Mark Moriarty on the best spots in Cork for lunch, a Michelin-starred dinner and a pint

The award-winning chef has been travelling around the country meeting the people behind the island's best restaurants

Chef Mark Moriarty presents Beyond the Menu on RTÉ One.

Last night Mark Moriarty ate a chicken burger for his dinner. Not just any chicken burger mind, it was a Korean-fried one from Dublin restaurant Chimac with a side of fries covered in ‘a load of bacon and cheese'. This evening, he is practising a recipe for an opera cake he is making for a dinner attended by 200 of the world’s most promising chefs. No pressure, then.

The cake served with coffee and soy ice cream is a testament to how far Moriarty has come in his relatively short career. In 2015, aged 23, he picked up the San Pellegrino Young Chef award, and since then has returned every year with his fellow winners to cook at the gala awards dinner. The best part of this experience is that Massimo Bottura, widely considered the best chef in the world, oversees the kitchen for the evening. “It’s some experience, alright,” laughs Moriarty.