Dublin culinary institution Bang on Merrion Row has received an Iberian Peninsula-inspired makeover under the hand of the duo behind Kicky’s.
Chef Eric Matthews and front-of-house expert Richie Barrett may have spent the last seven months researching and developing the perfect recipes for their takeover of Bang, but this week’s opening was actually 16 years in the making.
The pair met at the restaurant a decade and a half ago, when Matthews returned to Ireland after workingas a chef in Australia.
“When I first started here 15 or 16 years ago, it was a crack team – Paul McNamara, who’s head chef of Lena and Uno Mas; the owner of Craft, Phil Young; and the pastry chef, Aoife Noonan,” says Matthews.
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“And that’s where I met this handsome devil,” he adds, nodding at his long-time collaborator. “And we just became friends.”
The two opened Kicky’s on South Great George’s Street in 2023.
For Barrett, whose father Joe Barrett owned the restaurant since 2010, Bang is a family affair. He says he “grew up in this restaurant”.
“It’s amazing being able to pick up the torch and carry it on,” he says. “Hopefully we can keep up and improve the standard.”
A glossy open kitchen and a swanky new bar downstairs signal the visual shift in the restaurant’s approach.
[ Kicky’s review: Original dishes and full throttle flavoursOpens in new window ]
Having enlisted 21 Spaces, (the same architecture firm behind Kicky’s), the new interior makes use of warm Spanish ceramic and terracotta tones paired with cool golds. Lights are ambient and low key and the mix of sit-down tables and bar stools also serves as a nod to the Iberian way of eating.
Matthews and Barrett hope to commission a mural artist in the coming months to add to the restaurant’s overall relaxed vibe.
The change in decor symbolises a new approach to food too, with alioli (a sauce with a basis of garlic and olive oil) served as a condiment on the table, and hearty coal-fired meats and fish with straightforward seasonings on the menu.
Chapter One veteran Matthews acknowledges that while his background is in “fancy schmancy tweezers stuff”, this is not always what customers want to eat.
First up on the reimagined menu are “Bites” which include options such as padrón peppers from Castleruddery in Wicklow and Cuinneog butter from Sligo.
“We try keep the supply lines as short as we can,” says Barrett.
The supply chains may be kept short, but the recipes have travelled from far and wide.
The business partners have collected dishes like culinary magpies, paying homage to their favourite chefs and bites.
There’s a Prego steak sandwich which is inspired by a dish at the seafood restaurant Cervejaria Ramiro in Lisbon. Strangely, Cervejaria Ramiro serves it as its only dessert item. Bang, on the other hand, will offer it as a savoury course for €16.
Prepared with pan de cristal, the Hannan 40-day aged fillet comes with mustard made in house by so-called ‘mustard savant”, head chef, Canadian Jeff Burns.
The Russian salad is a nod to Jess Roche who serves a version of the dish at Fish Shop in Smithfield and will be priced at €9.50.
Perhaps most exciting is the “Cal Pep” tortilla which contains a secret ingredient Matthews claims he managed to coax from Catalan chef Pep Manubens before he died in 2021. The “Cal Pep” tortilla is priced at €14.50.
“This ingredient allows you to cook the tortilla at 54 degrees and then lets it set so it is firm but gooey”.
There is of course, a Bang twist: “It’s usually made with jamón but because we are Irish we are going to do it with Gubbeen chorizo”.
One section of the menu is titled “Favourites” to allow chefs to bring back dishes from their Iberian holidays, keeping things Mediterranean.
The current “Favourites” segment features stuffed squid with arroz cebolla, pig tails and garlic alioli which Barrett believes has the potential to be their “star dish” for €17.
The pair joke that they are “taking a stand” with dessert, which features a basque cheesecake and a chocolate mousse served with jamón ibérico fat caramel both priced at €12 each.
The dishes may sound elaborate but Matthews maintains that they are “just simple and delicious”.
Barrett hopes the food offerings reflect the passion behind the project, saying he wants diners to feel like they are coming into Bang and getting “a big hug”.
“It’s a family restaurant serving family style food. Come in, get some drinks, get some food, and hopefully you feel the love”.
They are optimistic that patrons will “feel the love”, and it seems the public is ready to receive them. “This morning four people came up to me on the street saying, ‘You don’t know who I am but best of luck. We love Bang’,” says Matthews.
“If that doesn’t give you energy to say ‘Go on, let’s do it’, What else would?”
Bang will open on Tuesday, January 20th. The dining space will accommodate 90 diners with some seating reserved for walk-ins. It will offer dinner from Monday to Saturday and lunch from Wednesday to Saturday.
