SOUL SURVIVOR THE WOMAN BEHIND COUPE

Jeanette Bryson was paralysed from the neck down but recovered to build a stellar culinary career. She tells CONNECTED what inspired her to open one of Derry’s most popular and eco-friendly new restaurants

Running a successful restaurant requires resilience, energy and the culinary expertise to serve up delicious food – qualities that Jeanette Bryson, of American-themed smokehouse Coupe by The Dirty Souls, epitomises.

That the Shipquay Street eatery is also a prime example of how to run a business as sustainably as possible –principles learnt in childhood from her mother – makes it an ideal venue for these eco-conscious times.

Jeanette’s life story is extraordinary. Working in the hospitality industry since the age of 13, she always dreamt of opening her own eatery but 15 years ago fell seriously ill with Guillain-Barré syndrome, which left her paralysed from the neck down.

After a year largely spent in bed in hospital, she returned to college in a wheelchair, determined to finish her course – and the following year was back managing a restaurant. “It was about mindset and support, my family were there for me,” says this remarkable woman, now 40.

A sommelier by trade, she went on to enjoy a career as a senior lecturer at Westminster Kingsway College in London, training students to work in the same Michelin-starred restaurants where she had honed her skills.

But that youthful ambition to launch her own restaurant never left her, even though she could never decide what type of venture she wanted it to be.

Then, in 2012, fate gave her a nudge when she visited the Blues Kitchen in Camden to celebrate her birthday and loved the menu and the vibe. “I discovered barbeque and immediately wanted to find out all about it.”

Any doubts that the venue might be too niche vanished when she returned with her mum and aunt. “I watched mum drinking Sambuca and dancing and across the floor there was an 18-year-old doing the same thing, everyone loved it,” she says.

Five years later, Jeanette and husband Eoin Sheridan, co-owner of Coupe by The Dirty Souls, returned to the North West to live and began to search for premises. Adamant their food would be authentic, they travelled to America, visiting smokehouses in Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas to learn “exactly what real fried chicken was”.

The couple did their first pop-up event at a bar in Ballybofey in Co Donegal in 2019, followed by another at Sippyfest in Derry later that year and then, in February 2020, a third gig in the city, at the Walled City Brewery. “After those two events in Derry, we already had regulars, so that was a good sign,” says Jeanette.

But then the Covid pandemic hit. For two months Jeanette sold cocktails from the back of her car before they hired a food truck for €120 a week. “We took it to a different town every weekend,” she says. “Then, we did one night in Derry and sold out in pre-orders – we only released the truck’s location to those who’d already ordered, but other people found us too. That night was insane.”

From May 2021 to August 2022, they traded above the Grand Central Bar in Derry. After a month-long pop-up at Nine Hostages, on Waterloo Street, they moved into Shipquay Street in October last year. The food truck, meanwhile, is at Kinnegar Brewery in Co Donegal.

“It’s quite a journey – so far,” says Jeanette, with a smile.

The mix of menu – smoked brisket, fried chicken and much more – and Memphis and New Orleans soundtrack is hugely popular. Bespoke cocktails and carefully selected wines complete the unique dining experience.

“We create central Texas-style barbeque and American southern soul food. We go by the same techniques as an offset smoker and specialise in smoking meats and serve Cajun and southern dishes,” she says. “It’s about the food, music and culture. I’ve always been obsessed with Gospel and Blues. A gospel choir sang at our wedding in Italy.”

While Jeanette and Eoin, who live in Kilmacrennan, Co Donegal, with their two dogs, are intent on growing the business, they are equally committed to reducing its environmental impact. “Our plan is to be a zero waste functioning restaurant by 2024,” she declares in a way that suggests that goal will be achieved.

Her genuine passion for an eco-friendly lifestyle was sparked in childhood by her mother, who hated to see food thrown out.

“The tiniest sliver of butter was wrapped up and saved,” recalls Jeanette. “When my brother, sister and I worked in a local restaurant, we’d to bring home all the scraps to feed the stray cats. For mum, the motive was financial – she hadn’t the money to be wasteful.”

Ingredients are sourced from local suppliers. “Our chicken is from Hegarty’s Butchers and our pork is from Grants, both in Derry. Our brisket comes from Wexford. We buy retired dairy cattle from Donegal – “the meat is older so it’s better for smoking,” says Jeanette.

Beers are sourced from Rough Brothers Brewery, in Derry, Northbound, at Eglinton, and Kinnegar in Donegal. Wines are from 95% sustainable independent producers.

The restaurant stocks artisan Kombuchas made by Na Dalaigh in Donegal – they have reuseable bottles and compostable cans – but Jeanette and Eoin also make their own. She gives me a short lesson in how to make seven litres of juice from one pineapple, costing £1.

They make their own waffles, with unsold ones dehydrated into waffle dust, which is then used in other dishes.

To cut carbon emissions and save energy, there are no walk-in fridges and freezers, just a normal freezer, three-door professional fridge and a fridge for raw meats.

“Used oil is carefully drained, stored in containers and collected by a young guy who turns it into green oil for lawnmowers,” explains Jeanette, who has also banned blue roll in the kitchens. “Someone brought some in and six rolls were used in a week, but we hadn’t actually needed it before.”

Along with its fine reputation for good food, Coupe is renowned for its generous portions – and proudly sends diners home with doggy bags. “Our servers tell customers that leftovers will be wrapped up for them to take home,” adds Jeanette.

“As kids, we were embarrassed when Mum asked for doggy bags in restaurants, but in fact she was a woman ahead of her time.”