?It takes courage to open a restaurant, more so than ever now with crippling costs and taxes bringing about an unprecedented number of closures over the last six months, including some longstanding establishments. However, truth be told, despite all the hard work, worry and long hours, there’s simply nothing like the excitement and satisfaction of working for yourself. “Fortune favours the brave,” they say, which brings us to the new Esther’s in Mount Merrion, a project of passion by chef patron Derek Kelly along with his partner and front-of-house, the delightful and knowledgeable Nicole Keegan, aided and abetted by sous chef Myles Behan. The trio met when they all worked in the magnificent 5-star Carton House in Maynooth so you can bet that these guys know their onions.
What qualifies a restaurant to appear on someone’s bucket list? Should the lobster be served in a submarine at 20,000 leagues, before an audience of hungry sharks, or maybe a Michelin-starred noodle house just below the death zone on Mount Everest. Personally, I’d love to see a destination restaurant atop Croagh Patrick, requiring Insta-eager influencers and foodies to scramble up and down in their bare feet, rosary beads in hand, for the soft-launch freebie night. All that being said, the restaurants on my bucket list for summer 2024, while varying in prices, are all inspirational, individualistic and offer cuisine to die for.?
?Was I on the set of Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, I wondered on my visit to the new Peggy’s On The Green in Dublin? Five minutes in, and before we’d taken a sip of our cocktails, in a room full of empty tables we were asked had we chosen our food yet, adding that they needed our table back by 7.15pm.
As Michelin was preparing to dole out its 2024 stars, with all the young bucks chomping at the bit in anticipation of a rubber-tyre accolade (not deterred by the fact that a number of starred or bibbed restaurants had shut up shop or dumped their stars in favour of less-confining casual dining), I was having lunch in Ireland’s longest-standing Michelin restaurant 48 hours before. Some might say it’s the ‘Daddy of them all’ the 2-star Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud (RPG) on Upper Merrion Street.
As Michelin was preparing to dole out its 2024 stars, with all the young bucks chomping at the bit in anticipation of a rubber-tyre accolade (not deterred by the fact that a number of starred or bibbed restaurants had shut up shop or dumped their stars in favour of less-confining casual dining), I was having lunch in Ireland’s longest-standing Michelin restaurant 48 hours before. Some might say it’s the ‘Daddy of them all’ the 2-star Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud (RPG) on Upper Merrion Street.