Unyielding Ambition: Will Malnati
To be included in the 2015 Forbes “30 under 30” Food & Wine list is no small feat. However, the ambitious and over-achieving entrepreneur, Will Malnati certainly deserves that recognition. As the saying goes, he was born into the business; his grandfather was the founder of the nationally-respected, Chicago pizza establishment, Lou Malnati’s. Choosing not to rest on his family’s laurels, he surged forward as a young adult to carve his own path as a manager of several restaurants and nightspots in Chicago and NYC. One of his boldest moves to date was opening the authentic Spanish Tapas restaurant, Toro on Manhattan’s West Side in 2013. As one of the managing partners, he applied his wide-ranging hospitality expertise to make Toro an instant NYC dining destination. Will recently stopped by our Soho flagship, and as you’ll read below, he has many more creative and entrepreneurial ventures in the works.
First off, can you give us a brief history of your hospitality industry roots?
I was born in Evanston, Illinois and grew up in a family of restaurateurs—my grandfather started (and my father owns) Chicago’s beloved pizza empire, Lou Malnati’s. If you’ve never tried the pizza, it’s damn good. As I was exposed to the family business from a young age, I developed a deep passion for hospitality.
I graduated from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University in 2007. In the five years that followed, I managed a handful of restaurants and nightlife establishments in Chicago and New York.
In 2013, I partnered with two James Beard award winning chefs (Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette) and Digital Ad businessman Doug Jacob and opened the New York outpost of Boston’s famed Spanish tapas restaurant ‘Toro’ in Chelsea. We are currently planning our expansion of the brand.
We read that you originally wanted a career in music – what did you envision yourself doing in the music industry?
I have always had a passion for all kinds of creative production. I recorded music my entire life. I hosted a radio show in college and worked at Matt Damon/Ben Affleck’s film production company in LA in the summers during college. I also did TV production on MTV’s Punk’d too. I learned both the technical and creative sides of engineering and production. I worked for the COO of Sony Music summer before graduation and made a ton of music contacts. Back then, it seemed like music publishing was the safest place to be in the music business. But the year I moved here in 2007, almost every contact I had in publishing had been canned. I had to come up with a new plan, so I went to what was second nature to me: hospitality.
You’re currently an owning partner at Toro, NYC. How did that major venture come together?
I had been working for a hospitality company for about 5 years when I got the itch to try something on my own. I had a friend who had a similar idea so we started looking for available restaurant spaces. We couldn’t find any good ones, but we did find an old lobby which was way too much space for us to handle on our own. We were introduced to Chefs Ken [Oringer] & Jamie [Bissonnette] by a mutual friend who had heard from Rachel Ray that these two guys were legit and had something special going on in Boston (they had a few restaurants up there). They came to see the lobby space we had found. We hit it off and they loved the space. Almost two years later, we had raised some money, transformed a crappy space into a beautiful, working restaurant, and thank God, we had a hit.
Being dedicated foodies ourselves, what is the must-have dish to order when we visit Toro?
-I have become a big sardine guy. Sardina Y Mantequilla de Cabra (Toasted bread with preserved sardine, goat butter and tomato) is an amazing starter tapa.
-I dream about the Txipirones (Baby squid with toasted bread and farm egg).
-Asado De Huesos (Roasted bone marrow with radish citrus salad and beef cheek marmalade)- best bone marrow dish in the city in my opinion. And do yourself a favor. Once you clear the bone, pour some sherry in there and drink it like an ice luge.
One of your other creative projects is The Point Series, a tastemaker/influencer event of sorts. Can you elaborate more on this?
In 2014, I was approached by two ladies (hello!) who wanted to start a dinner series of badass up-and-comers from different walks of life. Andrea Cuttler who works for Late Night with Seth Meyers and Shauna Perlman, an agent at United Talent Agency were those ladies. For the past 1.5 years, we have been hosting extremely successful monthly dinners and events in NYC (and now Chicago) with the following purpose in mind: We are gathering like-minded friends and colleagues from a variety of different industries that are all studs in their respective fields. We encourage everyone to come interested, be interesting, and leave with new friends and connections. We now have hundreds of dedicated members.
Do you have any big events coming up for The Point series?
We are hosting our first trial dinner in LA in February and we are planning a day-long “panel” with incredible speakers and discussions for all members to attend.
You’re always very well put together. Who are some of your style icons and what are some of your favorite brands?
FINALLY SOMEONE NOTICES! Kidding. Thank you for the compliment. Now I’m curious as to what you mean, so I’m scrolling thru my Instagram… hold please… ah ok here we are…
– I see a Madewell (Yes, Madewell the WOMEN’S brand) beanie because they fit the best! I have yet to find a mens beanie that it not too small or too large. I am happy to rock a womens beanie as long as it fits right!
– I see a Theory sweatshirt and winter coat. One of my favorite brands because it’s clean and lean!
– Michael Andrews custom tux. I think 6-10 uses out of that bad boy is worth the spend on a custom suit. I have a couple of Angel|Bespoke pieces as well, he does great work. I was once given a Brioni custom suit that is crazy awesome as well.
– There is a brand out of New Zealand called AS Colour that I get blank hoodies and tees that are much better quality and fits than American Apparel.
– I see a coupla Rag & Bone jackets and a coupla All Saints pieces thrown into the mix.
– You may not be able to see them in these pics, but the only socks I wear are STANCE socks. The best things you will ever put on your feet. Trust me on that.
What about your music tastes – what are you listening to right now and what albums are you waiting on this year?
I am currently working on a new project – a podcast network – so I have honestly only been listening to podcasts lately; as many as I can to understand that world better. As far as music, I’m a LCD Soundsystem, M.I.A., Radiohead, Black Keys kind of guy. If I’m in chill-mode, a band called Streets of Laredo. And sometimes, I’ll just turn on the Trap Music Spotify channel for an hour. Not because I particularly like Trap music, but because coupled with 2 cups of coffee, I can get in the work-zone really fast.
Since you’re a hospitality industry insider, what are some of your favorite nightspots/restaurants/hotels to visit in NYC?
Well, we had our Toro staff holiday party last night at my buddy Gavin Moseley’s spot, The Garret in the East Village. It’s a very lively bar with a great cocktail program. I’m excited to see what Jon Neidich is doing with his re-launch of Acme restaurant on Great Jones. I went to Kiki’s Greek on the Lower East Side the other night, and it was really great ambiance and food quality. I love Maiden Lane on Ave B for a snack and a drink. The best pastrami sandwich in the city is at Harry & Ida’s. Minetta Tavern for dinner. NeverNever for drinks and a touch of dancing.
Lastly, is there anything you want to tell our readers about your expanding entrepreneurial empire?
For my latest project, I went back to my production roots and started a media company called @Will Entertainment. There are currently two parts to the company:
@Will Radio podcast network provides a digital platform to individuals who wish to deliver high-quality, original audio content which serves to inspire, motivate, educate and entertain. We are launching the first three shows on the network over the next 2 weeks – atwillradio.com. Stop what you are doing and subscribe on iTunes.
@Will Productions is the full-service audio production arm of @will entertainment, providing resources from content conceptualization & curation to editing & distribution, allowing the host and/or brand to do what they do best: engage with their audience.
People sometimes ask me why I get involved with so many different things (I’m a board member for the New York Public Library Young Lions Committee and own part of a new hospitality App that launches soon)—the answer is not because I’m confused as to what I want to do with my life. The answer is I that I never want to be pigeon-holed into one specific job or industry that will define my life forever. I need to keep exploring and evolving or I’ll lose focus!
To keep up with Will Malnati, follow him on Instagram: @WillMalnati
