Cork take all three Michelin stars awarded in Ireland this year
Only three new Michelin stars were awarded in Ireland this year, and all of them went to Cork restaurants. meets the men behind the stars.
For quite a spell, you’d have found plenty of gleeful takers beyond the Cork county boundaries willing to subscribe to the notion that Leeside’s self-anointed tag of ‘Food Capital’ was now a boast ringing most hollow indeed — and one particular yardstick used to quantify such parochial hubris was Cork’s lack of Michelin stars, the last having been ‘extinguished’ in 2001.
Last October, the only three new Michelin stars awarded in Ireland this year all went to Cork restaurants, two of them only open a scant six months.
The Food Capital was, apparently, back where it belonged at centre-stage and all was right in the firmament once more
Actually, the notion of Michelin stars being used as the sole and ultimate arbiter of a region’s culinary health is a tad nonsensical, a notion further reinforced when dining in some Michelin starred establishments abroad that are patently inferior to certain Irish non-starred counterparts — by any reckoning, it is a subjective system.
True, Cork city’s hospitality sector, save a few noble exceptions, had become rather moribund in recent years — in particular, since recession enveloped all —with a pronounced swing towards cautious conservatism and away from culinary innovation and anyone doing anything exceptionally new, unusual or truly creative with the very finest of local, seasonal Irish produce were for the most part to be found scattered around the county.
But through all those years of stellar famine, Cork continued to deliver magnificent produce.
It is, after all, the birthplace of the original small specialty food producer movement, which has spearheaded the modern Irish food revolution.
Many Cork restaurants have some of the very best suppliers right on their doorsteps and, as often happens with good restaurants, set about growing their own tailor-made network of suppliers and producers.
And this is key to Cork’s three new stars: , and didn’t emerge in a void but were all able to access and build on a sterling infrastructure of growers and producers that had been enabled by others who came before them.
It also helps enormously to enter a market already sporting a good network of restaurants and cafes catering for all levels from casual to fine dining because it grows the market and support network for all.
None of the above, though, should in any way gainsay the magnificent achievements of these new star-holders; it has been a very special year for all three and deservedly so.
Despite any perceived quirks and vagaries in the Michelin modus operandi, it is still a huge honour to be acknowledged thusly in the world’s most famous food guide, an honour justly coveted by any serious restaurateur or chef, admission to a truly august club that defines you to your peers and the dining world at large as a restaurant operating at the very top of the pile, week in, week out and invariably worthy of acclaim. (This applies, even more, when it seems Irish restaurants have to go that extra mile to earn a star.)
We look forward to seeing how our three new ‘stars’ fare in 2019 — who knows, perhaps this glittering little Cork constellation may eventually become a full-blown galaxy and then all us trumpet-tootling Leesiders will become quite unbearable!
TAKASHI MIYAZAKI
Miyazaki was one of the most successful openings in Cork city in recent years, for all intents and purposes, a takeaway save six stools and a very narrow counter running around two walls, but much of the local and national acclaim was down to the novelty factor as it was the fine cooking, for Takashi Miyazaki was essentially serving up his rendition of traditional Japanese home cooking.
Ichigo Ichie, on the other hand, is a serious step up in standards.
What had hitherto been an awkward space was deftly converted into a ‘temple’ of Zen simplicity with the food to match, a traditional kaiseki menu, a ritualistic form of Japanese haute cuisine dining.
Miyazaki adds his own Hibernian twist via the unique combination of fresh local Irish produce with high-end staples from his native country.
One of the common long-term effects of a top-end restaurant operating in a particular area is the gradual percolation of that restaurant’s ethos into the wider hospitality sector surrounding it as ‘graduating’ chefs bring knowledge to other restaurants or, better still, open up their own places — the Ichigo Ichie ‘effect’ is likely to be very special indeed.
Actually, scratch that, the Ichigo Ichie ‘effect’ is already very special.
Takashi Miyazaki: “At the beginning of the year, I was nervous, yes — it still feels like a big challenge even now, doing what we’re doing, a high end Japanese restaurant in Cork city, that is a very big challenge, but I still believe that we can bring the people to Cork.
