Meet the new kids on the Food Capital’s block
In recent years, Cork’s long-held — and, perhaps, too often, loudly self-trumpeted — status as Food Capital of Ireland had come to resemble parochial pouting, a former heavyweight champ now reduced to trading on past glories.
There were those halcyon days of the ’70s, when at one stage the county held three of the country’s five Michelin stars (Ballymaloe House, Arbutus Lodge, and Ballylickey House) and led the Irish hospitality sector from the front.
But with the surrender of the county’s most recent star (Shiro, in Ahakista), in 2001 it seemed Cork’s fate was now to become the mere supplier of — still magnificent — produce destined to be cooked in the very best kitchens elsewhere in the country.
That is not for one moment to denigrate the local Cork hospitality sector, for there have always been good, even excellent restaurants in the county, but nothing, it seemed, to truly catch the fancy of the Michelin inspectors when it came to dishing out the top gongs.
That all changed on Monday with the dramatic announcement of three new stars for Cork: Ichigo Ichie in Cork City; The Mews Restaurant in Baltimore; and Restaurant Chestnut in Ballydehob.
What’s more, all of them have built their reputations on the soundest bedrock possible: A deep commitment to using the best of that aforementioned local produce, from both land and sea, some of the very finest to be had anywhere in the world.
Ichigo Ichie, Fenn’s Quay, Cork City
Of the three new star-holders, chef/proprietor Takashi Miyazaki’s rise has probably been most dramatic. Arriving in Ireland in 2008 to reunite with his Irish partner (now wife), Stephanie, whom he met in Japan, he found a country in the eye of an economic maelstrom.
Within four weeks of starting in a vaguely Asian-themed restaurant in Athlone where he had secured employment, he turned up one day to find the doors bolted and the business closed for good, everything gone, even the tiny notebook in which he had kept his culinary jottings since he was 19.
He began cooking in a Turkish-owned restaurant in Tullamore serving garlic mushrooms, chicken supreme, pizza, pasta, burgers.
His next position was slightly more elevated but Nama closed that one. So in 2010, he and Stephanie toured the 32 counties seeking a place to open their own restaurant, eventually settling on Cork, where they opened Miyazaki in a takeaway off Barrack St, from whence Takashi began to develop his sterling national reputation.
On the back of the success of Miyazaki, Takashi opened Ichigo Ichie (Japanese for ‘once in a lifetime’) earlier this year, converting the former Fenn’s Quay restaurant into a sleek ‘black box’ and serving an infinitely more elevated take on Japanese cuisine than that offered in Miyazaki. This was Kaseiki-style, a ritualistic multi-course tasting menu traditionally reserved for royalty.
A #MichelinStar for Ichigo Ichie restaurant @miyazakicork
— The MICHELIN Guide (@MichelinGuideUK) October 1, 2018
Chef Takashi Miyazaki dips into the traditions of Japanese cooking but adds his own interpretation #Ireland#MICHELINSTAR19 #MICHELINguideGBI pic.twitter.com/lF4iJ86Dcv
Though it is unmistakably Japanese, and many of the essential ingredients and condiments coming directly from Takashi’s homeland, all the primary ingredients — meat, fish, vegetables — are local, lending a distinctive Irish accent to all, not least a condiment of dried salted cherry blossoms, foraged in the suburb of Douglas!
Takashi yesterday said: “It is great news for our small business to promote our unique style of Japanese cuisine using Irish ingredients, not just on this island but to the world.”
“[Michelin Guide editor for UK & Ireland] Rebecca Burr was supposed to be calling to us [some time ago] and we were waiting and waiting and eventually said to ourselves, ‘maybe next year’ and then we got an email last week inviting us to join them in London for the awards, but it wasn’t until they called out our name…
“Even last night [Monday], I couldn’t believe it. I was asking myself is this real, is this a dream? Straight away, I sent a message to my mother and father, that was the first thing I wanted to do. My mum was crying because Michelin in Japan is massive.”
“We took over 150 bookings in one hour last night, it’s crazy that’s why I was a bit scared!”
The Mews Restaurant, Baltimore, West Cork
Robert Collender and his business partner James Ellis met as 12 year olds in boarding school and have, in Robert’s words, lived in each other’s pockets ever since for the last 25 years.
