Raise your glass to the butchers, the bakers, the seafood shapers
OUR RESTAURANT CRITIC CELEBRATES INNOVATION IN THE FOOD SECTOR AT A CHALLENGING TIME
CHEFS, food producers and hoteliers tend to be more than a tad theatrical. Now, they’re using their ‘show must go on’ mindset to fight for their businesses.
■
Ten years ago at a Tipperary Food Producers’ dinner in the magnificent refectory of Rockwell College in Cashel, Pat Whelan, a Clonmel butcher, confided that he’d been approached by Simon Pratt to open in their then new Avoca Food Hall near me in Monkstown. It was a big step with a different customer base. Pat, however, a man of great vision, went on to be a sensation in the butchering business. He now has nine other James Whelan shops in Leinster and Munster, including Avoca Rathcoole and Kilmacanogue and seven other branches, following his merger with Dunnes Stores, in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Naas.
“Back in the 1960s, it was difficult for people to come into town to shop, so my mother would fill up the boot of her car and deliver door to door to her customers.”
Like mother, like son, in 1999, they became the first butchers in Ireland to go online. “People thought I was mad.” He was, as always, way ahead of the posse. Pat also garnered acclaim for Irish food in 2015 when he was the overall winner at the UK’s Great Taste Awards for his mammy’s ‘dripping’ — now on sale in Harrods and Fortnum & Mason!
“More than ever, as food producers, we have a very important role to play ensuring our shops and online stores are fully stocked every day of the week. We’ve seen unprecedented demands for our National Delivery Service, and have launched two new food hampers — The Family Collection and The Artisan Collection at €120 each. We’ve also introduced a local service with next-day delivery if you live within 15km of any of our 10 shops.” jameswhelanbutchers.com
■ THE PRODUCER
“In the latter days of Arbutus Lodge restaurant, I developed a passion for bread making, especially sourdough, using a ferment I created with mulched organic grapes,” says Declan Ryan, of Cork’s famed Arbutus Breads.
However, Declan Ryan is not just famous for his breads. He and his wife Patsy achieved
Ireland’s first Michelin Star in 1974 at their legendary Arbutus Lodge in Cork which operated until 1999.
“We opened Arbutus Breads in a small renovated garage and, from a one-baker operation, we’ve expanded to eight bakers, supplying delis, restaurants, selling at country markets — Midleton, Douglas and Mahon, the English Market — and distributing nationwide with Odaios Foods.
“Like everyone else in business, we’ve been hit hard at this time. Nevertheless, we’ve kept the doors open, keeping all our staff employed on a three-day week. Currently, we also supply the neighbourfood.ie network, and Darina Allen’s Ballymaloe market. We also operate an Order & Collect outlet from the bakery on Saturdays, which has produced a great response. Orders and payment are made online. We are quietly confident that there are sufficient lovers of real bread to ensure that our business will thrive through a third decade.” arbutusbread.com
■
From a seafood shack in the Donegal port of Killybegs, Mairead and Garry Anderson took the plunge last December, opening the Boathouse Restaurant in the town. The paint had barely dried...
However, they’ve a lot going for them. Garry is an experienced chef having worked in the Michelin-starred Gordon Ramsay restaurant at Claridges, followed by five years at Lough Eske Castle. Mairead, who worked in the hotel industry, had followed the popular casual food trend, opening the shack in 2017. “Off the back of the seafood shack success, I persuaded my husband to open up a badly needed restaurant in Killybegs.”
So, the minute the restaurant closures came, they started to serve their Seafood Shack food to go from the Boathouse courtyard. “We’ll wait until we’re told what the restrictions are and, with a reduced capacity, our idea is to do an outdoor offering in our big courtyard, and
Garry’s lovely seafood in the restaurant. As long as we’re allowed to do so safely. If not, we will rejig and rethink. The possibilities are endless. It just takes a bit of imagination. Our intention is to also open the Seafood Shack on the quay in a couple of weeks.” killybegsseafoodshack.com
■ THE HOTEL
Kelly’s Resort Hotel in Rosslare is one of Ireland’s most famous and best-loved hotels. Owner Bill Kelly told me how they are fighting back and preparing for reopening.
“Charting the evolution of Kelly’s over the course of the last 125 years is about sketching the comings and goings of the people who have visited and worked in the hotel. Kelly’s has weathered many highs and lows, from wars to recessions.
“We’ve been through a lot together and have always managed to overcome everything. This pandemic certainly presents a new challenge. The business decisions we make will continue to be based on the safety and well-being of our team, families and guests. This remains our number one priority.
“Now, we are challenging ourselves to find new ways of doing business, both in the short term with a new online Kelly’s wine sales offering, and we launched our La Marine Kitchen Takeout menu last weekend with great success, so far. In the longer term, we are assessing the reopening of Kelly’s cafe in Wexford as a walk-through Food Hall. Our wine sales have been a great success and we are supplying our customers throughout Ireland. All of the wines are directly imported from France, offering both quality and value.
“All of the producers are visited and each wine carefully tasted with the help of my brother-in-law, Vincent Avril, wine grower in Chateauneufdu-Pape.
“This will pass and things will get back to normal, hopefully we can emerge from this stronger than ever before.” kellys.ie