One of Ireland's top chefs leaves Cork restaurant after only eight months
Dan Guerin at Cush Midleton in February. Mr Guerin has now left the restaurant and said he will be spending time with his young family before deciding upon his next move. Photo: Darragh Kane
One of the country's top chefs and his Cork restaurant have parted ways barely eight months after the establishment first launched in March under his leadership.
Dan Guerin’s sudden departure from Cush Midleton comes just days after he was crowned joint Best Seafood Chef of the Year at the prestigious Georgina Campbell Irish Food & Hospitality Awards 2025 in Dublin.
He shared the accolade with Fred Desormeaux who was acknowledged for his role as Executive Head Chef of Salty Dog and Sea Church, both in Ballycotton.
All three restaurants are owned by the Flynn Cush Group. The group announced on Wednesday that Desormeaux would now take over as Group Executive Chef overseeing all three restaurants.
Dan Guerin was highly commended in the Food & Wine Young Chef of the Year category in 2022, while in charge at Cush Ballycotton.
He also earned a coveted Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2022, and the expectation would have been that he would do likewise for Cush Midleton.
This writer, reviewing Cush Midleton in June of this year, encountered a restaurant packed with enthusiastic diners enjoying some especially well-cooked dishes, and long-term prospects appeared sound even in the highly volatile and challenging climate for the hospitality sector.
When the first asked about Guerin’s departure on Tuesday of this week, the group released a very brief statement, which read: "Dan Guerin is no longer with the Flynn Cush Group. We would like to acknowledge the significant contribution he made during his time with the group and wish him the best in his future endeavours."
When contacted, Mr Guerin said he would prefer not to comment and would be spending time with his young family before deciding upon his next move.
He began his career as a young kitchen porter at Sage Midleton but rapidly rose into a cheffing position. He also spent several years working under chef Garrett Byrne at the Michelin-starred Campagne restaurant in Kilkenny before taking up the head chef position at Cush Midleton.
Kevin Aherne, the former chef-proprietor of Sage Midleton, who sold his business to the Flynn Cush Group and which they re-launched as Cush Midleton, said on Wednesday: “Dan is a very accomplished chef, very good at what he does and any restaurant who gets him will be very lucky to have him.”
According to a follow-up press statement, Fred Desormeaux will be adding some of the more popular dishes on the Salty Dog Menu, such as Fred’s Mediterranean chowder, fish and chips, and beef cheeks, to the Cush menu, bringing a far more casual, bistro-style of dining, a radical change of direction for what was originally launched as a fine dining restaurant.
Mr Desormeaux himself arrived in Ireland, to Ballycotton, in 2000, where he was head chef at the now long-closed Spanish Point, before working in other restaurants around Cork, including Greene’s, and he has also been awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand in the past.
In the press statement, Mr Desormeaux is quoted as saying: “The culinary scene in East Cork has never been more vibrant and it’s an exciting time to be a part of it. We’ve had a fantastic few months in Salty Dog since we opened there in May and I am delighted to now bring some of the popular dishes on the menu there to Midleton.
"It’s a new chapter on our culinary journey.”
In response to questions from the as to what triggered such a radical body swerve in the style of food offering at Cush Midleton and why Dan Guerin would not be overseeing this change, the Flynn Cush Group said they had nothing further to add to their original statement and their subsequent press release.
