Hipster restaurateur to kick off talks by entrepreneurs in Science Gallery

Want to know how someone goes from selling falafels at festivals to running their own rave-reviewed hipster eaterie? Then pop along to Trinity's Science Gallery this Wednesday to hear Aisling Rogerson of The Fumbally speaking as part of the "First Up" series of talks by creative entrepreneurs.

Rogerson, who co-founded the Dublin 8 cafe with her business partner Luca D’Alfonso 2½ years ago, will be giving an insight into their journey so far. She tells us they never set their plans in stone but rather grabbed opportunities as they came along.

“We had a rough idea seven years ago of what we wanted, but no idea that it was going to be this,” she says.

One of the cornerstones of their approach to business is having a work-life balance, so for that reason they don’t open in the evening or on Sundays.

“It’s more about happiness,” she says. “Everything we’ve done until now is trying to find that balance.”

Rogerson will also be revealing details about their new project – the Fumbally Stables. She and D’Alfonso have spent the last year refurbishing an 18th century building next door to their cafe on Fumbally Lane, and intend to use it for educational purposes.

A lot of what they’re planning for the Stables relates to wellbeing, with yoga classes already up and running. Cookery classes will start in February, and there’ll be an emphasis on coffee too, with a coffee training room in place, and “anything around food in Ireland”.

“The Irish food scene at the moment is, in my opinion, really exciting. There’s so much happening, particularly around wild food,” she says.

“It’s no longer exciting to put an exotic fruit on the plate. It’s more exciting to have foraged blackberries on the plate than a mango.”

Taking on the refurbishment project was, again, serendipitous rather than planned.

“We couldn’t even have imagined it. We just saw that the building was available and all the ideas started to grow,” sauys Rogerson.

The First Up series of lunchtime talks is a Trinity-based collaboration based between the M. Phil in creative and cultural entrepreneurship, Science Gallery Dublin and Trinity Long Room Hub.