Ireland’s longest-serving restaurant reviewer, wine guru, food critic on TV3’s The Restaurant: “Ah, do you have to introduce me like that?” interrupts Tom Doorley. “Ireland’s longest-serving restaurant reviewer: it makes me sound ancient.” And with that comes Tom Doorley’s belly laugh, an infectious sound that starts an interview that is funny and entertaining. Looking back, all we were missing was a glass of wine and a cheeseboard.

That statement may make Tom sound older than his years but the truth is, long before restaurants were opening every second day in Dublin and at a time when the only wine people were au fait with was Blue Nun, Tom Doorley was covering everything from Albariños to Zinfandels.

“It was 1986, and the very first piece I wrote was about Greek wine for the Sunday Tribune. I reviewed four bottles, at the time – it was probably all I could get my hands on. From there, I learned a lot on the go.”

Connection with the land

“People do tend to overcomplicate wine, though. Whenever I do a tasting class, I say that at the simplest level, wine is an agricultural product, a way of preserving the harvest. It’s like cheese. This is an agricultural product made by farmers, but it can literally range from a packet of Easy Singles to mature Gubeen: a huge array of quality.

“If you lose sight of that connection to the land, you lose the point and the whole thing becomes a bit pretentious. This snobbery can intimidate people but, as the great TP Whelehan used to say: ‘The greatest bottle of wine drunk with boring company is a pretty bad wine.’

“I’m not saying that sharing a bottle of Blossom Hill with a fascinating person is going to make it much better, but certainly the contrary is true. It’s about knowing what you like, and you don’t have to be an expert for that.

“It’s also worth mentioning that the supermarkets have made wine very accessible – not to the extent that it is on the continent, but it has certainly revolutionised the Irish consumer perspective.” Having done a lot of work with Aldi, Tom says wine is at a very accessible price point. “You can now get an amazing bottle for less than €20, meaning people are experimenting a lot more.”

Talking food

Tom Doorley could literally talk about wine all day. I would like to say I gently nudged him onto the next topic – but it was more a case of calling a halt. “Oh yes, yes, the food ...

“I was a few years at the wine and then in 1994, Helen Lucy Burke gave up the restaurant critic gig in the Sunday Tribune. Restaurant reviews back then were also a very different ballgame. There are more restaurant openings now than you can keep track of – but back in the day, I used to pound the streets looking for somewhere to review.

“In fact, the word ‘restaurant’ was quite liberal: there were some dreadful, dreadful experiences.

“Standards have risen so much, and there are young people doing some pretty amazing things. I’m thinking of places like Bastible, Richmond and Heron & Grey. It’s unfair to single them out, but they are just excellent examples that spring to mind. From a reader perspective, though, people love a good, scathing review. It makes for great reading – but that’s not my job. It’s to give a fair review.

“I’ll tell you a funny story, though. I went through a phase recently enough when I looked back on my last eight or 10 reviews, and they were all complimentary. I met a fellow critic of mine and he said to me: ‘I’m finding it hard to find a place that isn’t good to review.’ When I agreed wholeheartedly, he lowered his voice, ducked his head and said: ‘I passed a fairly dodgy looking place on the walk here, will we go check it out?’ So we did. And of course, we went there and the experience was outstanding: out of this world kind of stuff, a real hidden gem. That will teach us.”

A dozen years and counting

Of course, Tom’s years of reviewing led to one of his most recognisable gigs in Irish media: resident critic on The Restaurant, which is now in its 12th series. So what has been the recipe to success to such a long-running show?

“I think it’s the format and the fact that it brings the family together. I’ve had kids as young as 12 come up to me and ask: ‘What’s this person like in real life?’ Of course, there are also the bizarre conversations you have in the supermarket, where an old lady gets you in a clutch-like grip, and says: ‘I thought you were very hard on that lovely girl last week!’ I’m thinking: ‘What is she talking about?’ Until I realise she is probably watching a re-run of The Restaurant that was shot back in 2007 or something like that.”

“It’s been a great show to work on and some really fantastic meals. I remember Kevin Myers cooked a venison pie, which was very good, and Ray D’Arcy did a smoked haddock with poached egg and champ.”

What about the bad ones, Tom?

There is silence (the first since we met) and he looks deep in thought.

“It’s like post-traumatic stress: you kind of suppress the memory.”

Then his eyes light up and he says: “Of course, there was the episode with Brendan O’Carroll. It took Paolo 24 hours to recover from that meal, it took me 36. You know those griping pains, where you feel your gut has been twisted and you may need surgery, it was like that,” he laughs.

“If I remember correctly, there was this mini pineapple dish filled with prawn cocktails – rubbery little prawns cooked in a pink sauce – and there were also these cheese and ham sandwiches rolled up and deep fried, as well as sole, with a slice of banana on top and some brown sugar they took a blow torch to. I remember myself and Paolo were speechless, and the producer was having conniptions with us. Fantastic television, though.”

Partners in crime

Which brings us on to Paolo Tullio, Tom’s partner in crime for many years.

“This was our second series doing the show without Paolo . The first was particularly hard, it was awful doing it without him. He was such a good friend, amazing company. We knew each other long before we were critics on the show and we were very close. His presence was sorely missed, it was The Restaurant, but he wasn’t there.

Tom remembers Paolo being a real conversationalist. “At his memorial service, it was said, ‘Before we had Google, we had Paolo.’ Talk about digressions: sometimes the conversations were so naughty we would have to be reminded by the crew to get back on track and talk about the food.

“So the first series without him was such a big change: change of location, change of co-critic to Marco Pierre White. Really, could you find a bigger contrast? Paolo had no ego. I rest my case,” he laughs. “Marco, let’s say, seemed very determined to dominate the show. I certainly resented that and I think it came across. I told him not to be patronising, I told him a few other things as well.

“This season, though, things are different. We actually had a lot more fun, we spent some time together in the UK. There is one particularly funny moment when one of the chefs makes a jelly diamond. Marco says: ‘Give me your hand. Will you marry me?’ I reply, ‘I accept on the basis that the alimony would be very good.’ We got to know a different side of Marco, and I think viewers will see that this season.

“The thing is, though, the show isn’t about Marco, it isn’t about me: it’s about the guest in the kitchen. And I can honestly say that the standard of dishes was the highest we have ever seen.” Sounds like we are in for a treat.

Tom Doorley on…

Living in the countryside…

After a long time in Dublin, my wife and I found a beautiful site on the border of Cork and Waterford. It has beautiful views, overlooking the valley of West Waterford. We wanted more space and gardening definitely came into it. What people don’t tell you before you move to the country is that, despite all the beautiful countryside, you drive more and walk less. Also, your radius of what constitutes a ‘neighbour’ becomes about 20 miles.

The rise and fall of business…

A few years ago, we opened a little deli in Lismore, doing cheese and charcuterie – absolute disaster. I learned retail is hard, retail in rural Ireland is ever more difficult. It gave me a great appreciation of what people running a small business have to go through. My advice on the back of it is to be very cautious. Look at the footfall, hinterland, consumer behaviour – all these things are terribly important. I did really enjoy the direct contact with people, though.

His website, www.tomdoorley.com...

My function as a food and wine writer is to spread good news, and the website allows me to do that even more. I want to encourage people to drink good-quality wines and enjoy it sensibly, recommend great places and share recipes. I wanted a forum in the digital age that was accessible across the world, to promote just how good Irish food is. Some websites have a few reviewers feeding into the one name, I only recommend and give advice on the places I have been to personally. I am also a big fan of Twitter and love the direct interaction.