Restaurant Review: De Ville’s, Dalkey, Co Dublin

WHEN chef Keith McNally opened his restaurant, Pastis, in New York’s rundown Meatpacking area in 1999, it blew the competition away to such a degree that one of the restaurant’s most noted celeb visitors, Martha Stewart, gushed that having an eatery of such distinction was like Paris coming to town.

Pastis is now closed for lengthy renovations but we appreciate Martha’s enthusiasm. Walking into DeVille’s we are immediately struck by the gentle homage it pays to a 1930’s Parisian brasserie. The colour scheme of dark red and even darker brown, the placing of banquette seating, alcoves and bar-side stool-chairs — not forgetting the chequered tile flooring — was as much visually welcoming as it was a reminder that pastiche needn’t necessarily be slavish.

As for whether Paris has arrived in a beautiful heritage town in South County Dublin — well, let’s just say that it’s close but no cigare. To their credit, you sense that joint owners, brother and sister David and Kim O’Driscoll, want to create something more than just a facsimile, and that’s fine with us. Adapting originality or blueprints to suit your own purposes — and adapting in such a way that it comes across as more affectionate than calculating — is also okay.