They both began working in the hospitality sector, in Richard Corrigan’s Bentley’s in Dublin back in 2008 and went on to work in various top-flight establishments around the world before getting to the stage where they’d had enough of running other people’s restaurants and were now looking to open their own.
Frightened away from Dublin by the economics of a capital opening, they travelled the entire Wild Atlantic Way in search of a suitable seaside venue to open their planned locavore-style operation, along with chef Luke Matthews.
They swiftly achieved national renown, but it was the arrival of Turkish chef Ahmet Dede, formerly of Chapter One, The Greenhouse, and Maaemo in Oslo, that saw the bar raised once more and Michelin aspirations became even more apparent on the menu.
Mews is sited in an old stone cottage that has previous as a venue, but decor is stripped and simple: Bare stone walls, bright white, wooden-beamed ceilings, conservatory, and Rohan Reilly prints throughout.
A #MichelinStar @MewsWestCork for the fine craftsmanship of chef Ahmet Dede at this seasonal coastal restaurant #Ireland#MICHELINSTAR19 #MICHELINguideGBI pic.twitter.com/3PakaSF8lO
— The MICHELIN Guide (@MichelinGuideUK) October 1, 2018
The food appears to pull a similar stunt: Deceptively simple on first appearance but sampling reveals careful construction of complex tastes delivered as an elemental rendition of the local terroir of land and sea, a signature dish of cod,
seaweeds, and mussels featuring superbly steamed pearlescent cod, mussel sauce, and a variety of seaweeds, sea purslane, rock samphire, sea spaghetti, and sea lettuce, all foraged and sourced within spitting distance of the restaurant.
“We are absolutely delighted,” Collendar said from London yesterday.
“It is a fantastic achievement and has been our ambition for a long time.”
We have been working towards it with Ahmet and the team, and we are hugely grateful as well for the incredible support we get from people in West Cork, suppliers, producers and customers, who have supported us all the way through thick and thin.”
Restaurant Chestnut, Ballydehob, West Cork
Restaurant Chestnut occupies The Chestnut Tree, formerly an old-school country pub, and currently seats a maximum of 18 diners so a Michelin star is undoubtedly a massive boost for a tiny hospitality venture in a small, rural location.
With a scant budget, proprietors/partners Rob Krawczyk (chef) and Elaine Fleming (front of house) have made a virtue of necessity, paring the building back to raw elements, in the process creating a zen-like tranquillity. Low wood-panelled ceilings are off-white; bare walls, a deep, stilling green, somewhere between olive and moss.
Rob was raised in nearby Dereenatra, son of Frank, one of Ireland’s original and best charcutiers, who also opened a restaurant in his own home that ran for a number of years from the ’90s and into the early part of the new century — safe to say Krawczyk Jr didn’t ‘lick it off the stones’. The circle is now somewhat closed with Frank working as de facto forager and sourcer for much of the hyper-local produce that winds up on Restaurant Chestnut plates.
Rob Krawczyk made his name as an award-winning chef, first in the late, lamented Chop House in Lismore, and subsequently in Tankardstown House, Co Meath. Last year, he tested local waters with a summer residency in Baltimore’s Glebe Gardens before opening Restaurant Chestnut in April of this year.
This writer/reviewer happened to be there on the opening night and I was so impressed with the truly superb offering that I broke a near-cardinal rule of never reviewing that close to launch date, unable to resist the charms of local new- season asparagus draped in a shaving of ham fat, topped with pennywort, or a sublime piece of tender pink hogget with cauliflower and jus. But it was a simple cheese board, immaculately presented with cheese at optimum age and temperature for consumption, that illustrated the attention to detail that is so important to Michelin inspectors.
Speaking from London yesterday, Rob said: “We got the email on Wednesday last week inviting us but it only became more real when you are actually sitting there at the event and then when they called out my name.
“It was great but kind of strange, it happened so quick. You go up and they ask you questions. It’s kind of sinking in now.”
“We are delighted and delighted for the team and everyone else who helped us, especially mum and dad. Everyone from day one has been great to us. For a small quiet town, it’s great for business.
“We’ll continue doing what we do, after six months to get a star is… we’re over the moon, we want to continue to keep our existing guests and new guests happy.”
