Sole food returns at Murrin and O’Kane’s new restaurant
A SWANKY new addition to Dublin’s thriving restaurant scene opened last week — Sole on South William Street. Regular diners will know the location well — it previously housed Zaragoza, a buzzy, affordable tapas restaurant.
It was notable for its high-profile owners — biscuit baron Michael Carey, former Fianna Fail minister Mary Hanafin and millionaire tech entrepreneur Jerry Kennelly, as well as ex-McDonald’s chief Marcus Hewson and Ion Equity’s Neil O’Leary.
However, despite its excellent pedigree, Zaragoza closed on New Year’s Eve.
In fact they sold the business and longterm lease some 20 months ago to MHL, which is owned by Larry Murrin of Dawn Farms and Padraic O’Kane, who is in the hospitality and events business.
The pair already run Fire in the Mansion House and patisserie Ethos on Baggot Street, and Murrin told me that they had their eye on the Zaragoza site for some time.
“It was strategically in our sights to open a fairly high-end seafood restaurant,” he said. “We know from 14 years working in Fire that the demographic that uses Fire would also like a really good seafood offer,” he said.
Sole opened on Tuesday serving oysters, lobster and plenty of champagne.
MHL clearly has an appetite for the notoriously precarious restaurant trade.
“Restaurants are a risky business. There is quite an explosion in small to mid-sized restaurants and cafes around Dublin which is down to owners driving it,” said Murrin.
“They bring passion to their food and customer service — that is one of the exciting things happening on the Dublin scene.
“Those businesses require the passion of owners to make them work.”
He also said their role in the economy should not be underestimated.
“Those small places are really important because they often employ six, 10 or more people. Fire employs 95, almost 100 people, Sole employs 35 full-time ,” he said.
Murrin is clearly fired up about the restaurant scene and he and O’Kane have another one in the pipeline for Dublin in the autumn.