Joe McNamee: My preview of the year ahead in restaurants

Joe McNamee looks to the year ahead in the world of food

Ireland is by now firmly on the Michelin map, the august fine dining guide bringing its stellar roadshow to Dublin in February to dole out the next round of stars Picture: iStock.

Most of us welcome a new year as a chance to scrub the slate clean and make a fresh start but, after the chaos of 2025, you’d be forgiven for viewing the year ahead, in food and in general, with some trepidation.

I am ever more convinced that the food world is fracturing into two distinct thematic approaches. One is dictated by an increasingly frantic world of diminishing attention spans in eternal pursuit of the next dopamine hit. In the food world, that presents as an insatiable appetite for the next novelty trend or fad, wild new flavour combinations or dishes that have all the longevity and substance of a TikTok video, before pleasure turns hollow and the desperate quest for the next hit continues.

Then there are those seeking a deeper level of engagement with food, a prolonged interaction of greater substance and depth. This infinitely more authentic approach considers food in all its aspects, not just as a cheap, fleeting thrill. 

It is about cooking and eating the finest, local, seasonal food, valuing it for its nutritional and health impacts as much as for the profound epicurean ecstasy such fare can bring, especially when shared. Such edible authenticity would be far more familiar to older generations but what excites me for the year ahead is the younger generations also turning their backs on TikTok tuck and embracing this newfound authenticity.

The hospitality sector is now dividing into two distinct sectors: very high end and increasingly expensive fine dining restaurants, with at least two Michelin stars, that are the preserve of the very wealthy, occasionally visited by those who have saved up for a one-off experience; at the other end are the formulaic fast-casual dining experiences, a less complex offering hitching on the coat tails of whatever is the latest trend — eg Korean fried chicken — and served up in buzzy, themed venues as concerned about style as substance and only around for as long as the trend continues. 

Caught in between are independent Irish restaurants, all the way up to one Michelin star, that are finding it harder and harder to compete for the remaining market share. These are the restaurants most in need our support in times ahead.

The opening this summer of Ómós, a restaurant, guesthouse and regenerative farm opening in Abbeyleix, Co Laois, is highly anticipated. With Stripe co-founder John Collison bankrolling the transformation of formerly derelict Millbrook House, chef Cuán Greene will be at the helm. 

Chef Cuán Greene is opening Ómós, a restaurant, guesthouse and regenerative farm in Abbeyleix, Co Laois.

Formerly head chef at Dublin’s Bastible, he has also worked in Noma, Geranium, both in Copenhagen, and Quique Dacosta, in Spain, all Michelin three-starred restaurants, and Greene and his backers will no doubt have ambitious Michelin aspirations for 2027.

The arrival on white chargers of My Goodness Food (MGF), the Cork-based vegan food business taking over the legendary restaurant/cafe space at the Quay Co-Op, certainly eases the passing of a storied and iconic hospitality venture. 

However, this is more than one food business simply replacing another; it is also the passing of the baton of a radical alternative tradition that has served as a home for campaigning Irish social justice movements. Not only will MGF put that tradition to the forefront of their planning, opening the space for use to all sorts of alternative groups and activities, but they are also planning to establish a business model with a difference, and a very brave one at that. 

In a time when hospitality is put to the pin of its collar in the face of a massive surge in costs, MGF plan to continue paying employees above the living wage from the very first day, as well as pursuing the goal of being an entirely zero-waste business. 

Tall order, but try this on for size: in addition, they want to make their food offering as affordable as possible and are currently investigating a monthly subscription model. I really hope they succeed and if anyone has the drive and determination to make it work, it is the MGF crew. I’ll be supporting the business; I hope you’ll do likewise.

Corkonian Cocktail maestros Oisin Wolfe and Alex Earle, of mixology crew Cold Cuts, have been shaking up a storm in pop-ups and venues in London, as well as successful forays to Berlin and Brooklyn, over the last three years but are now homeward bound. 

What’s more, they’ll be switching pop-ups for permanence and opening the Cold Cuts cocktail bar and bistro in Cork city before summer. Cold Cuts will be one of the hottest joints in Cork this year and for many more to come.

Ireland is by now firmly on the Michelin map, the august fine dining guide bringing its stellar roadshow to Dublin in February to dole out the next round of stars. 

Excitement levels are already mounting, many suspecting the trip across the Irish Sea is inspired by the possible announcement of Ireland’s first Michelin three-starred restaurant.

Insiders are aware it almost happened several years ago with Aimsir only for Jordan Bailey and Maiken Bech Bailey to part ways with the restaurant’s owners just before an announcement. 

This time around, the most likely contenders will be drawn from three of the already two-starred restaurants, Chapter One, Liath, and Dede at the Customs House. Guilbaud’s also has had two stars for longer but it would indeed be a surprise were it to finally earn a third. Watch this space!