In his own words
Blacklion, Co Cavan is my home and my family business MacNean House & Restaurant is where my heart is. I grew up here and my father and mother began this business. I learned to cook from watching and ‘helping’ my mother as a youngster and my interest in good food and passion for cooking comes straight from her. We still work together. She does the flowers in the restaurant every day. Amelda, my wife, works front of house. We are a family business, and while I thoroughly enjoy the travelling involved in my television and book work, and visiting the best restaurants with my chefs, I am happiest back here cooking for our loyal customers and welcoming new ones.
I am lucky to have great staff and everyone knows we are only as good as our last meal. We are always working on improving our menu and last year we were thrilled to win the Food and Wine ‘Restaurant of the Year’ award. It is satisfying that our peers in the business are recognising the effort. I always want our customers to have the best of dining experiences when they eat here.
I have always believed that good local produce in season is a good starting point and have fantastic suppliers nearby. But the restaurant business does not stay still and I am always on the lookout for new ideas. Amelda and I travel each year and sample food and wine in far flung places. Several times during the year I will travel in Europe with my chefs to see what the best restaurants are doing. It keeps us all on our toes! When I finished college I worked in great European restaurants. From those days I learned the value of setting high standards. It is worth it every night when our customers enjoy their experience at Macnean House & Restaurant.
Being a chef has brought me a great life and wonderful opportunities, and I am genuinely proud of what we have achieved in MacNean House & Restaurant. To our loyal customers, it is always a pleasure to welcome you back. To those of you who have not yet been here I look forward to the opportunity of cooking for you. And to those of you with a recipe of mine propped up in the kitchen – Happy Cooking!
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