Television foodies can be exhausting. Either they are screaming in your face and chucking chips everywhere (early Gordon Ramsay) or selling an unattainable lifestyle (Nigella Lawson and her many copycats). So thank goodness for Neven Maguire, the Co Cavan chef who brings an easy-going quality to his TV work and tries not to make it all about him.
His new series, Neven’s Coastal Food Trails (RTÉ One, Wednesday), continues in that laid-back tradition. The big idea is that there really isn’t much of a big idea to it at all. Each week, Maguire visits a coastal town, swings by local eateries and has a bite and a natter. That’s it – a low-concept treat in these high-concept times.
The steaks may be juicy, but the stakes are nonexistent – and the show is all the richer for it. In part one, Maguire is in Greystones, where he visits La Crêperie Pierre Grise and observes chef Julien Lefebvre rustling up French crêpes and galettes using Irish and French ingredients.
In the kitchen, Lefebvre gets stuck in with aplomb. A more bombastic TV chef might be tempted to leap in and steal some of the spotlight. Maguire, by contrast, is happy to bask in the reflected glory of the big sunny egg that Lefebvre plonks atop the crêpes. All Maguire can do is look on in awe and say things like: “When the cheese goes through the potato it is delicious.”
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Then it’s on to No 84 Woodfire, a double-decker bus repurposed as a pizza joint, and to Indian restaurant Chakra, where our korma chameleon host tucks into a tandoori chicken breast. Maguire next swings by Kilmullen Farm in Newcastle, where he meets lamb enthusiasts Margaret Hoctor and Eamon Bourke. Finally, it’s on to Marlfield House Hotel in Gorey, Co Wexford, for seared Irish king scallops with cauliflower truffle.
Maguire doesn’t make any huge claims for his latest vehicle. He doesn’t have a fab lifestyle to flog or even have very strong thoughts about what makes a good restaurant. He just wants to get out into the air, stretch his legs and visit some interesting parts of Ireland. There isn’t much more than that to Neven’s Coastal Food Trails – but it is a simple dish prepared exceedingly well and with all the fat trimmed off. It’s not big or clever – but if you’re in the mood for a snack, it goes down deliciously.
