Sallyanne Clarke, co-proprietor L'Ecrivain restaurant talks to Marie-Claire Digby
My typical day would be. . . waking at 6.30 or 7am, depending on how late the night before. I have the usual household chores to do, and I do this when I have showered and put my curlers in. I try to be in the restaurant by 10 and that is when my working day starts.
Working with my husband Derry for the last 23 years has been very rewarding. . . and although we have our ups and downs, we have the same goal – to make l'Ecrivain a success. Derry is a Virgo like me and a perfectionist.
It gives me a great buzz. . . after a busy night where everyone is happy and you feel like you have done your best and were appreciated.
The hardest thing about running a restaurant .. . is the time required. It is more a vocation than an occupation. However, I enjoy the banter and observing people. People are fascinating.
The best advice I have ever been given is. . . Don't go back or look back unless it helps you go forward. You cannot change the past but you can use your experience to help you make decisions for the better in the future.
The customer is. . . always the customer, but they are not necessarily always right. We strive daily to be the best that we can be. We are still building our reputation, not sitting on it. However, we do sometimes make mistakes. My experience is that a mistake handled well is a customer for life.
If I was not doing this .. . I would love to be in TV or radio. For the past year or so I have been lucky to be asked to sit on the panel for Midday on TV3. It is like an Irish version of ITV's Loose Women.
Derry and I have two wonderful children .. . Sarah May is 22 years old and studying marketing and event management in the Dublin Business School. Andrew is 16 years old and in Transition Year at Clongowes.
If they said they wanted to go into the industry full time. . . I would ask them to think again. They saw very little of us growing up – we put our pictures on the fridge for the nanny to show them before they want to bed. Sarah May works in the restaurant a couple of shifts a week while in college. Andrew is good at making cocktails. However, he is a real petrol-head and wants to do mechanical engineering when he leaves school.
When I am not working. . . I love to travel and I am a real sun worshipper, I also love to catch up with friends, I am a real social butterfly. And I like to read.
My earliest food memories are .. . coming home from school, putting the key in the door and knowing straight away what we were having for dinner.
My ideal day off. . . would be spent doing as little as possible as my week is always so busy. I was in Lanzarote recently with Charlotte, we are friends since we were seven. We did nothing but sit in the sun all day, have lunch, dinner and a few drinks in the evening. It was heaven.
This year is a big year for me and Derry .. . The restaurant is 23 years old in July, we are 25 years married in October and I will be 50 on September 21st. I am hoping Derry will take me on a cruise holiday to Hawaii for my 50th birthday and 25th wedding anniversary combined. Derry and I love the sea and the whole cruise experience.
I am not afraid to try anything . .. I don't like to brag, but unlike so many people these days, I can sew, crochet, paint and decorate, am good with colours, among other things. I love to sing and have been told I am good at it.
I wish I was better at. . . delegating. I try to do too much and it does catch up with you. Now that I am approaching the ripe old age of 50, I might learn.
I often imaging myself .. . on a boat sailing around the world with Captain Derry – it is something we have discussed often for when we 'retire'.
My guilty pleasure is. . . chocolate and pink champagne.
If I were to describe myself in six words they would be .. . Extremely well organised dumb blonde – sometimes.
