We got 400 bookings in one day after our Michelin star win!
A RURAL restaurant which clinched a coveted Michelin star has seen bookings boil over as a result – with 400 people looking for a table the day after the star was announced.
Robbie and Sophie McCauley opened Homestead Cottage in Doolin, Co. Clare, last summer, just two weeks after the arrival of their second daughter, Iris.
French-born Sophie has been juggling taking care of Iris and three-year-old Louise while responding to the 400 online bookings made on Tuesday, and the 120 made by lunchtime yesterday, following the Monday night Michelin awards ceremony.
Located in a 200-year-old fishing cottage, the 35-seat restaurant serves an eight-course tasting menu for €95 three nights a week, with lunch available Thursday to Saturday at between €39 and €45.
The Michelin guide judges said: ‘The terrific cooking at Homestead Doolin brings one Michelin star to Ireland’s rural west coast.
‘…It is pretty remote but well worth the journey for perfectly judged cooking.’
Robbie McCauley, 33, who is from Edinburgh and has worked in kitchens since he was 16, said of the award: ‘We have been very lucky. It is definitely one of the biggest achievements for us.’
The couple met after both moving to Ireland in the early 2010s.
He continued: ‘It’s been a bit crazy, we are still trying to catch our tail. We had over 400 bookings yesterday and 120 today, and that’s not even counting the phone enquiries… I hope people aren’t getting too frustrated with us as we try to get back to them.’
He said the summer season is booking up fast, although there are some spaces available over the next couple of weeks.
The judges did not reveal precisely what swung the award for them, but he said: ‘We keep our ethos straight-forward. We cook what’s in season and what we can get our hands on locally, and showcase that.
‘They did say that our restaurant is the most rural one on the list – we are just over a mile and a half from the Cliffs of Moher, and our set up is in a typical cottage.’
He said there was no shortage of tourists in the area over the summer, but that he hoped Homestead Cottage would now draw in its own food tourists.
Mr McCauley said they had no plans to raise prices as a result of their new-found Michelin fame – but that rising costs had already caused them to raise their prices.
‘VAT went up 50% in September, the minimum wage has gone up, sick pay, utilities – although they are not as bad as they were at one stage – and the price of food,’ he said. ‘At the end of the day we want to pay our staff and suppliers fairly, and too many small businesses are facing the same pressures as us. We want to remain open and trading.’
The chef said he fully supports the Restaurants Association of Ireland in calling for a VAT reduction for businesses like his. ‘It’s a hot topic but I don’t think restaurants should pay the same VAT as hotels – our food and staff costs are generally higher, and our margins are lower,’ he said.
Meanwhile, D’Olier Street restaurant in Dublin, which has also secured a new Michelin star, has also enjoyed a healthy bump in reservations, with executive chef and co-owner James Moore describing the accolade as ‘a dream come true’.
Offering a 12-course tasting menu at €96 per person, the restaurant was complimented by the Michelin judges for having ‘dishes as beautiful as the building’.
Australian James, who has been cooking in fine dining kitchens around the globe for more than two decades, met co-owner Anthony Smith, from Dublin, while they were working in One Pico in the city in 2006.
Mr Moore told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘The goal wasn’t to work towards a Michelin award, it was just to build a nice restaurant.
‘But, in the back of my mind, winning a star has always been a dream. I’ve worked in Michelinstarred restaurants my whole career. To be the leader of a team that won a star has always been a goal.
‘The Michelin award is recognition of all the hard work our team’s put in. It’s a dream come true.’
The third restaurant to achieve one-star status for the first time this year was The Bishop’s Buttery, in Cashel, Co. Tipperary, while Terre at the luxurious Castlemartyr Estate in Co. Cork was elevated to two stars.