Neven Maguire is back on our screens in a new series in which he highlights the coastal gems of Ireland. He talks to Janice Butler about challenging times for the hospitality industry, trusting his gut in business and finding balance in life.
The last time I spoke with Neven Maguire, he was gearing up for his 50th birthday celebrations. With a year almost past, he’s reflecting on a "great year" and the chef and family man is as busy as ever with his restaurant in Blacklion, Co Cavan, a new book on the way, filming a TV series around the north of Ireland and another TV offering, Neven’s Coastal Food Trails on our screens.
His summer was full of family time, with two trips to Portugal with his wife Amelda and twins Connor and Lucia, who have started in secondary school this month. "I don’t know where the time is going," he says about this milestone. "It’s a local school in Manorhamilton, where I went myself. They seem to be enjoying it so far.
"We closed the restaurant for a week in June for the first time ever. It’s the best thing for the staff, for everyone. So, we did a week this year and next year we’re going to do ten days. We’re open 35 years and it’s the first time we’ve closed in the summer. It breaks up the year for the staff, so everyone’s happy."
In the new series, Neven heads to some of Ireland’s coastal towns to discover some of their restaurants and cafés, stalls and trucks and artisan food producers.
"There’s some very interesting things in this, from chefs to food trucks to cafés. There’s an exciting scene out there and great variations," he comments on what people can expect.
"The food trucks are still very popular post-Covid and there’s great innovation with them. For example, in Greystones there’s one called the Number 84 Woodfire Bus. It’s a double-decker bus that they’ve converted into a pizza truck; very clever."
Were there parts of the country that he hadn’t visited in a long time that surprised him? "The Burren in County Clare was somewhere I hadn’t been in years. We went to Linnane Oyster Bar which is incredible and Hazel Mountain Chocolate, where they make their own chocolate from bean to bar. I don’t think anyone else is doing that in Ireland. We went to Gregan’s Castle there too and it’s very special. There’s something about the Burren, it’s like going into a different world. It’s beautiful," he answers.
With concerns about the health of the hospitality industry very much in the news at the moment, I wonder about Neven’s take on the situation, where we’re seeing restaurants and pubs closing every week across the country.
"This is coming up in discussion a lot lately," he says. "It’s a tough time for restaurants, with the increase of the VAT rate, the minimum wage and cost of produce. I think it’s challenging, but there’s a lot of excitement out there too; you must be clever with your business and fine-tune it. We wouldn’t be open without our bedrooms, to be honest. We have 20 rooms, and we have 60 guests a night in the restaurant.
"But going around the country, I got a sense that there’s a lot of innovation, and you have to be doing something a little bit different, and the standard has to be really high or people won’t come back. There’s challenging times ahead so something will need to be done about it."
Neven, who took over MacNean House from his parents, has been in business over 30 years. There have been highs and lows, but feels he’s finally perfected his model. They now only do one service a night and close on Sundays. He also credits the success to never having over-stretched himself.
"Not to sound big-headed, but I’ve had offers to open things in London, Dublin and Paris and I said no; I always felt do one thing and do it right. We can make a living from our business and I’ve no regrets with how I’ve done things.
"I’ve a good instinct but also, I’ve very good people around me: my wife Amelda, Andrea who runs the place and my right hand in the kitchen, Carmel; all amazing women. But it’s not about money for me. If it was about that we’d be in Dublin or a bigger place. It’s about a quality of life. I’m 50 now, I’m no spring chicken, so it’s about enjoying life. I’ve finally found a good balance, I’m very happy and content," he adds.
In October, he’ll be adding to his already extensive cookbook collection with his 20th offering, Eat Out at Home, which aims to show you how to entertain with ease – a perfect cookbook coming into the winter and festive season.
"You’re always looking for a new angle or a new idea, so this is if you’re entertaining; cooking for family and friends. We based a lot of the recipes on ones we do in the cookery school. So, it’s 100 recipes and images: I’m excited for people to see it. And wow! Twenty books; it’s no mean feat; I’m really going to enjoy this and celebrate it with my family and friends," he says proudly.
During the summer, Neven caused a stir on social media when he decided to sell off his vast collection of plates for charity. "We raised €8,000 for St Vincent De Paul, so I’m over the moon. These are plates I collected from when I started cooking and are from all over the world. I think Amelda was glad for the clear out too; although I’ve started re-building the collection," he laughs.
"It’s nice to give back though. That’s really important to me. We’re celebrating 35 years in business this year and I remember the tough times in the restaurant when you’d have five people in, so to be full every night now, I’m so grateful. You have to enjoy the good days."
What’s coming up in this week’s episode of Neven’s Coastal Food Trails
This time, Neven is in the southeast corner of the country, visiting Dunmore East, Tramore and Waterford City.
Photographer John Hinde created some of the best known postcards of Ireland. Neven’s first stop is at the Bay Café in Dunmore East. He meets owner David Harris, who featured in the John Hinde postcard of the harbour as a boy, and he also learns more about Hinde from author and photographer Paul Kelly.
Neven then heads to Tramore and drops in at Mezze, a Middle Eastern café and deli, where chef Dvir Nusery cooks two dishes for him: shakshuka and eggah.
At the Coastguard Cultural Centre in Tramore, Neven heads to The Little Catch Seafood Truck where chef Denise Darrer makes lobster rolls and smoked haddock arancini balls.
Just outside Waterford City, Neven visits Grantstown Tomatoes, where high tech glasshouses cover two and a half acres, and up to eight tonnes of tomatoes are hand-picked each week at the height of the season. Neven meets tomato farmer David Currid, takes a tour of the glasshouses, and tastes some of the ten different varieties grown there.
Neven’s last stop this week is at Everett’s Restaurant in Waterford City, where chef Peter Everett makes a delicious hazelnut bostock with damsons, and a meadowsweet ice cream.
Neven’s sustainable approach
When it comes to growing produce in our garden, seasonality is so important. Three herbs that people could try and grow themselves at home that will really add to a dish are rosemary, thyme and parsley. And say with your thyme, we’d use the leaves for a marinade or gravy and then with the stalks we pick them down and put them into our stocks, so there’s no waste. Eating food within the season is key – if we can eat food that’s in season, we’re going to get the best flavour and price.
In the kitchen, with the trims from the fruits and vegetables, our gardener Kevin uses all those for the compost, so they get reused and there’s no waste.
From a business perspective, having a tasting menu which allows some choice is a great way of doing it because you don’t have too much waste or over-ordering on produce.
We know what works in the garden and what doesn’t, so like tomatoes and basil struggle because we don’t get enough sun. But we grow the most beautiful micro-greens, we’ve twenty-five different types of salad, kale, baby carrots, broad beans, courgettes and courgette flowers. So, we would then tailor the menu to what’s available in our garden or locally.
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