What it was like to enjoy once-in-a-lifetime meal from top Cork chefs at Goldie Chapel
One-night-only dining experience at Goldie Chapel at Nano Nagle Place. Pictures: ThaliaGreaux
"The one thing that I can tell you about the night," Aishling Moore told the when she was asked about the chef collaboration at Goldie Chapel, "is that this is never going to happen again. Not in that format. Not with those people. And I think it’s very special to be involved in things like that.”
And she was right. The four-course meal at Goldie Chapel, the Victorian Gothic Revival chapel at Nano Nagle Place, one of the sell-out highlights of the Cork on a Fork festival, felt once-in-a-lifetime.
Three of the city's most exciting chefs — columnist Aishling Moore from Goldie, Michelin-starred chef Rob Krawczyk of Chestnut and Eric Nolan of Good Day Deli — collaborated on a stellar menu. The four-course meal saw Krawczyk cook the first two courses, Good Day Deli look after dessert, while Moore’s Goldie oversaw the main.
Snacks included Raw Langoustine and Caviar, while the starter, inspired by Krawczyk's father's recipe, was spiced beef with pickles and hen's egg. Moore stepped in for the main course: 'Whatever the boat brings' (it was plaice on the night) with courgette, smoked tomato and chilli butter sauce, alongside new potatoes and Churchfield Community Garden tomatoes.
Dessert included caramelised apple with local Beezi honey with petit fours and coffee.
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The chapel, named after the architect who designed it, also shares its name with Moore's award-winning seafood restaurant. "It's a great name for a chapel," Moore quipped as she introduced her main course, "but an even better name for a restaurant."
The night was also a unique opportunity to experience Krawczyk's Michelin-starred creativity, as he prepares to close Chestnut later this year. Cooking for more than 50 people in a listed building wasn't a straightforward ask — right down to accessing electricity. But the team rose to the occasion.
Cork on a Fork began five years ago with 30 events. This year, there were 150 options across the city on the programme.
The opening night — Wednesday's Shared Table — was a highlight as always, but there were other showstopping firsts on the programme line-up this year, from the black-tie Cathedral supper to last night's Goldie Supper, the closing event at this year's festival.
As she acknowledged the vast scale of the event this year, festival organiser Niamh Murphy received a standing ovation.
"When Niamh floated the idea of Goldie Chapel, she had me at Goldie," Moore told the in the run-up to the festival. Who knows what Murphy will have in store for the city with Cork on a Fork 2027.
- The Irish Examiner is a proud media partner for Cork on a Fork Festival.
