Saddle Room
At The Shelbourne hotel, Irish patriot Michael Collins drafted the republic’s constitution. At The Saddle Room, Chef Garry Hughes honors the country’s culinary history by serving scallops hand-dived off County Cork, Clonakilty black and white pudding, and lambs that roam the curragh of Kildare.
“The Shelbourne belongs to the Irish people,” Chef Hughes says of the nearly 200-year-old hotel. “And I only use local suppliers and seasonal products.”
Ox cheeks from Dublin’s famous Hicks Butcher cook for nearly a whole day until they yield to a fork like butter. Seabass from century-old fishmonger John Wright is dressed with young fennel and tomato vinaigrette, and Bantry Bay scallops – destined for a bed of butternut squash and black olives – arrive on plates just hours off the boat.
Some products come from even closer to home. Like the brown Irish soda bread that Chef Hughes learned from his grandmother. “I never saw a weighing scale,” he says. “It was a fist of this, a pour of that, and the bread was always fantastic.”
The rhubarb tart is also from his grandmother, the layered sherry trifle from his mom. The sweets trolley – loaded with macaroons, marshmallows, jellies and chocolate lollipops – comes courtesy of the chef’s fondest memories.
“The whole concept is to bring you back to when you were a five-year-old kid going to the sweet shop,” he says. “You’d reach your hand into the jar, and it’s what you’d get for 50p on a Sunday with your grab.”
The Shelbourne Dublin, A Renaissance Hotel
27 St Stephen's Green
Dublin, 2 Ireland
27 St Stephen's Green
Dublin, 2 Ireland