Braving recession

IS IT brave or foolhardy to open an eatery in this meat-grinder of a recession?

One restaurant is closing in Ireland every day, the Restaurants Association claims. Of those that stay open, it says, up to 80% are running at a loss.

It’s a hostile climate, then. But there’s a flipside. If you have vision, flair, a finger on the pulse and serve decent food at decent prices, a downturn can be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity not only to open a restaurant, but to open one that stays open.

Mulberry Garden certainly has a vision. Squirrelled away in a cottage down Donnybrook’s Mulberry Lane, it only opens from Thursday to Saturday. Its menu, an A6 sheet waiting between our knives and forks, offers just two starters, two mains and two desserts.

In addition to all this, the food is seasonal, and changes every week. The suppliers are listed on the back and the price is right up front — €40 for three courses, take it or leave it.

It seems to be paying off, too. Booking in advance, it’s all I can do to get a table for two at 9.15pm on a Friday night. Arriving slightly early, we are shuffled into a tiny bar where it takes 10 minutes to get a drink. There are stacks of used glasses on the counter. A waiter rushes past, his brow glistening with sweat. It is 9.45pm before our order is taken. We’re not happy.

The food, however, is worth the wait. For starters, L has a new potato ‘risotto’ (their quotes), a dish that turns out to be surprisingly light, with thin slices of truffled cauliflower, strings of wild rocket and a gooey Desmond cheese forming strange but tasty combinations.

I go for a crispy crubeen served with a poached hen’s egg, braised lentils and roasted baby onions. The pork is tender and tangy, cosseted away within a crisp shell and kicking off nicely against a glass of the house red, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Negromaro and Primitivo from Puglia.

However sparse the menu, there is no shortage of booze. A long drinks menu is fixed to a wooden board and includes champagne, cocktails, Irish whiskeys, craft beers and a dozen or more wines by the glass starting from €5.50. Those are smart prices.

We ordered both mains on the menu, and both came in small, yet perfectly-formed portions. L’s slow-braised shoulder of Wicklow lamb was a fine cut sharing the plate with cherry tomatoes, potato purée and basil juice, and my roast brill was presented on a bed of giant couscous, tomato and shellfish sauce, Gubbeen chorizo and courgette ribbons. Biting into it, a crispy outer layer gave way to a juicy, soft, succulent sliver of fish. Yum.

Mulberry Garden has the feel of a mews, curving around a large stone chimney stack as it looks out on a smoker’s paradise — a leafy courtyard peppered with wicker chairs. It’s a lovely room, with the mulberry motif most noticeable in a wall decorated with criss-crossing lines of wool.

Thought has also gone into the small touches. The butter is smoked, pints of Guinness can be ordered from Kiely’s (€5), there’s a choice selection of warm breads, and a sweet raspberry granita cleanses the palate before dessert.

The choice there lay between an Irish artisan cheese selection (including Ardrahan, Mount Callan and Bellingham Blue), and poached peaches, mollycoddled in a rounded tumbler with vanilla custard, pain d’épice and a peach and basil sorbet. I went with the latter, and found it a really nicely composed pudding, with cool custard complementing sweet pears. L, who is coeliac, called in advance and was offered a gluten-free chocolate cake. There are vegetarian options too.

Ultimately, the food was good enough to forgive all the rushing around — though the manic element should be nipped in the bud. The respect for ingredients makes up for the lack of choice on the menu too.

One other thing. Chef John Wyer previously worked at l’Ecrivain, Derry Clarke’s Michelin-starred restaurant. So did Stephen Gibson of Pichet. No matter how tough the times, good restaurants will always pull through, not only surviving, but sending new ideas forth. Here’s hoping Mulberry Garden, brave to open in a recession, gets the time and space to do that.