It was a triumphant win for Vincent Crepel as he landed two Michelin stars for Terre restaurant at Castlemartyr Resort in Cork at the 2024 awards ceremony in Manchester on Monday. Also sharing the glory in a nationwide sprinkling of stars were D’Olier Street in Dublin, The Bishop’s Buttery at Cashel Palace Hotel in Cashel and Homestead Cottage in Doolin, which all landed one Michelin star.
Speaking at the awards, presenter Amanda Stretton described Crepel’s food as “powerful and sophisticated cooking”.
Many had expected Terre to go straight in at two Michelin stars in 2023, matching the performance of Mickael Viljanen at Chapter One and Aimsir (since closed), but the inspectors had other ideas and made him wait another year.
Being awarded the accolade this year comes as no surprise to anyone who has eaten in Terre, as the food is exquisite. Describing the dining experience, the Michelin Guide says: “The kitchen team provide a warm welcome before regaling you with a procession of original and elaborate snacks, which more than hint at the supreme quality of the tasting menu to come. The striking and sophisticated dishes showcase the best of the local larder alongside more international flavours, which highlight the chef’s time in Asia; the sauces are superlative.”
Premium produce was at the heart of the €218 tasting menu when I visited last year. Dishes included caviar, Ballycotton lobster, hand-dived Norwegian scallops and Miyazakigyu Wagyu beef. Cod, with white asparagus barigoule and caviar, was served with a phenomenal Vermouth beurre blanc, and a grilled quail was topped with an albufera sauce made with foie gras, cognac and Madeira. The precision in the cooking was exceptional and never at the expense of the taste.
“Being awarded the second Michelin star is the realisation of a lifelong dream and a wonderful elevation to receive from the inspectors,” Crepel says. “I am so proud of the team and what we have achieved. We have had a fantastic year and are looking forward to welcoming guests again in 2024. We aim to make a visit to Terre accessible to diners and we are fortunate to work with great local and international suppliers who help inspire and shape our menus. Receiving the second star is a tribute to the creativity and standards we aim to reach and maintain.”
Homestead Cottage in Doolin, Co Clare was widely rumoured to land a star, as the Michelin Guide had showed it a lot of love, listing it just three months after it had opened and including it on its favourite restaurant list in December.
Edinburgh native Robbie McCauley and his French wife Sophie, opened their restaurant in a 200-year-old cottage in Doolin, Co Clare in June 2023. He received an invitation to the awards over a week ago, but was unsure what the award would be for, a green star or a Michelin star. “It was a big relief when our name was called out. Disbelief,” he says. “We’ve already seen the bounce in bookings; they exploded when it was announced. We’re fairly remote, we’re not in a city, so it makes a big difference.”
Having headed up the kitchen in Gregans Castle for more than five years, McCauley’s move to a more rustic space transpired to be the ideal home for his menu, which is grounded in their own produce. A dish of peas and broad beans, picked earlier from their one acre plot, dressed with lemon verbena, sorrel and dill was a standout when I visited last summer. The seven course tasting menu, described by the Michelin Guide as a menu “that flows beautifully” is very reasonably priced at €80. Sunday is a more casual affair with a €45 lunch menu, which could include roast beef, free range porchetta or wild haddock. There is a huge focus on local produce with Burren beef featuring, and McCauley rears his own ducks, chickens and pigs for the restaurant which also features game in season.
At The Bishop’s Buttery in the wonderfully restored Cashel Palace Hotel, which the Magnier family reopened in March 2022, the menu is overseen by culinary director Stephen Hayes with the kitchen headed up by Stefan McEnteer. In an elegant vaulted room, there is a choice between a €110 three-course table d’hote menu and a €130 six-course tasting menu. The cooking here is based in the classics (Hayes has many years of experience working at Michelin star level, in Restaurant De Librije in the Netherlands and as head chef at one-Michelin star House Restaurant at the Cliff House Hotel; McEnteer worked in L’Ecrivain) and the kitchen makes full use of Tipperary and premium seasonal produce. Dishes on the menu at the moment include glazed Irish scallops, which are draped in lardo to add some clever seasoning, wild sea bass with a vin jaune sauce and a very clever peanut cannoli dessert.
It’s a menu that gets the balance just right, showing maturity in how the dishes are constructed so that the food is delicious without being overly-fussy. The Michelin Guide noted: “Desserts are a highlight among cooking that keeps a focus on each central ingredient, which is then skilfully enhanced with complementary flavours.” It also complements the service from “an impeccable team, who work with the utmost pride”.
“Gaining a Michelin Star so soon after opening is a fantastic achievement,” Hayes says. “It has always been my hope to receive the star and now, along with Stefan and the team, we have achieved it. I honestly couldn’t be any happier. This is an important recognition of our hard work and is wonderful for team morale, reflecting our ambitions front and back of house.”
As the only restaurant in Dublin to win a Michelin award this year, Australian chef James Moore, his American wife Jane Frye, and Anthony Smith (owner of Mr Fox restaurant on Parnell Square), were celebrating landing a Michelin star for D’Olier Street, which opened in November 2022. With a serious level of experience (Moore was head chef at the two-Michelin-star Atera in New York), their ambition to land a Michelin star was clear from day one.
The €96 12-course tasting menu starts with tantalising bites like a Cais na Tire sable and quail scotch egg, and saucing is a particularly strong point on the larger dishes. The Michelin Guide notes that “while the techniques and influences might be global, the focus of the dishes remains firmly on the main ingredient – as with the prime quality, expertly seasoned cod with basil, girolles and chicken.” Service is very smart led by Scott White, who previously worked at the two-Michelin starred restaurant Aimsir, which is now closed.
Ireland has yet to land a three-Michelin star accolade. Speculation had been that Dublin’s Chapter One by Mickael Viljanen was due a promotion from two Michelin stars to three in this year’s guide. Last year, Gwendel Poulenc, international director of the Michelin Guide said that “when everything is in place for Chapter One, be in no doubt, it will be joining the family of three-star restaurants”. Clearly, they are not happy yet.
Mickael Viljanen, Ross Lewis and the team may take some consolation from the fact that The Ledbury in London, which landed three Michelin stars this year, had, inextricably to many, failed to achieve a promotion from two stars for many years. After a refurbishment in 2022, its chef and co-owner Brett Graham has finally landed the top accolade. Chapter One was refurbished in 2021, when Viljanen took over as head-chef and became co-owner with Ross Lewis, so it remains to be seen what exactly the inspectors need to see in place before they welcome it to their esteemed three-star family.
Michelin stars remain the ultimate accolade for culinary excellence in the world. While this year’s winners will be toasting their success, others will become even more focused on making the podium for the first time next year. Among these is chef Danny Africano, who opened Lignum restaurant in September 2019. Now with an even stronger team, with Matthew Smith (ex-Michelin starred Kadeau in Copenhagen) joining as head chef, expectations are higher than ever for this Galway restaurant. In Dublin, Niall Davidson has opened his latest iteration of Allta which has all the ingredients for landing a Michelin star. In Maynooth, Adam Nevin has taken over the opulent Morrison Room, at Carton House and is already delivering a solid Michelin level experience, and Gregans Castle will be one to watch, as Jonathan Farrell (ex-Bastible and L’Enclume) takes over the kitchen.
