d’/fixer/good energy guru. Bills automatically include 20 percent gratuity to honor the hustle of often underappreciated service staff.

Another way the team element works in: Carmel native Klaus met budding farmer Nile Estep in middle school. Estep runs the Carmel-by-the-Sea Farmers Market but also recently started planting out his land at Hacienda Hay & Feed. The vast majority of what he ultimately grows will go directly to Maligne. Meanwhile other outposts like Azzopardi Farm in Salinas and Spade & Plow in Gilroy supply things like farm fresh eggs and tomatoes.

It’s also a neighborhood restaurant—or at least that’s a stated goal. Key ingredients to that end: 1) the warm setting, set off by the hearth, wide-open kitchen and floor plan; 2) the social spirit of the raw bar and plates like the seafood tower; 3) the overall playfulness of the place, which extends to an atypical wine list long on French selections, interesting whites and large-format bottles. 

Two non-wine beverages certainly speak to the vibe and thoughtful playfulness. For the soft opening, friends and family were greeted by a take on Kir Royale apertif without liquor, done instead by clarifying a mixture of cream and summer berries and adding Catalonian sparkling cava. The second spun off an Arnold Palmer with homemade Meyer lemon granita and a blend of scarlet and rooibos teas with a mint crisp on top, basically creating the sexiest slushie going and cleansing the palate at the same time. 

Like the food menu, classic items redone with smarts. 

“We want to be more interesting, more creative, using what we have on the Central Coast,” Mouzouris says.

Maligne is also an ambitious undertaking. Delgadillo, who has worked with Klaus at Michelin spots on two continents (including In de Wulf in Belgium), articulates that as he arranges pineapples to be super-slow-smoked over the oak. 

“We’re something different, where you can get an experience for $50 and don’t have to go to a Michelin-star restaurant and pay $300,” he says. 

And it’s the culmination of a very long arc. That’s not just the case for Klaus Georis, who survived the COVID warp partly by practicing new dishes and partly by helping star chefs in his constellation (like seafood genius Dominique Crenn). 

It’s also the case for his family, particularly his father, who survived war in his native Belgium to turn Casanova, Corkscrew Cafe and Georis Winery into institutions in Carmel and Carmel Valley. 

And it’s also the case for Seaside. It has never had a restaurant like this. Let’s hope its residents are ready.

Hours are 4:15-9:15pm Wednesday-Sunday. More information at Maligne’s Instagram page. Reservations at Maligne Restaurant via Tock. 

Mark C. Anderson is a writer, photographer, editor and explorer based in Seaside, California. Reach @MontereyMCA by way of Instagram and Twitter.

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