Lucinda O'Sullivan's Ireland

Monday 24 January 2011

Last Tuesday morning, it was a case of synchronise your watches for, at 11.40 a.m. precisely, not a second earlier not a second later, Michelin announced on its website the recipients of its stars and bib gourmands for Great Britain and Ireland 2011. I guess there were sighs of relief in some kitchens around Dublin at retaining their stars and disappointment in others at not being recognized. However, whatever about the U.K. and larger countries, to my way of thinking it was a non-event for Ireland that had me questioning in my own mind, yet again, how often a Michelin inspector comes to these shores. Not very often is my guess and, at best, for a wet weekend when it strikes me they are sadly in need of a new road map!

It is the 100^th anniversary of Michelin although in fact only 38 guides have been produced over the years, but like a Government who stays too long one wonders is it stuck in a rut and past its sell by date? Traditionally Michelin have concentrated on very formal up market French style food but they too have been trying to modernize themselves and get in on the mass market in the past couple of years with the Bib Gourmands and they now have a Pub Guide also. Food and dining out is no longer the prerogative of the elite – everyone wants to be in on the foodie thing – just look at the success of Come Dine With Me!!

After three decades of working with the Michelin Guide, former U.K. editor Derek Bulmer retired in 2010 and a new female editor Rebecca Burr took over in October. Bulmer whose identity was so secretive for many years is now coming out like a rose in bloom granting interviews and going down the more commercial route by joining My Jam, a P.R. and Marketing Agency, to set up a consultancy arm for hotels and restaurants. Burr is Michelin’s third female editor after Juliane Caspar in France and the U.S.A. editor who remains under cover and anonymous!

There are advantages and disadvantages to having a Michelin Star because the standards and regulations imposed regarding things like wine cellars, lunch prices, and so on make it very difficult to operate in lean times. Not only that but the pressure of holding on to the star has been so enormous for some, psychologically, that a couple of chefs have taken their own lives rather than face ‘disgrace’. It really is a monkey on their backs and very often they would be better off concentrating on running profit making restaurants.

No new stars were handed out this year in Ireland, but one deletion in Northern Ireland – Deane’s in County Antrim. When it comes to the Bib Gourmand for “good cooking at moderate prices” there has been one addition O’Dowd’s at Roundstone, and one deletion, Casino House at Kilbrittain, Co. Cork. It strikes me that we are really no more than an afterthought when it comes to Michelin editing – it smacks of the style of “ah yes – let us see – sure that’s grand- leave it as it is – add one one – take one off”. Sloppy – no real knowledge of what is out there particularly in the Bib Gourmand range –“ sure we got a good up date on that last year – it’ll be fine for a while”.

Not just that but I have an uneasy feeling that some of the few present incumbents we have with Michelin Stars here have been resting on their laurels, coasting along producing decent enough if unexciting food that wouldn’t set anyone alight. Some of them won’t see forty again and its as though they need to get the fire back in their bellies and go and visit some of the places throughout Europe that have been causing excitement with amazingly wild and colourful dishes. Perhaps if they all got together in a little minibus they could coast around from Spain through Holland and up to Denmark –what a jolly that would be. It would do them all the world of good! That said then there are a number of other guys who should have been on the Michelin radar – so I’ll tell them now for the future. Chefs like Graham Neville of No 41 Restaurant at Residence, Seamus Commons at Knockranny House Hotel, Wade Murphy at the Lodge at Doonbeg, Mickael Viljanen of Gregan’s Castle, Eamonn O’Reilly of One Pico, Sebastien Masi of Pearl Brasserie, Sunil Ghai of Ananda in Dundrum, Sanjay Vishwakarma of Rasam in Glasthule, Michael Quinn of Waterford Castle, are all guys who should be on their radar for recognition When it comes to Bibs – where are places like Seapoint Restaurant in Monkstown, Max’s Wine Bar in Kinsale with the excellent French chef Olivier Queva, Patrick and Soizic Kiely’s Les Gourmandises in Cork, the two Farmgates in Cork City and Midleton, Stephen McArdle of The Arch Bistro in Churchtown, Dax Restaurant on Pembroke Street. ….I could go on. <

I have said a couple of times over the past few years that one didn’t have to leave Dublin 2 to visit the entirety of our few Michelin starred restaurants – yes the same regular names Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud, Thornton’s, and L’Ecrivain – who waited a long time before he did get one. Then Michelin slummed it and crossed the river to Dublin 1 and gave Chapter One a Star. Dylan McGrath and Oliver Dunne of Bon Appetit in Malahide were then the subject of much media attention here with their new restaurants lo and behold they got Stars in 2009. Again it drew attention to the fact that they did not move outside Dublin until 2010 when Martijn Kajuiter of Cliff House Hotel, whom I was the first to review and praise, followed on by others who do not travel the country as much as I do, received a star.

Michelin say they visit all the restaurants listed with a star every 18 months as a minimum and Bib Gourmand establishments as often as is necessary. You can read that any way you like. A few years ago a former French Michelin Inspector Pascal Remy caused a furore when he published a book called “L’Inspecteur Se Met a Table” in which he spilled the beans claiming that “restaurants in France were only visited every 3.5 years.” About five years ago a wealthy American came to Kinsale with me and an equally savvy American magazine editor. The former was clutching her Michelin Guide for dear life and determined to visit a restaurant there, since closed, that 20 years ago was one of the good places. I advised against, telling them of change of ownership at least three years prior and that it was now a bit of a dump…….would they listen……were they disappointed or what!! Was I grinning from ear to ear when they came back!!

If Michelin are serious about including Ireland in their Guide they need to do it better or have someone who is better briefed acting for them in Ireland. There is no doubt but that it is expensive sending people around the country reviewing restaurants in the hope of finding a gem. This is why so many guides tend to feed off what they read. One guide at the moment keeps referring to their people here there and all around the country which makes me wonder how the actual editor of the guide can really recommend the places based on third party reports. Another keeps pontificating about how they don’t charge to be in their guide but although heavily sponsored they fail to say that they do charge to be on their websites and both charge for their plaques. The fact is they have to – someone has to pay for them and no one works for nothing – but they need to be more selective as it is very off putting to see their plaques widely spread on your local fish and chip shop and every butchers and coffee shop in the country.

All in all methinks that if you are visiting a country a locally based guide or website has more up to date information.

Michelin need to loosen up, get over themselves and get up to date, as somebody seems to have let the air out of their Irish tyre. inflation.

Michelin Starred Restaurants

Restaurant Patrick Guildbaud, Dublin.

Thornton’s at the Fitzwilliam Hotel, Dublin.

L’Ecrivain, Dublin.

Chapter One, Dublin.

Bon Appetit Malahide, Co. Dublin.

Cliff House Hotel, Co. Waterford.

Michelin Bib Gourmands

Aldridge Lodge, Wexford.

Café Hans, Cashel.

Cayenne, Belfast.

Fishy Fishy Café, Kinsale.

Good Things Café, Durrus.

La Maison, Dublin.

O’Brien’s Chop House, Lismore.

O’Dowd’s, Roundstone.

Oregano, Ballyclare.

Pichet, Dublin.

Rosso, Dundalk.

Sha Roe Bistro, Clonegal.

The Chart House, Dingle.

The Pig's Ear, Dublin.

White Sage, Adare.

Wild Honey Inn

THIS ARTICLE WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 23, 2011.