10 minute read
CHEFS TO WATCH
TREASURE ISLAND
IRELAND’S GASTRONOMY, LIKE ITS PEOPLE, IS NOW BETTER TRAVELLED AND MORE OPEN TO NEW INFLUENCES. HERE ARE PORTRAITS OF FOUR YOUNG, CREATIVE, FREE-AND-EASY CHEFS THAT ARE DUSTING OFF “IRISH CUISINE”, REVITALISING AND REVAMPING IT TO KEEP PACE WITH TODAY’S TASTES.
By Boris Coridian Photos Mickaël A. Bandassak
DUBLIN IS FULL OF SURPRISES. IT HAS LONG ATTRACTED VISITORS FROM AROUND THE WORLD WITH ITS UNIQUE MELANGE OF CULTURE, CONGENIALITY AND THOSE WARMLY WELCOMING WATERING HOLES KNOWN AS PUBS. Today, though, this list must also include inventive cuisine featuring local ingredients of incomparable freshness and strong flavour. An unexpected selling point for a city that, for the vast majority of taste buds, evokes dark beer, potatoes, bacon and fish ‘n’ chips! The time has come, however, to dispense with those gastronomic clichés, letting the new reality of Irish food set the world alight. Young local chefs are shaping the new, modern Irish cuisine and promoting their vision of “surf and turf” for their island. The coasts are brimming with sublime shellfish – are they not dubbed “Dublin Bay prawns”? The countryside, in its thousand shades of green, is the source of exceptional meats, particularly beef and lamb, as well as rich, creamy milk used to make potent cheeses.
Dublin was not expecting a new generation of gastronomic geniuses to embrace and enhance these traditional, Irish-born products. We met four of the daring young chefs: Ciaran Sweeney, Niall Sabongi, Mark Moriarty and Barry FitzGerald. Each, in his own way, embodies the desire to reshape the landscape, pen new pages in a cookbook they feel has become dusty and tarnished with age. Ciaran and Mark worked together at pop-up restaurants in Dublin, surprising short-lived eateries that thrilled local foodies with spectacular dishes served in unusual places around the capital. Since that time, Ciaran took over the helm of one of Dublin’s most elegant establishments, Forest & Marcy. Mark has been travelling the world to spread word of his terroir and technique, the title of San Pellegrino Young Chef 2015 on his chef’s coat. Niall, who grew up in the kitchens of his restaurateur father, started a marine bistro with fresh seafood and a very relaxed atmosphere. And Barry dove into the trade by opening his first restaurant after learning the ropes in England.
During the photo shoot, the four young men talk shop, swapping their impressions of their lives as restaurant owners, chefs, cooks. Though they’ve not yet had the chance to work all together, these professionals from the same generation have many things in common. Their restaurants all hold very high standards of excellence, offer concise menus that change with the seasons, along with elegant dishes and exceptional value for money. They are part of a burgeoning crop of establishments dotting the busy streets of the Irish capital. The “fair city” is more appetising than ever. Let’s eat!
CALL OF THE INDIES Irish cod and spring vegetables, seasoned with coconut-tinged cream.
CIARAN SWEENEY, CHEF AT FOREST & MARCY
“When foreign customers are asked what foods are made in Ireland, they always say, ‘Guinness, potatoes and bacon’. A handful of us want to change things and get past this boring, closed-minded vision of Irish fare. Today’s Irish cuisine resembles today’s Irish people: it has travelled, opened itself up to others, but remains rooted in the terroir,” says Sweeney. In May 2016, this 31-year-old chef took over the kitchens at Forest & Marcy dj, the second location of the delightful Forest Avenue, a hundred metres away. He mixes his house spice blends there, produces his own charcuterie – a rarity in Ireland – and reinvents the basics of this modern Irish cuisine undergoing such transformation. It’s an enormous challenge for this young father, who saw the birth of his first child the same week the restaurant opened! But Ciaran has boundless energy: “I want to shake up this restaurant and shake up Irish cuisine. There are very strict codes at the fine dining establishments here. And pubs, more often than not, serve dishes that are really passé.” In his restaurant, flooded with natural light, he serves an endless parade of creative, elegant, tasty dishes. The classic smoked salmon is reinvented here: the flesh is enveloped in a fragrant cloud before being slightly flame-singed. “Thornton’s is the first restaurant to have updated our traditional bacon and cabbage. Here, I serve a new kind of potato bread, made with fermented potatoes mixed with butter and yogurt.” To plumb the mysteries of Dublin, one absolutely must sample Ciaran’s cuisine!
