Irish Daily Mail On Sunday

Cover story
With a new
Dublin restaurant
just up and
running, Clodagh
McKenna now
has her eye on
the big prize, as
Hannah-Louise
Dunne discovers
O
Clodagh’s
fairytale in
New
York
pening a restaurant is not
for the faint-hearted. But
Clodagh McKenna — rising star of the culinary
world and all-round nice
girl — isn’t one to scare
easily. She has just launched a brand-new
venture, Clodagh’s Kitchen, in south Dublin’s
Blackrock. An airy, sunny establishment, the
Unlike some other celebrity chefs, Clodagh
restaurant is reflective of a growing brand adopts a hands-on approach. ‘I’m in the
that has established itself well, even in these kitchen and in the other ventures I’d be the
tough times.
same, either training the chefs or writing up
Already a hit with diners in Arnott’s menus. The night-time menu is from
Dublin store, where her restaurants satisfy Thursday to Saturday, so I will probably
hungry shoppers daily, Clodagh threw open spend my evenings there on those nights and
the doors to her latest venture late last month I will pop in between the two (Arnott’s and
— and business is already booming.
Blackrock) otherwise.’
The new venture follows a busy few
It’s a gruelling schedule, but Clodagh says
months for Clodagh, which included a trip to the team are resigned to having little free
the US in March to take over New York’s chic time for the next few months.
Whitney Museum for a contemporary pop-up
‘You just don’t (have free time), you just
restaurant. Guests including the Taoiseach, can’t. Everybody on the team knew it and I
Enda Kenny and his wife Fionnuala.
certainly knew it — you kind of have
Yes, she agrees, it’s been a whirlwind few yourself psyched up for that.
months with little time to plan but, all the
‘The first month will be all about work and
same, she’s quietly confident about her new m y f a m i l y a n d f r i e n d s a r e v e r y
restaurant. ‘I was a little bit anxious
understanding of that. I had my
about it but not too much,’ she
friends in last night to see me, so
says. As long as you use nerves
that was lovely, so they will
well, they can push you in the
probably do that.
right direction. Fear gives
‘I will take a small break
you an edge and it makes
in August, I’ll have to — in
you think a little more
the back of my mind I’m
Clodagh McKenna studied
about everything and push
thinking about sunshine
in France and New York City,
yourself. But I don’t get too
and sea for a week.
before going on to train as a
nervous. It’s not my characClodagh will be joined in
chef at Ballymaloe
ter — chefs generally aren’t
the
restaurant venture by her
Cookery School
nervous types.’
partner, Peter Gaynor. She says
As if to underline her confidence,
they make a good team but is
Clodagh’s celebrity friends turned out
reticent about discussing thei r
loyally to the launch night last month, among relationship any further.
them Gráinne Seoige and Brian Kennedy.
‘Peter is my business partner in the
This, of course, is Clodagh’s first truly restaurant,’ she says brightly. ‘It’s great. My
independent venture. ‘It’s incredibly exciting. parents say we are like the male and female
Obviously to be in Arnott’s is amazing, but version of each other, so we have the exact
it’s also equally great to do my own same taste on everything, which is why we
stand-alone venture. We have a beautiful have the restaurant together. We have the
wine bar where you come upstairs and have a same idea of what we want it to be.’
glass of wine and a small plate of food and
Her parents, to whom she is very close,
then we have fine dining at night, and the have also had an input, offering plenty of
food is incredible,’ she says.
advice on the new establishment.
Did
you know?
Blonde ambition
Left: Clodagh,
centre, with her
sister-in-law Erin
McKenna and her
sister Mairead
McKenna-Hughes
at the launch of
Clodagh’s Kitchen.
Inset: with friend
Gráinne Seoige
She laughs: ‘They have, they’ve been up
having a look at everything, so it’s great
having them around. They are just so super
supportive, they are fantastic.
‘My dad loves wine so he would be giving
little pointers and my mum wants to help so
she would be cleaning and doing whatever
she can. They are just really supportive.
