Stories of resilience in the food sector
OUR RESTAURANT CRITIC CELEBRATES NEW APPROACHES AND RESILIENCE AT A CHALLENGING TIME
TODAY I’m talking to two veterans of the food and hospitality business and two relative newbies, all of whom have been extremely resourceful in these uncertain times.
■ THE FOOD BOX
Cork’s legendary English Market is in many ways more than a market. It’s a whole community of people working together year after year under one roof, not only selling their food, but bringing enormous life and energy to the city. They know their customers from their daily encounters. There’s banter and fun, but, at the heart of it, it’s all about good food from hard-working producers in the region. The Roughty Foodie was set up 60 years ago by Michael F and Peggy Murphy, described by their daughter, Margo Ann, as “country people”.
“We’re now third-generation traders. We stock an array of artisan food from producers based in Ireland’s most rural communities. The stall is a platform for them to showcase their amazing products, which include homemade preserves, chutneys, farmhouse cheeses, raw Irish honey, strawberries, free-range eggs and West Cork flowers.”
Margo Ann says there needs to be change. “Parking needs to remain free to entice people to come in and shop with us. There needs to be more seating for people to be able to enjoy their goodies from the market. Moreover, the waterways and quays need to be developed safely for both local businesses and the public to enjoy.”
Margo Ann and her daughter Harriet, a home economics teacher, who makes the most delicious lemon curd with passionfruit for the stall, have put together food boxes, which are delivered all over Ireland. Their English Market food box starts at €70, while their ‘Rolls Royce’ food box is from €100. Call Margo on 087 6352415 roughtyfoodie@gmail.com
■ THE PRODUCERS
Michael and Aisling Flanagan produce their Velvet Cloud sheep’s milk, yogurt and cheese on their family farm in Co Mayo. Having founded their business in 2015, their delicious yogurt was an instant hit and they’d been growing steadily. However, they’ve seen a 50pc drop in their weekly sales just from restaurant closures, apart from the loss of retail sales. Fighting for their fab foodie business, they’ve started a new delivery service of their Velvet Cloud yogurt, but are planning to give their ‘Rockfield by Velvet Cloud’, a semi-hard three-month-old cheese with a natural rind, its online debut in June.
“It’s amazing how quickly you can learn about online applications and how to set up an e-commerce shop, when your back is up against the wall,” says Aisling. “We’ve been surprised at the uptake so far, while it’s still modest, and only running for five weeks, we’ve doubled sales each week.” They’ve also taken up support from their Local Enterprise Office using a Trading Online Voucher, and Aisling says she’s using every spare minute to attend ‘webinars’ and online tutorials provided by agencies like Bord Bia and Blas na hEireann. The Flanagans will deliver six 450g pots of their fresh Velvet Cloud sheep’s milk yogurt anywhere in Ireland, via courier, for €30, the shelf life being at least 21 days. velvetcloud.ie
■ THE RESTAURANT
Joe and Margaret Bohan’s
Dela restaurant opened in 2013 and has grown steadily since, enjoying a loyal local customer base who know the welcome will be warm and the food fresh and delicious. It’s in the foodie East End of Galway, and it’s cool, but not of the achingly hip variety.
“Dela means to share in Swedish, to have in common, to cut the cake in equal parts, and it’s a concept we try to extend to all aspects of our business.” They’re all about self-sustainability where possible.
“We’re only one generation removed from where our parents were growing their own food as a matter of course. If we don’t continue the tradition, it stops with them. We’re lucky to have access to family land where we grow both in tunnels and outdoors.
“This year we installed a second commercial tunnel, bringing our indoor growing area to 6,000sq ft. We grow 40-plus vegetable varieties, not including herbs and edible flowers.”
It’s all grown from seed, maintained organically and harvested by themselves. Joe says they’re lucky to have a head chef, Sylvain Gatay, and team who ‘get it’ and love to get stuck in. Until recently, Galway was booming, and, having started in the depths of the last recession, Dela had seen double-digit annual growth since 2015.
“Our immediate future will be as a collect-only restaurant — and we’ve launched our ‘Curbside Collection’. We’ve also tweaked our growing plan to focus on late summer and winter crops to potentially do some amazing veg boxes and veg-related products.” dela.ie
■ THE HOTEL
Now celebrating 65 years in the biz, the Sandymount Hotel running over eight Victorian houses with 187 bedrooms is Dublin’s oldest and largest independent family-run hotel. Ideally located in upmarket D4, close to the Aviva Stadium, and close to town, it’s proudly run by John and Gerard Loughran, the son and grandson of the founders.
Like everyone else, they were hit hard in the recession, but went on to thrive since, even undergoing an €8m makeover in the past few years. “Now the hotel is strangely quiet, at a time when it would usually be welcoming many guests,” says Gerard.
“We are fortunate to have wonderful and supportive staff, several of whom are currently working in the hotel to ensure that the property is well maintained, and that we will be ready to provide an excellent service when ‘normality’ is restored.”
To support the local community, a coffee station has been set up in front of the hotel, taking advantage of the spacious area to ensure social distancing.
Though their 65th anniversary will be a quiet one, the Loughrans say that they hope it won’t be long before they will be able to celebrate in style. In the meantime, they wish their many loyal guests the best of health and look forward to welcoming them back soon. sandymounthotel.ie