If somebody asks me for a job, you know straight away if they’ve got that fire in their belly,” says Kevin Aherne.

“I always start them in the pot wash. It’s the hardest section in the kitchen, but if you wash a pot correctly, you are going to do the same with your langoustine, your prawns, your lobster...”

There’s no doubting the fire in Kevin, winner of best chef in Munster at the recent Irish restaurant awards. When he was just 24, having left a job as a head chef in Canada, the Midleton man returned to his hometown to start Sage restaurant in the midst of the recession – and has blazed a trail with his “12 mile” food philosophy.

“Aside from his talent, enthusiasm and engaging way with customers – even when he is busy cooking,” food critic Georgina Campbell tells Irish Country Living: “What makes him special is his genuine commitment to local provenance, his relationship with his suppliers, and the way he conveys the eat local message to customers.”

And we’re not talking lip-service to “local” either. Over 90% of the food on Sage’s menu is sourced from within a 12-mile radius – a real commitment that has seen it stand out from the crowd and thrive.

“We started with eight staff,” says Kevin simply, “we’re now on 26.”

Though Kevin (31), is quick to dismiss that he came from a “foodie” background, only “falling” into it at 17 when he went to the States after his Leaving Cert.

“I was too young to work in the bars,” he says, “so I ended up in the kitchen.”

Back home he started culinary arts, but dropped out after first year because he felt he’d learn more working in restaurants (though admits he didn’t tell his dad about this change of plan ’til much later). A year and a half working in Australia followed, as did a stint on Pender Island near Vancouver.

“It was an open kitchen looking out on the bay so I thought, ‘right, this is probably the best way I can spend my next six months,’” he laughs. “They were looking for a head chef and I was young but confident enough to take it on. After six months, they offered me 49% of the business. I thought about it but then decided it wasn’t for me.”

Instead, he returned to Midleton in 2008, where he discovered a former boss was selling up his cafe business.

“I decided I was going to buy it,” he says, explaining how his parents backed his initial bank loan of €60,000 to take over the existing equipment and carry out a small refurbishment to upgrade to a restaurant.

Subsequent extensions followed, but the real turning point came in 2011 when Kevin introduced the 12-mile menu to Sage, with the commitment to source as much produce as possible from within that radius.

“I decided that the term local was being bandied about and misused,” he explains, “so I decided that it needed to have a defining line: ‘What is local to you?’ What local means to me is 12 miles. It’s 19.2km. It’s here to Cork city nearly and it’s from Midleton to Youghal.”

12-Mile menu

If you think that’s cutting it tight, think again. In fact, Sage’s “Taste of 12 Mile” sharing board alone can feature 10 canapé-style dishes, highlighting up to 50 ingredients sourced in the area.

For example, Woodside Farm in Ballincurrig, who first started supplying Kevin with free-range pork and bacon, now make their own charcuterie, like salami and chorizo, with Kevin using the blood from the slaughtered pigs to make his own black pudding.

Even when it comes to non-indigenous products, the selection is surprising. Shana Wilkes is one of the few people in Ireland producing bean to bar chocolate in Midleton, which in turn features on Sage’s decadent dessert menu.

Naturally, the 12-mile menu means working with local farmers, whose pictures hang proudly on the walls of the restaurant. When sourcing highland beef, for example, Kevin buys the whole animal, paying the farmer up front, who then pays the local butcher to have it slaughtered, which Kevin believes benefits all concerned.

“From the beginning, I wanted them to know that working with Sage wasn’t going to make their life more difficult,” he says, “it was, in fact, going to make their life easier.”

Over 90% of the food at Sage now comes from within 12 miles, with Kevin estimating a spend of over €600,000 supporting local producers in the last three years. However, he is keen to stress that Sage is not just a restaurant for foodies, with early-bird options from €22.95 for two courses, and more relaxed dining in the Greenroom cafe and bar. He’s committed to a food community and thinks all chefs can do their bit.

“I believe every other restaurant should start looking within their 12 miles. If you can’t find it within 12 miles, go to 20 miles, and if you can’t find it within 20 miles, go to 30 miles,” he says.

“But don’t go straight from Cork to Antrim or Antrim to Cork. It’s got to be looked at from the window box to the glasshouse to the polytunnel to the farm and so on.”

His next project at Sage is to rejuvenate the walled garden in the courtyard to bring his philosophy even closer to home. But first, he’s off to Noma in Copenhagen (winner in the world’s Best Restaurant Awards 2014) after meeting chef/co-owner René Redzepi at the Ballymaloe Literary Festival.

“I just told him how passionate I was and how eager I was to work with him for a couple of weeks and to learn more cooking styles and techniques,” says Kevin, “so I’m going over in October for a month.”

How does wife Réidín – a primary school teacher who Kevin first met at 17 – feel about her husband upping sticks for a month?

“When I told her, the smile on her face was bigger than the smile on mine,” he replies. “She always has my back.”

And one last question: what would an award-winning chef like Kevin choose for his last supper?

“Once I’m not cooking it,” he laughs, “and I don’t have to clean up afterwards, I don’t care.”

As long as it comes from within 12 miles, that it...