SWEET AUDACITY White chocolate, yogurt, almonds and sorbet... with dill!
A TREE GROWS IN DUBLIN The restaurant is on the city’s fashionable Leeson Street.
THE SEAFOOD LAIR Niall Sabongi opened his marine bistro in the middle of the Temple Bar district.
SAVOURY PEARLS The menu features Oysters Rockefeller (with spinach au gratin) and Kilpatrick (with bacon and Worcestershire sauce).
NIALL SABONGI, OWNER OF KLAW AND FOUNDER OF SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD IRELAND
Ireland is an island. Though a known fact, it bears repeating, considering how often seafood seems to be neglected when mentioning this country’s dining options. “We have exceptional waters around us, but the whole world only knows us for Irish beef. Why? Because ninety percent of the fish and seafood caught here is exported,” explains dynamic chef-entrepreneur Niall Sabongi, who has chosen to honour these great forgotten foods. In his pocket-sized establishment in the Temple Bar district, you can swallow oysters from Waterford or Connemara. You might feast on a crock of spicy winter crab, and lobster claws are served in down-to-earth style. The lobster roll – a tender sandwich of lobster meat in spicy mayonnaise – has a taste that leaves you wanting more. There are no white tablecloths or pompous service here – just rock music in the background and eager diners packed elbow-to-elbow. “I want seafood to be affordable, relaxed, within everyone’s reach, without sacrificing freshness,” affirms Niall. This father of two young children not only sells his maritime pearls on his menu, but he is also the head of Sustainable Seafood Ireland, a local, responsible fishing company: “We work with small fishing boats that supply Dublin’s restaurants – including Klaw dk, of course! – with mackerel, John Dory, lobster, crab, and the rest.” Then he adds, “Irish cuisine had lost its credibility. There’s a lot of work to be done in educating the younger generations. I want to go into schools to hand down this maritime legacy – it’s rare for kids here to have ever tasted an oyster! I want to take them out to pick wild herbs, gather seaweed and eat shellfish on the beach.”
MARK MORIARTY, TRAVELLING CHEF AND WINNER OF THE 2015 SAN PELLEGRINO YOUNG CHEF COMPETITION
Don’t look for his restaurant in Dublin. Or at least get set for a long wait before you do, because the Irish winner of the prestigious 2015 San Pellegrino Young Chef Award is in no hurry to settle down. “It’s a little early to open my restaurant – I still have a lot to learn. I’ll keep travelling and absorbing what I can from the people I meet and the food cultures I explore. I hope to open up my bistro in Dublin in the next four or five years,” says this hugely talented 28-year-old chef. Mark Moriarty is now one of the ambassadors taking new Irish cuisine outside of the country’s borders. Having teamed up with his friend Ciaran Sweeney in opening pop-up restaurants hailed by the who’s-who of Dublin, this young man has gone nomadic – travelling the United States, Singapore, Australia, Italy, and beyond – to raise global awareness of his little-known terroir, casting aside the clichés long associated with his native island. “Young Irish chefs can finally have some self-confidence! They’re proud to carry this torch and use the great ingredients that come from such fertile land,” exclaims Mark as he walks down the aisles of the Fallon & Byrne grocery store, where Irish-made products are legion. The dish that earned him his title in June 2015 is a succint expression of the spirit of his cuisine. “It all starts with one simple ingredient: celeriac. It’s blackened with a kitchen torch, then placed in a pearl barley-andhay miso, aromas I’m well-acquainted with – Guinness and the smell of my uncle’s farm. I add roasted hazelnuts and a crumble made from the celery peelings, because I hate to waste anything. I blend the celery juice with butter, and a hazelnut-oil mayonnaise ties it all together. The recipe is served in one of my grandmother’s tea dishes.” How very Irish! > You can follow Mark Moriarty at www.twitter.com/markmoriarty1
Mark Moriarty
MADE IN IRELAND The globetrotting chef finds inspiration in the aisles of Fallon & Byrne.
