Four Inane Questions with Café Romanov’s Garrick Mallery

Photo Courtesy of Garrick Mallery

If you ask Garrick Mallery what drew him to hospitality, he doesn’t miss a beat. “It’s always been about people,” he says. “About creating moments that make the outside world fade away for a little while.”

Raised in Overland Park, his first job after college was brewing beer at Boulevard. “It sounded cooler than it was,” he says with a laugh. “I realized I liked talking to people more than I liked talking to stainless steel.”

That realization sent him into Kansas City’s restaurant and beverage scene, working everywhere from retail to distribution. Those roles taught him how much the industry depends on connection. In 2018, he became a certified sommelier—a turning point. 

“That’s when service stopped feeling like a transaction and started feeling like an experience,” he says.

Wanting to push himself further, he headed to Miami. “The pace, the precision, the energy—it all forced me to level up,” he says of his time at MILA and Santorini by Georgios. “I learned how to keep standards high without losing the human part.”

Photo Courtesy of Garrick Mallery

Now back in Kansas City, he’s channeling that experience into Café Romanov, a new pop-up concept inspired by late nineteenth-century Eastern European hospitality. “It’s my way of bringing something old-world and beautiful into the modern day,” he says. “Rich, human, and full of story.”

For him, hospitality always comes back to people. “The food, the drink, the music—it all works together to make people feel like they belong. When you get that right, it’s not just dinner; it’s a moment that stays with you.”

We caught up with Mallery as he was holding down the fort at Bamboo Penny’s to zing him with our questionable questionnaire. We also learned that fresh coconut milk is a magical mocktail elixir. Bless.

The Pitch: In your humble opinion, what song has the best harmonies of any song ever created? 

Garrick Mallery: For me, it’s “Uncle John’s Band” by the Grateful Dead. My dad used to play it for me when I was a kid, and it just stuck. The harmonies are a little messy and loose, but that’s what makes them feel human, so imperfect they’re perfect. It’s the kind of song that makes you want to sing along. It just feels good. I know there are songs that are more complex or technically impressive, but this one hits differently.

Every time I hear it, I think about my dad, and it feels like home for a few minutes. I challenge anyone to listen to that song and not have it stuck in their head the rest of the day.

If you were a soap fragrance, what soap fragrance would you be? 

I think I’d be something like black tea, tobacco, and a little bergamot. Something warm and grounded but not too polished. Those scents have this mix of strength and calm that feels like me. They’re a little old world and a little worn in, but they still have character.

What’s the dumbest invention in the last century?

Photo Courtesy of Garrick Mallery

The selfie stick. Every time I see one, I lose a little bit of faith in humanity. We went from splitting the atom and landing on the moon to inventing a stick so we could take pictures of ourselves from a slightly better angle. It’s the perfect example of how far people will go to make something easier that was never hard in the first place. I can’t explain why it bothers me so much, but it does. Every time one pops up in public, I just think, we didn’t need that.

You can invite one celeb to Thanksgiving. Who you choosin’? 

I’d invite chef Matty Matheson. It’d be loud and a little unhinged in the best way. We’d start out cooking and end up doing shots in the kitchen before the turkey was even close to ready. He’d be yelling about butter, I’d be trying to keep things on track, and somehow everything would still come out great.

He just seems like the kind of guy who makes everything fun. The food would be incredible, the drinks wouldn’t stop, and my family would probably never recover.

Bonus 5th Question: What’s your best quality and worst trait? 

My best quality is my passion. When I care about something, I go all in. Whether it’s an idea or a project, I want it to mean something. I get caught up in the details because that’s where the feeling lives for me.

My worst trait is impatience. I want things to happen right away, and I get stuck in my head trying to make them perfect. I’m learning to slow down a little and let things come together in their own time.