Epicures eye movements of a Michelin chef

What is happening to the restaurants associated with Conrad Gallagher? In the last few months, he has departed from three premises the public will associate with his name - Lloyds Brasserie, Christopher's, later reopened as Mango Toast, and Ocean. Only Peacock Alley, which has a Michelin star and is located in the Fitzwilliam Hotel, remains.

This week, callers trying to reach Lloyds Brasserie, of Merrion Street, by phone were diverted to Peacock Alley and told that Lloyds had closed until further notice. Why Lloyds has closed depends on whom you talk to. Speaking to The Irish Times, Gallagher described the reported closure as "complete fabrication".

What is indisputable is that staff who arrived for work were denied access to the premises, that the hanging sign advertising Lloyds outside the place has since been removed, as have the menus from their display box, and that Lloyds is no longer serving meals.

It is an abrupt and seemingly ignominious end to the restaurant's life.

Gallagher is now 29. Peacock Alley opened in 1995 and has since changed location twice. In 1998 Gallagher got a Michelin star for the restaurant. By then, he had also opened the now defunct Lloyds Brasserie.

When the Fitzwilliam Hotel opened, Peacock Alley moved in there, and Gallagher was also responsible for running Christopher's Restaurant upstairs in the hotel. It was renamed Mango Toast last autumn, and relaunched. Two months ago, the licence reverted to the Fitzwilliam from Gallagher. It still operates under the name of Mango Toast, but Gallagher now has nothing to do with its running.

Ocean, in Ringsend, opened earlier this year.

"Unfortunately, people saw it as a Conrad Gallagher restaurant," Gallagher said. Well, yes they did, since that is exactly how the place was publicised on its opening and for some time afterwards. TV Now!, for instance, had its launch party there on April 4th, and the wording on that invitation is unequivocal: it asked people to come to "Conrad Gallagher's Ocean Bar and Restaurant".

Amanda Behan, who answered the phone at Ocean this week, confirmed that Gallagher no longer works there, but neither she nor anyone else at Ocean would discuss the reasons for his departure, saying that "nobody has any comment"

So out of four restaurants which Gallagher has opened or been associated with in recent years, one is closed and two others now operate under different owners.

ALTHOUGH Gallagher's abilities as a chef have never been in question, none the less these do not seem very impressive statistics, and will have left restaurant-goers in some confusion as to who exactly is cooking in the kitchen.

Rapid over-expansion and its attendant messiness come to mind. The statistics invite questions, such as: why exactly has Lloyds closed? Why did Gallagher leave Ocean so soon after its opening? And why is Peacock Alley Gallagher's only remaining restaurant?

Dublin is a small town, and questions have been asked for some months now about restaurants associated with Gallagher's name.

It now appears that some suppliers will only trade with Mr Gallagher on a COD basis and are refusing normal credit terms. Mr Gallagher disputes this and has told The Irish Times that he does not deal with anyone on a COD basis. When it was put to him that The Irish Times had been told otherwise by one of his suppliers, he continued to deny that he either paid COD or had any problems with payments for any of his suppliers' accounts. At this point, he said, he wanted to end the telephone interview. However, with persuasion, he remained on the line.

Michael Holland is the co-owner of the Fitzwilliam Hotel. Understandably, he is playing down the recent poor publicity given to the chef of his flagship restaurant. "We are delighted that Conrad will now be focusing on Peacock Alley and concentrating on getting a second Michelin star," he said. "I told him he was stretching himself too much and I'm not sure he was doing his reputation any good."

In recent times, Gallagher's relationship with Domini Kemp has ended. As well as their personal partnership, Kemp was his business partner. Kemp is now successfully co-running Itsabagel in the Epicurean Food Hall in Dublin, and it is the opinion of some key players in the food industry that she provided the astute and vital business acumen in their partnership.

Meanwhile, Peacock Alley is still open for business. Future patrons are likely to be meditating on the features of the bird from which the restaurant takes its name. Peacocks, as we all know, are given to preening their feathers and making a bit of a racket.