‘My fa m ily a re rea l ly i nvolved i n
ever yth ing I do a nd I’m involved in
everything they do too, it’s a two-way thing,
we are just really close,’ she says.
‘I guess we’re a traditional Irish family. I
think it’s only when you get older that you
realise how important that closeness is — you
can say whatever you want and it’s forgiven
the next day. And that’s lovely, and I take
their opinions to heart.’
In the run-up to the opening of the new
restaurant Clodagh has been careful to keep
herself fit. An avid runner, she completed the
tough Connemarathon run in April alongside
Síle Seoige and Boyzone star, Keith Duffy.
‘It was great, really fab. I was a little bit
nervous because it’s quite a hilly run, but it
was fun and you got a great sense of achievement when you crossed the finishing line.
‘It is definitely a mindset and the thing is
on the day of the race, if you are with a good
group of people that definitely pushes you
along a little bit more.’
Clodagh still pounds the pavements,
although the distance is more modest. ‘It’s
more like six and seven kilometres at the
moment,’ she says. She also works out at
Dublin’s favourite celebrity gym BodyByrne.
‘They keep me in check,’ she says. ‘It is really good stress relief and they are really good
people, Siobhan and Paul Byrne. I just find it
good for you mentally, physically and for
energy — I just love it. I certainly wouldn’t be
able to do the level of work I do without it.
‘I take all kind of oils as well but I eat well
and I think that really helps. I don’t skip my
meals; I try to sit down and have my meal and
have at least one meal a day where I’m eating
protein and vegetables. I snack on bananas in
work so that helps rather than turning to sugary or carby things, although you do crave
that when you are tired. So we have big
bunches of bananas in the kitchen so I don’t
get tempted to just keep eating dishes coming
out of the oven,’ she says.
Clodagh will certainly need all her energy
for the year ahead. Fast becoming a favourite
with fans in the US, the 37-year-old has been
dubbed Ireland’s answer to Martha Stewart
by Forbes magazine. In the last few years,
she has made appearances on a host of
high-profile US shows including Rachael Ray
and the Today Show — and has seen her four
RTÉ series air on PBS and Create TV.
She is now due to do another series for the
two channels. ‘We’re filming in September,
it’s going to be shot here and then shown in
the States. So I’m excited about that — it will
be a really fantastic experience.
‘The series in September will be for RTÉ
as well, and is due to be shown next spring or
summer. I’ll be back cooking in the kitchen
again and we’ll be out and about as well.
‘We’re trying to pick different quirky
things that you can do in Ireland that are
food-relate d so we a re forag i ng for
mushrooms as well.
‘I have (TV appearances) with the Food
Network which is very big over there, so that
will be fun. But it’s not until September
because I just said that I’m not moving from
Arnott’s and Blackrock until then. I need to
give it all my time.’
Clodagh is keen to showcase Ireland’s
hidden culinary treasures as part of her
American venture and it is clear that her time
at the helm of the New York pop-up
restaurant made a strong impression on her.
‘It was definitely one of the most epic
moments of my life, to be there and to be
partnered with (restaurateur) Danny Meyer.
‘He is my icon and I just couldn’t believe
that I got that opportunity and then to have
the Taoiseach and his wife come along on
their own casually, it wasn’t anything formal
— there was a moment there where I just
thought, I am so lucky.
‘And for Irish food, it was fantastic. Every
dish was a twist on a contemporary menu and
it was lovely to be able to show Irish food that
way. We had Irish producers come over and
the setting was beautiful. We did all wild
flowers throughout the tables, it was really
amazing. There were people there from
Vogue.com, People magazine and the New
York Times and for them all to be there and
see Irish food in that way, that was what I was
most proud of.
‘They weren’t looking at us and seeing
bacon and cabbage and brown bread — which
is lovely — but we do more over here.
Sometimes it gets forgotten.’
As for opening a full-time restaurant in the
city that never sleeps, Clodagh teases:
‘Definitely, not just yet but when I have time
I will definitely do it!’