Meet the future of Irish food

Ireland is an exciting place to cook currently. Saying that, it has been for a number of years. It seems in the last 15 years we have found ourselves in relation to the produce we have to hand. What I mean by this is that we have always had good produce in Ireland, a recognised fact for a least the last couple of hundred years, but we failed to recognise this ourselves.

Or perhaps we couldn’t. The self-doubt engendered by the Great Famine (1845-1852) and colonialism forced many of us to conceive of food as only a commodity. Later, our chefs, because of their self-doubt, became fascinated with the foods of many other countries, such as France, Spain and Italy. You could say many Irish chefs still are but there are now a growing number who are turning towards Ireland, towards our land and seas and trying to establish a terroir of our own. In recent years, many young chefs have returned.

_{Cúán Greene. Photo by Shantanu Starick}

I first met Cúán Greene while he was working in Geranium and subsequently at Noma. Greene exemplifies the new young Irish chef with as much of an interest in food as community, language, history and heritage. He is the founder of Ómós and his belief is that more can be brought by working together through the process of communication, learning, and understanding others’ crafts and inspirations.

Ómós is a travelling caravan of those ideas; collaborations of food and innovations; and investigations surrounding what we eat. The word comes from the Irish language, meaning homage, duty and respect. Ómós is an idea that Greene has been developing since he returned from Copenhagen. Drawing on his experience at Noma, Green’s ambition is to develop the dining experience, allowing place, space and community to influence how we evolve. Though he is yet to open a restaurant, I’m sure that when he does it will be world class. Greene has spoken twice at Food on the Edge, first in 2016 and then in 2021. I’m sure he will take to the stage again someday in order to push Irish food even further.

_{A dish by Ciarán Sweeney}

What makes this wave different from when we first opened Aniar in 2011, is that many are based outside the main centres. Ciarán Sweeney, based in The Olde Glen Bar in Donegal is a really good example of this phenomena. Moving rurally seems to be the way forward for young Irish chefs due in part to the cost of opening a restaurant in a major city but also, I think that these young chefs want to reconnect with the place where they grew up in a more meaningful way. The model seems to be: get your stars and stripes abroad come back and open a restaurant in your home town and change the food culture of that environment. There are enough restaurants in major cities. We need to become more rural and return to the land. Sweeney has worked at Michelin-starred Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham and was Head Chef at Forest & Marcy in Dublin before moving back to Donegal.

_{Ciarán Sweeney}

Along with chefs such as Greene and Sweeney, we have other chefs returning to Ireland after a long period in London. Originally from Derry, Shauna Froydenlund moved to England to study in Sheffield in 2004, two years later, she was offered a year’s placement at Pétrus. Upon graduating, Froydenlund moved back to London and joined Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley. She also worked alongside Wareing consulting on the movie, Burnt, starring Bradley Cooper. In February 2017, Froydenlund and now husband Mark, went into partnership with Marcus as joint chef-patrons at Marcus Restaurant. Froydenlund featured on Great British Menu where she was runner-up for Northern Ireland; she is also a regular face on BBC Saturday Kitchen. In February 2022, the couple, with their young family, made the exciting decision to move to Froydenlund’s home city, Derry and are currently looking for a new restaurant space.

_{Shauna Froydenlund}

Danni Barry is another young Irish chef carving out a wonderful path that brings food and its environments together. Currently cooking at Ballynahinch Castle in Connemara, Barry is only the second female chef in Ireland to achieve a Michelin star (Myrtle Allen of Ballymaloe was the first in 1975). Barry was appointed to head up the kitchen at Simon Rogan’s restaurant in Cartmel, Rogan & Co., internationally famous for its locally sourced, seasonal produce. She worked there for two years until Michael Deane head-hunted her to come back to Belfast to take the helm at Deanes EIPIC in 2014, where she gained the Michelin Star within just 18 months of opening. Barry’s style of cooking pays tribute to the essentially ground nature of New Irish Cuisine with a focus on local and seasonal ingredients.

_{Danni Barry. Photo by Barry Murphy}

What all these young Irish chefs exemplify is the desire to make Irish food culture better by learning from abroad. By taking best practices and applying them to Ireland and Irish food, they all elevate our food landscape to greater heights. If Aniar was the first wave of Irish food, these chefs represent the second wave and development of our cuisine. The future is certainly bright for Irish food.