TEAM BUILDING Centre: Barry, from London to Dublin.
TASTE AND COLOUR Spätzle, duck egg, peas, marinated pomegranate and wild garlic.
SPRING HAS SPRUNG! Ricotta balls, asparagus and cream of sorrel.
BARRY FITZGERALD, CHEF AND OWNER OF BASTIBLE
“This is what a bastible looks like,” says the chef, 34, at the start of our meeting, holding up a traditional, cast-iron cooking pot, an Irish kitchen essential in the late 19th century. Still, though Barry named his restaurant for this cookware, don’t think that Bastible dl is a trip back in time! The cuisine is modern, vibrant, electric and the establishment is easily on a par with the best bistronomic eateries in London or Paris. This chef-entrepreneur – sweet-faced, but utterly determined – drew on his personal and professional background to create a restaurant that has been bringing in Dublin’s trend-setting crowds since November 2015. “I’m Dublin-born, but I grew up in the United States. Once I came back here, I studied business without any specific agenda. I travelled a lot – Australia, the USA, Europe – mostly for the fun of it. I was introduced to the culinary world, which helped me choose my career path: that’s what I wanted to do!” He quickly got an on-the-job education in the cooking profession in London with the new generation of chefs that care about keeping menu pricing reasonable and working effectively with local ingredients. “I always wanted to return to Dublin. This city holds so much promise. And it’s a more relaxed place for starting a family,” explains the young father. He modestly describes his style of modern Irish cuisine, “even though we can’t really say we have a true gastronomic tradition, like France does, for instance.” He adds, “Recently, the economic recession has driven prices higher. The producers understood that they’d make a better living if they focused on quality. And the quality of cheese, beef, lamb and seafood improved phenomenally! It’s a virtuous circle: young people are more interested in cooking – it’s not just about beer for them anymore!”
Barry FitzGerald
“BASTIBLE DAY” Barry FitzGerald’s restaurant revolution!
THE NEW TASTE OF DUBLIN…
ETTO fp A contemporary bistro that offers astounding value, right downtown. Casual atmosphere and a menu peppered with surprises. Be sure to see the fine wine list in this establishment that serves no beer!
FOREST AVENUE fq An Irish-American couple, John and Sandy Wyer, run this restaurant. It weaves together bistronomic influences from New York, Paris and London, while preserving a touch of Dublin. Their brunch is the most popular in the capital.
LOCKS 1 WINDSOR TERRACE fs Meticulous service, a varied, ingredientcentred menu, all in a rustic setting on the banks of the canal: what more would you ask for? Ah yes, their delightful cocktail selection!
THE GREENHOUSE fd One of the best contemporary Irish menus combining local treasures (like Dublin Bay prawns and County Kerry lamb) with superb dishes born of great French cuisine.
THE PIG’S EAR ff A single restaurant with three ambiances, depending on which floor you choose to sit on, in this tastefully decorated Dublin establishment. It feels like home away from home, a place that perfectly interprets new Irish cuisine.
… ACCOMPANIED BY A NESPRESSO GRAND CRU
FISH SHACK CAFÉ There are three locations of this eatery: Temple Bar fg, Sandycove dh and Malahide fh. Each serves locally caught seafood: nibble on fried treats, crab sandwiches, and wash it all down with a cold beer.