"[Wife] Stephanie probably had the same worries but she didn’t tell me and I think the Michelin star was a big comfort.
“As Miyazaki, a small tiny takeaway shop, that was a success and people travelled every day for that but that is the sort of food Japanese people eat every day, home cooking, which makes it quite cheap for people to travel but if it’s high end food, people have to pay more — but there is nothing like this experience in Ireland, even in London there are only a few places like it, so that’s why I had to try it — and people are focussed on Japanese cuisine right now and are interested in it so that was another reason to try it. But there was a worry that I’d run out of customers.
“When we opened I wasn’t going to try for a star because I had heard so many stories about chefs trying for a Michelin star and their focus goes a different way, they are good cooks and they try to change their style and ruin it so I didn’t want to be known as a chef that was ruined by trying for Michelin.
"We were full the first few weeks that we opened and already people travelled from Dublin so I was very happy.
"During the summer was busy and Miyazaki was busy.
"Some restaurants are quiet during tourist season, local people going away on holidays, but actually a lot of people came from America to Miyazaki and to Ichigo Ichie.
"They heard about it from Irish musicians from Cork touring in the US who’d talk about it, saying ‘oh definitely go to Miyazaki and Ichigo Ichie’.
Also we were on Netflix, on Somebody Feed Phil [a Netflix show in which writer Phil Rosenthal, creator of sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, travels the world in search of new eating experiences], and that was quite massive. After that, straight away, Americans started coming to us
“Luckily we got the inspector within six weeks, I didn’t know but I was guessing it was him, he was on his own, sitting here [at the counter], his questions were very professional, ‘how do you manage this fish?’, so I was going, ‘hmmmm!’ and he had quite a strong British accent.
"I didn’t know but at the end he gave me the application form for the guide and said, ‘I’m the inspector’, and I nearly fainted.
"I thought he would be very quiet, no smile, but he was really excited and very nice personality so he made me want to get the star.
"He said, ‘yessss!!!’ in the kitchen, he was so excited, and I said, ‘is everything ok?’ and he said he was just very excited about Ichigo Ichie.
"He said, ‘we have been waiting for someone like you, someone aging fish like you do because no one in Ireland does it’.
"I use a salt from Japan and then I put the fish in a static fridge so I can turn off the fan, with the air not going around, fish can age safely but if the oxygen is going around it is not good for the fish.
"So I explain to him and he said, ‘genius!’
“At the awards ceremony, I thought, ‘no, not this year’, I didn’t know until the ceremony started and they called my restaurant, only then did I know that we had won the Michelin Star.
“After the summer, some nights were getting quieter but since we got Michelin, that was completely different, the phone never stopped, emails hundreds every day, I was a bit scared — what is Michelin!
"An Irish Michelin starred chef told me your life is going to change forever and it did, I was scared.
“We still get mostly Irish, the great thing is people come up after the meal to the counter and say, thanks for the experience, and that’s what I wanted.
“Christmas isn’t particularly big in Japan, there is no religion, it’s just a party, almost like a Halloween. I have KFC!
"It’s very common in Japan, every year, KFC, KFC, a massive bucket of it and champagne, not gorgeous champagne, could be sparkling wine, something fizzy, but we call it ‘champagne’.
“Christmas for us now is really a family day and that’s great, an excuse for all the family to meet up on Christmas day, every year I go back to Offaly, there is a mass for Stephanie’s grandfather and then back to Stephanie’s gran’s house, and then dinner back in Stephanie’s house.
"Now that I don’t have KFC, I eat the turkey but I’m always looking for Ballycomber Lamb, roast lamb, lamb chops, they know I love it!”
ROBERT COLLENDER & JAMES ELLIS
The highly experienced Robert Collendar and James Ellis are very much restaurateurs of the old school, not just mere owners employing others to do the heavy lifting.
Mews is their own concept fully realised, in every single aspect: from charming little venue sited in equally charming Baltimore, carefully selected after a tour of the entire Irish coastline, right down to the core ethos of the menu, an intensely locavore vision achieved through foraging on land and sea and their sublime selection of local growers, producers and suppliers.
