Eating out appears to be undergoing a minor resurgence in Ireland with almost a quarter of this year's top 100 restaurants, as named by a local publisher, having opened only recently.
John McKenna, publisher of the Best 100 Restaurants in Ireland , says a reinvention of the restaurant model is behind the success.
Of those on the all-Ireland list, about one in four has been opened within the past year or so. “There is the occasional one that comes back into the guide but for the most part you are talking about 22 or 23 brand-new restaurants,” said McKenna, launching the book yesterday.
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“I can’t recall a time when there were so many new names.”
While the guide does not rank individual eateries, its editors say the most striking restaurants for this year are Kai in Galway; the Greenhouse and L Mulligan Grocer in Dublin; and Michael Quinn's Munster Room restaurant at Waterford Castle.
Also of note was Dylan McGrath’s Fade Street Social which, following controversy surrounding its opening, has emerged as a popular Dublin dining spot.
McGrath had been absent from the guide since the closure of his Mint restaurant in 2009, as his Rustic Stone was not included in it.
“If you are in the right place doing the right thing, you can probably enjoy even more success than any time before,” said McKenna.
They were doing about 550 covers a day and Dylan is doing about that.
“You get places that are doing a new spin on things like a gastro pub, which the Exchequer [in Dublin] does really well. It seems to be a mixture between the top-end places with rock-solid reputations and people who are doing their spin on things. Once you can pique people’s curiosity, they will come, and come back.”
Other new entries of note in the capital include the Pig's Ear, the Chop House, Paris Bakery and San Lorenzo's. Co Mayo also catches the eye with a number of establishments including An Port Mór restaurant in Westport and Café Rua in Castlebar.
At the same time, there have been a number of closures, such as of Augustine’s in Cork.
John and Sally McKenna have been producing these guides for 21 years, but this is the first year in which the guide has not had Bridgestone as a sponsor.
