A SOUTH Dublin and a Galway city restaurant have become the latest Irish eateries to receive a prestigious Michelin Star.
Locks Brasserie, a French dining restaurant in Portobello, Dublin, and Aniar, a terroir-based restaurant at Lower Dominick Street, Galway, were announced as 2013 Michelin Star recipients late yesterday afternoon.
Five other Irish restaurants hold a single Michelin star. Patrick Guilbaud in Dublin is the only restaurant in the State with two stars. It is not yet known if these restaurants have retained their stars.
Rumours of the awards emerged yesterday morning when Michelin accidentally listed the restaurants on its website. The Michelin Guide Great Britain Ireland is not due to be published until Friday, October 5th.
“At around 10am, I started to get a lot of texts from chefs and restaurateurs congratulating me and I was like, for what?” said owner of Locks Brasserie Sébastien Masi.
“I looked on the internet at the Michelin Guide, but the page was taken down maybe 45 minutes after that so I wasn’t sure.”
Hearing of rumours on Twitter, Aniar general manager Alex McMahon said he and his team “had to contain ourselves”.
Michelin initially refused to confirm whether the restaurants had received the award, but before 6pm both received a call confirming their win.
“I’ve only heard it in the last 20 minutes and I’m a bit gobsmacked,” said Mr McMahon.
Aniar’s chef Enda McEvoy describes his food as “based on our terroir, the natural influences that give food a sense of place . . . we obey the seasons and let nature decide the menu.”
“We’ve a full house tonight, we have to deal with that and maybe wait until the weekend to celebrate,” said Mr McMahon.
Sébastien Masi, who also owns the Pearl Brasserie, described the win as “a great reward”.
Praising head chef Rory Carville he said: “My team is delighted, it’s really for them. They are walking on air tonight.” Asked what they would do to celebrate he said: “They are going to cost me a fortune. I need to take them out for dinner somewhere now and they have chosen Patrick Guilbaud’s.”
Michelin Guide editor Rebecca Burr said the restaurants “offer fairly simple surroundings and focus their attention where it really matters: on excellent quality food”.
