In the early noughties, the Irish food community really started asking: what is Irish food? How do we define it? Today, we’re still exploring this question.
There was never going to be a simple response.
Irish food is as complex as our history – the ‘hazelnut economy’ of the first hunter-gatherers; the cow currency of early settlements; the realities of colonisation and oppression; the Great Hunger; joining the European Economic Community in the 1970s. All of this and more has shaped our approach and attitude to food, and the task of modern Irish gastronomy is to find new ways to interpret these nuances.
Definitions aside, acknowledging and respecting the elements which make up our food heritage – what grows naturally, what is cultivated, our traditions and patterns of food behaviour – has been at the forefront of the most exciting Irish dining experiences.
Cúán Greene, founder and executive chef of the newly opened Ómós in Abbeyleix, Co Laois, does this well.
Cúán’s Ómós ‘project’ officially opened this July, but has been in the works for several years. With investment from Stripe co-founder John Collison, among others, Abbeyleix’s historic Millbrook House has been fully restored into the Ómós guesthouse; offering 16 uniquely designed rooms (starting at €375 per night).
A short walk via a garden path brings you to the newly-built 40-seat restaurant.
Designed by Ryan W Kennihan Architects, Asca and Relief Gallery with gardens by William Shackleton, the restaurant combines Irish heritage vernacular with Japanese and Scandinavian design elements. Its copper roof, reclaimed stonework and zen garden-like courtyard are just a few of its striking features, set deep into the woodland landscape.
“Working with the architects, we went through so many stages of design until we landed on something that felt right,” Cúán says. “If you look at the building, it might not scream ‘Abbeyleix’, but it makes sense here, in this landscape.”
Homage, duty and respect
In Irish, Ómós means homage, duty and respect. For Cúán, whose background includes restaurants Noma and Geranium (both in Copenhagen) and Bastible in Dublin, there is a bit of Ómós in everything they offer, from the Irish ceramics used in the restaurant to handmade furnishings, menu items, and the very building itself. This was all part of his overall vision.
“I grew up in a family of makers, my parents are both artists,” he explains. “Our house was always full of heirlooms and pieces my parents collected from when they were young. Nice things that, as artists, they appreciated.
“I loved art, but when I found cooking, I thought ‘This is what I [really] love,’” he continues. “As a kid, the restaurant that interested me the most was Noma, and I ended up working there. That was a place that appreciated craft and things that were made. I could see an extension of my upbringing in the design. I knew that was something I wanted to create here in Ireland.”
With a team comprised of head chef Matthew Smith (Lignum, Galway and Inver, Scotland), sous chef Gareth O’Brien (Bastible) and Ryan Lally (Grá Pizza) as head baker, the food offering at Ómós is modern but steeped in tradition. The restaurant’s fermentation room is full of unique preserves made from foraged or locally grown foods, and Ryan’s breads use Irish-grown, locally milled grain. Cúán says their menu, which changes with the seasons, is often inspired by the art and design of their physical surroundings.
“I’m finding it really exciting to see all the work we’ve done [in building and designing the project] flowing into the menu, and I can really see the correlation between the interior and exterior design and the dishes,” he says. “We’ve kept them aligned, because it’s all a part of the story. For the past two years, we’ve worked with several different makers to create a collection of ceramics. They largely inform the dishes.
“With ingredients, I’m very produce-driven, farmer-led and people-led,” he adds. “It’s how I want to work; it’s seasonal. I want there to be a sense of fun, and curiosity to the cooking, and for the food to speak of place. That is crucial, for me. I want people to walk away saying, ‘Wow, that was delicious,’ but also, ‘Wow, that was so exciting.’”
Coming together
This might have been Cúán’s vision, but he insists the Ómós project has been one of deep collaboration – with the wider Abbeyleix community, the craftspeople, artisans and food producers with whom they collaborate and with the design and building teams, who have brought the guesthouse and restaurant to life.
“Something like this could never be achieved alone,” Cúán says. “It has to be done with other people, and through giving people ownership [of the project]. From the earliest stages, our architects and craftspeople and interior designers, the stonemasons and carpenters, they were enjoying the fact that they were building something unique.
“It’s humbling to be here and to have this,” he reflects. “[Prior to opening] we felt a stream of emotions – pride, nerves, excitement. We’re taking it and just going for it. We had a local open day in June to welcome the community to Ómós – they have been incredible and so welcoming to us. We want to do the best we can do here, and be proud in what we create.”
Dinner at Ómós comprises of a 15-course tasting menu and costs €175 per person. Lunch is €150 per person and wine or non-alcoholic pairings are an additional cost of €99. Guests staying overnight are automatically booked in for dinner with remaining tables available for non-guests. The restaurant is open each week from Tuesday to Saturday. Reserve online at omos.co.
The Ómós build was unique in many ways, and it was crucially important to use as many locally sourced building materials and local craftspeople, as possible. Heritage Masonry is a family business based in nearby Thurles, Co Tipperary, and they were brought on to complete the stonework for the restaurant and guesthouse. Devlin Ryan is the third generation of the Ryan family to specialise in building restoration and heritage stone, and he was thrilled to take on the Ómós project.
“In construction, there’s a tendency to impose a new aesthetic on a natural environment, but with Ómós, it was unique,” he says. “We asked: how does the environment impact the architectural view of the building? We thought it would be fitting if the building blended into the natural environment, and specifically, our stonework was built to blend in. It’s rustic and it was very much designed to look like a heritage building.”
Having worked closely with Cúán and the wider design team for the past year and a half, Devlin deeply understood what everyone was trying to achieve with the project.
“Heritage work is a different way of looking at construction,” he explains. “I might look at a building and think, ‘What was there previously, either from a lineage or a conservation point of view, and how do we pay homage to that?’ We’re always taking into consideration what history was there before. If there’s a building we’re planning to preserve, the stone might have been laid 200 years previous and might need to be brought to modernity. We might replace the mortar, and we can steam clean the stone without damaging it. It’s about bringing the building back to the way it was.
“Ómós was different; there was a consideration of adding newer stone to old and blending it with the broader estate and environment. The stone we used was all reclaimed; sourced from buildings knocked previously, so none of it was ‘new’, and much of it had an aged look, with blotches or old mortar, which actually fit in with what we wanted. The restaurant, with its copper roof, is very unique and it blends beautifully with the environment. It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with Cúán and the design team, and I’m delighted with how it all turned out.”
Heritage Masonry works on restoration projects, and new builds with heritage stonework, all over the country. Stonemasonry is as much an art as it is a science – similar to cooking, when you think about it – and Devlin, who has an academic background in history and theology, loves how his work ties in with a wider preservation of Irish culture.
“We’re really a conservation business,” he says. “There’s a whole landscape of old buildings across the country, and they are a huge part of our heritage. It’s really meaningful and a privilege to restore these buildings to lend themselves into the future.”
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