Equally astute was their canny selection of chef Ahmet Dede to implement same, for Dede is a consummate professional, highly creative and technically precise, and has Michelin experience.
Last summer, I enjoyed one of my meals of the year in Mews and stated in my subsequent review, they would be close to top of my list for any new Michelin stars in Ireland — safe to say the confirmation a month or two later wasn’t too much of a bolt from the blue!
Robert Collender: “Last January was a good time to start in looking at the year ahead. It was pissing rain in West Cork from Christmas through to the end of January.
"I was the only one at Mews: James [Ellis] was in India and Ahmet [Dede, chef] was off in Holland with his brother’s restaurant.
"All the other crew were off skiing and gallivanting, taking holidays and I just put some brief plans together before realising I needed a holiday myself.
“We think of it as a project each year that we set out at the start of each year.
"Restaurants can turn into something that is all about maintenance and nothing ever changes but one of the great things about our winter break is we set out what we expect for the year ahead, to prepare, new menu, budgets, targets, opening dates and when we will be busy or quiet depending on public and school holidays and put together a calendar for the year.
It dictates the course of the year ahead. We put a lot of emphasis on quality of life and life balance
“Michelin was mentioned, yeah. When we hired Ahmet two seasons ago, he was a sous chef at a Michelin star restaurant and had worked in starred restaurants throughout his entire career and that was his ambition [to win a star] and we felt with the right chef and structures, it was possible, everything was in place in the infrastructure.
"Last year, he bedded in, this year we made all the improvements that we felt were necessary and we went in this year feeling we were at the standard, so, yes, it was a major ambition this year.
"I would be lying if I said otherwise. It wasn’t a surprise. Everyone says it was but that would be lying.
“You generally get a call in the week preceding the week of the event. There is always rumour and conjecture going around. We were essentially waiting.
"The horrific thing about that stage is, if you’re not getting in the guide, you’re not getting a call telling you you’re NOT in! But in fact there was no call, just an email inviting us to the event.
"That’s when you realise it’s happening. There was great excitement and my parents happened to be with us at the time but we couldn’t really say anything to anybody so it’s an awkward few days.
"We had to book last minute flights and hotels, spent a fair few quid, and four of us [Rob, James, Ahmet and sous chef Remi Lachiaille] went over.
“The very first person we saw when we walked in was Rob Krawczyk walking in at exactly the same time and literally the next person was Takashi and the three of us were standing next to each other, looking at each other, presuming but not assuming, but you don’t believe until literally it comes up on a big screen.
“We were the first of the Irish. All the Irish chefs from all the Michelin starred restaurants were sitting around us so the atmosphere jumped a bit when our awards were announced.
"It was all a blur in some ways after that, champers flowing, doing interviews, looking at my phone, more notifications than I’d ever seen before so I put it back in my pocket and enjoyed the night.
"All the Irish chefs seemed to get together, which was great, we were in a whirlwind of joy really.
“West Cork until Christmas is a nice place to be. Generally the poorest weather is in January and February so a few weeks away then does wonders and February is when we begin really working hard on the new project.
“I’m normally with my own family, who now live in Co Longford, but this year is my first Christmas in West Cork, with my partner Dolcie’s family.
"I’m a turkey and ham man. I’m all about the traditional Christmas.
"My mother has cooked the same thing each year all my life but I believe my partner’s family are doing roast shoulder of pork—which doesn’t sound too bad at all!
"Dolcie is expecting in March, so that’s what I’ll be doing for the Christmas, my attentions turning to that, getting organised to become a dad. In some ways, it is the best news this year.
It’s a total gamechanger for me. It’s kind of nice to be at this stage, with the job at hand, it seems like good timing
"I’m really glad I’ve done the project we’ve done before becoming a father because I don’t think I could combine the two.”
ROB KRAWCZYK
I had always known Rob Krawczyk to be a highly skilled practitioner, equally comfortable delivering robust charcuterie-driven meat dishes that speak of the paternal legacy from his father, Frank, one of Ireland’s original and best charcutiers, as he was delivering high-end cuisine with all the delicate precision of a watchmaker.
