New cuisine born in Ireland: Chefs meld world flavors into modern taste; Recipes brought to American tables
In 1998 a Cork chef from a Michelin-starred family was selling 'new Irish cuisine' to America, one salmon-potato cake at a time.
As printed in the Celtic Mirror, April 1998
New concepts and innovative ideas are just beginning to chip at the culinary iceberg when it comes to the changes in taste and appearance of Irish cuisine. For Chef Michael Ryan and the staff of his prestigious restaurant Isaacs, this comes as no surprise. Ryan has been developing menus and encouraging other up-and-coming chefs to follow his recipe for a basically reworked philosophy on the not-so-popular or interesting cuisine. "New Irish cuisine," as he terms it, is becoming very popular worldwide. The changes it has wrought in how Irish cuisine is perceived and what it has become are amazing. Ingredients indigenous to Ireland are fused with spices and techniques from other far-off places in the world.
A very simple but strong philosophy of restaurateuring is part of Ryan's daily curriculum for success. Ryan had the good fortune to be brought up in a family of restaurant-goers. His family has operated restaurants in Ireland for more than 30 years, and has been accorded many accolades in that time. Two of their restaurants are in fact the only ones in Ireland to have been awarded Michelin star ratings. Attention to detail and what the customer wants are also priorities for Ryan. His motto is "Shower them with kindness in all circumstances."
Homemade soups, breads and desserts appear on the ever-changing Isaacs menu and as daily specials. Signature items such as his salmon-potato cakes and shrimp brochettes are in such high demand that they are permanently etched on every menu.
Currently, Ryan holds the position of treasurer for the Chef's Association of Europe, an organization similar to the American Culinary Federation in the United States. His talents are called upon quite often, and extensive travel is always the result. Just recently, Ryan was honored as guest chef of Downey's Restaurant in Philadelphia. Educating and training new chefs in this newfound cuisine is part of his traveling experience.
The future of this so-called "Irish fusion" cuisine looks very bright. Culinary schools and professionals in the field will no doubt acknowledge the gastronomic importance of the changes that have been made and will be made in Irish cuisine. They will incorporate these culinary changes in their menu presentations and in educational courses, with the aim of introducing an Irish influence in establishments that may not necessarily be traditional Irish restaurants.
From Arbutus Lodge to Isaacs
The family background in this short profile deserves more than a sentence, because it is a piece of Irish food history. Michael Ryan was born in Cork in 1953. From 1971 until 1999 the Ryans owned the Arbutus Lodge in the city, and it was the first restaurant in Ireland ever to receive a Michelin star, which it held from 1974 to 1983 and again in 1986 and 1987. In 1980 the family bought the Cashel Palace Hotel in Tipperary, and it won a star after a single year. One small correction to our 1998 text: the Ryans were not quite alone. Ballymaloe, Myrtle Allen's dining room in east Cork, won Ireland's second star a year after Arbutus Lodge and kept it from 1975 to 1980.
Ryan trained partly in France, with Paul Bocuse in Lyon and the Troisgros family in Roanne, before cooking at Arbutus Lodge until it closed in 1999. He opened Isaacs in Cork in 1992 with his wife Catherine and partner Canice Sharkey, who came from Ballymaloe. In 1995 he was the resident chef on A Movable Feast, an RTÉ food and wine series that ran for two seasons. The European chefs' association named in the article appears to be Euro-Toques, the body set up to protect culinary traditions, where Ryan served as treasurer for many years and worked closely with Myrtle Allen. His son Philip took over Isaacs in 2020.
The wider prediction, that Irish cooking built on native ingredients would win respect, came true. The style historians now call new Irish cuisine grew up in the last quarter of the twentieth century around fresh fish and shellfish, soda bread, farmhouse cheeses and, of course, the potato, with Allen and the Ballymaloe Cookery School as its best-known champions. Allen died in June 2018, aged 94. Dublin's Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud has held two Michelin stars every year since 1996, and Chapter One, on Parnell Square, gained its second in 2022.
Questions readers ask
What was the first Michelin star restaurant in Ireland?
The first restaurant in Ireland to win a Michelin star was the Arbutus Lodge in Cork, owned by the Ryan family from 1971 to 1999. It held a star from 1974 to 1983 and again from 1986 to 1987. A year after Arbutus Lodge, Ballymaloe House in east Cork, where Myrtle Allen ran the Yeats Room restaurant, became the second, holding its star from 1975 to 1980.
Who is chef Michael Ryan of Isaacs restaurant in Cork?
Michael Ryan, born in Cork in 1953, is a chef and restaurateur from the family behind the Arbutus Lodge, Ireland's first Michelin-starred restaurant. He trained in France with Paul Bocuse and the Troisgros family, opened Isaacs in Cork in 1992, presented on RTÉ's A Movable Feast in 1995 and served as treasurer of Euro-Toques. His son Philip took over Isaacs in 2020.
What is new Irish cuisine?
New Irish cuisine is the style that emerged in the last quarter of the twentieth century, using traditional Irish ingredients in new ways. It centres on fresh vegetables, salmon and trout, oysters, mussels and other shellfish, soda bread, Irish farmhouse cheeses and potatoes, often combined with techniques and spices from abroad. Myrtle Allen of Ballymaloe House, who opened her restaurant in 1964, was one of its earliest champions.
Who was Myrtle Allen of Ballymaloe?
Myrtle Allen (1924 to 2018) was an Irish chef, writer and hotelier who opened the Yeats Room restaurant at Ballymaloe House in Shanagarry, County Cork, in 1964. She cooked from local produce and changed her menu daily, an approach considered revolutionary at the time. Ballymaloe won a Michelin star from 1975 to 1980. She died in Cork on 13 June 2018, aged 94.
