Roy and his team will work with Chef Aidan O’Driscoll and the West Cork Hotel team to cook a Scottish themed meal using the very best of West Cork produce.
Roy loved his visit to the A Taste of West Cork Festival so much last year that he discussed the possibility of coming back with Neil Grant, West Cork Hotel General Manager, as soon as he returned to Scotland.
“Roy has been an unbelievable ambassador for West Cork and its incredible food produce since his visit a year ago,” explains Neil.
“Roy featured Rosscarbery Recipe’s White and Black puddings, Sally Barnes Smoked Salmon and he even started baking his own Soda Bread after his visit. I understand he knocked back numerous offers to attend various events this year in favour of attending this year’s food festival, so we are thrilled to have him.”
Roy will be a busy man. Not only will he be cooking a meal at the West Cork Hotel, he is also judging for both the Food Festival’s Schools’ Cookery Competition and this year’s Celtic Cook Off event. Roy was blown away by the quality of cooking on show at last year’s Schools’ Competition and vowed to return. “If you asked a kid in Scotland where there food came from they would say ‘Tesco,’” was Roy’s quip on seeing the young chefs talk about the provenance of their food being cooked last year!
It will be fascinating to see Roy judge the Celtic Cook Off as he is very familiar with Tony Singh of Scotland as well as Jack Stein and Stephane Delourme who are coming from the Rick Stein Company and representing Cornwall and Brittany respectively. “I can’t wait to put them under a little bit of pressure,” says Roy. We can’t wait either!!
Roy’s Taste of Ondine will be a six course tasting menu at €40 per person and will be served at 7:30 PM on Tuesday 11 September. Roy may even drag a few of the Celtic Cook Off competitors into the kitchen to support him!
The produce for this Celtic Feast is kindly sponsored by artisan food producer members of West Cork Food. As Neil Grant says, “We are lucky to have such a wealth of great produce in this region. The producers have such passion and their passion combined with Roy’s artistry….wow. We are in for a great night!”
Bookings can be made through the West Cork Hotel reception. +00 353 (0)28 21277 www.westcorkhotel.com
The Celtic Cook Off is held as part of the A Taste of West Cork Food Festival and has proved very popular with the paying public, the local food producers, Fáilte Ireland, the media and all the Chefs involved. So much so that four of last year’s Chefs are returning to be involved in the Festival this year – Arty Williams of Cornwall, Roy Brett from Scotland, John Dixon from the Isle of Man and our own Martin Shanahan.
The basis of the Cook Off is to create a fun and informative Cooking Show that showcases the best of West Cork produce cooked simply yet with each Chef’s own interpretation and ideas.
The 2012 event has attracted another galaxy of top chefs from the Celtic regions to take part in what is becoming one of the landmark culinary events of the year:
Scotland: Edinburgh born, Tony Singh has established himself as a leading force on the Scottish restaurant scene as co-founder of Oloroso, the highly acclaimed bar and restaurant in the heart of Scotland’s dynamic capital city.
Brittany: Stephane Delourme has worked at The Seafood Restaurant in Padstow for over a decade. He joined Rick and Jill Stein as head chef at their flagship establishment when he moved to Cornwall in 1998.
Isle of Man: Butch Buttery, one-time owner of Tanroagan now has a business installing restaurant kitchens; he also cooks for exhibitions and private functions as well as being chef and recipe consultant for the Manx Organic Network and Island Seafoods.
Ireland: Gary O’Hanlon set up VM @ Viewmount House in Co. Longford in 2008. A beautiful Georgian Manor house once owned by Lord Longford with the Restaurant in the converted stables. Awards since then include Georgina Campbell’s "Sunday Lunch of the Year" 2012
Wales: Ian Bennett of The Welcome to Town Restaurant on the rugged and beautiful Gower Peninsula. Ian gathers in a cornucopia of local produce from seafood to salt marsh lamb to pork & beef executing his dishes simply with a contemporary touch!
Cornwall: Jack Stein of The Seafood Restaurant, one-time sous chef at the restaurant now has a tournant role across the whole company and is currently the Head of Development, leading the introduction of a development kitchen for the business, where new recipes and ingredients will be tested.
Tickets for 2012 Celtic Cook Off available from The West Cork Hotel, call: +353 (0)28 21277
Tickets €15 each including glass of wine at the end to toast the winner, but please note, tickets from 10 September will be €20.
For more on Roy Brett and The Ondine Restaurant, please see: www.ondinerestaurant.co.uk