But when I sat down last April to eat in Restaurant Chestnut on its opening night, as much by happy accident as by any serious design, I had no idea the pared back former pub in a little West Cork village would be brandishing a Michelin Star by year’s end.
But, by the time I rose from the table at the end of a superb meal bookended with the most sublimely husbanded cheese board I have ever had in a restaurant, the notion had certainly been planted; the only impediment I could foresee was Restaurant Chestnut’s ‘youth’ — would Michelin choose to award a restaurant so close to its infancy?
Well, they did and it is precisely the lifeline a tiny enterprise far from urban centres needs to survive, particularly during the off-season.
For that alone, Mr Michelin, we thank you!
Rob Krawczyk: “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about getting a Michelin Star — as a chef, it’s already in your head —but it wasn’t a reason to do an 18-seater, it wasn’t the reason to come down here to West Cork.
"That was the type of restaurant we wanted to do anyway —small — and West Cork is where I’m from. I never set it up to get a star.
"The Michelin inspector came in on a Thursday night two weeks after we opened, a single person, booked in on their own, very polite, just sat down — you always keep out for someone on their own.
"He was an English man, asked a lot of questions, looked around and then introduced himself and had a chat. Told me he’d travelled from Belfast just to eat here.
"Even his feedback alone was great to get at such an early stage. He asked about plans for the future. I was working and chatting because for the first three weeks after we opened, I was on my own and we’d had an incredibly busy service the night before.
"We got an email about the awards on a Wednesday, I was working away and Elaine came down and said it.
"It took us by surprise and you look at it and keep looking at it and say, ‘naw, they must have emailed the wrong person’.
“We booked our flights and accommodation — we could have flown to America and back and stayed a few nights and eaten in some nice restaurants, it was shocking dear!
"We arrived on the Monday, got there around three-ish and met up with all the lads. We met Rob [Collender] and James [Ellis] outside, Takashi [Miyazaki], Andrew [Heron] and Damien [Grey, from Dublin Michelin-starred restaurant Heron and Grey].
"It was nice to be in the company of them all. We stood around for a while, drinking champers and cocktails, and then on into Gordon Ramsey and the others presenting the awards.
"They did the UK first and you’re waiting around. It’s enjoyable, you’ve heard of all these restaurants. I suppose it made it more tense. They did us last.
When ‘Ballydehob’ came up on the screen… I don’t suppose there was another restaurant from Ballydehob up for a star!
“Afterwards there were canapés and more champagne and we hung out.
"There was lot of media calling and sorting all that out, people ringing, phones going mental and social media. Then about 17 of us [Irish chefs] went for dinner.
“That was kind of it, we were so tired, working the night before, up at four in the morning to fly over.
“We got back late enough the next day and had to get the restaurant ready for service so we didn’t see anyone too much until the following week, except for the customers, but the town was very supportive, coming in, offering congratulations. It’s good for everybody.
"The week before, on the Wednesday and Thursday, we’d had two quiet nights, four diners and six diners, and said, ‘right, this is the winter kicking in!’ and started to get nervous and then the award came and it hasn’t stopped.
"It’s been as busy as the summer. We have a waiting list and a cancellation list and we are just trying to manage all that — it’s great!
“I’m still dumbfounded to be honest, it’s only sinking in still. When the plaque arrived, it made it more real.
At the end of the day we come and do our work but it’s still surreal. Ballydehob is remote enough so it really helps sustain the restaurant through the winter
“We will be closed for about three or four days over Christmas itself but the rest of the time are pretty much open and then we’ll close just after New Year’s for eight weeks. Bookings will open on February 1 for reservations.
"Elaine is going up to her family because her oldest sister is expecting around Christmas and I’ll go to my parents in Deerenatra, over the road, which will be nice.
"I like Christmas. Everybody is so busy these days so it’s nice to sit down and see people you haven’t seen for a while.
"Generally dad does most of it, we usually have a turkey. I will help him a bit but it’s mainly his thing, he loves to do it.
“We’ve no specific plans for next year other than maintaining the star.
We want to progress and move forward and evolve, but that was always the case. We are a still a young restaurant
