This Thursday welcomes a new rooftop dining facility in the heart of Dublin, courtesy of Jean-Georges Vongerichten at The Leinster. The prestigious chef and restaurateur partnerships with multiple establishments across the world, including 13 within New York City alone. Now, he’s teaming up with The Leinster’s proprietors, Press Up, an elite Irish hospitality group. The new addition to The Leinster – a chic boutique hotel with 55 rooms, located on Mount Street where the previous nightclub, Howl At The Moon resided – houses a 55-seat restaurant, reaching up to 120 places if the outer terraces are utilised. It also boasts a cafe on the ground floor while offering panoramic city views from the top-floor restaurant overlooking Merrion Square.
While Vongerichten’s name might not ring a bell for some Irish diners, he’s a renowned figure in the American culinary world. The 66-year-old, originally from Alsace, operates eateries in US districts like New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami Beach, Nashville and Philadelphia. His renowned establishment, the self-named Jean-Georges, graces the areas of Central Park West and Columbus Circle with two Michelin stars.
The restaurant group’s site boasts Vongerichten’s remarkable worldwide footprint, noting his effective leadership and management of around 60 international dining spots. While only 46 are listed on their site (Dublin hasn’t featured yet), his gastronomical empire extends as far and wide as Brazil to China. Vongerichten stopped counting, he amusingly notes over a pre-opening breakfast at The Leinster. All eateries within New York are directly managed by them, while other outstations are part of various partnerships, he further mentions.
In Mayfair’s The Connaught hotel, the name Jean-Georges is renowned for its association with two eateries. It’s through the restauranteur’s spirited ventures in the UK capital that ties were established with Press Up. Jean-Georges shares a close friendship with Paddy McKillen Senior, tracing back to an introduction via shared acquaintances a decade and a half ago in London. This relationship has seen multiple collaborations in London as well as numerous visits to Chateau La Coste, McKillen’s estate in southern France. Last year, an enticing proposal came from McKillen’s son, Paddy McKillen Junior, inviting Jean-Georges to partake in a novel hotel project in Ireland, to which he readily agreed.
The forthcoming dining establishment plans to elevate the standard previously set by Press Up’s mid-range ventures, while maintaining comfort with its contemporary, laid-back, all-day dining design, as opposed to a formal, white-tablecloth setting. The unique blend of southeast Asian flavours and traditional French methods, a signature feature of Jean-Georges’ skills, will be applied to locally sourced Irish ingredients under the supervision of top chef Ross Bryans.
Ross Bryans, originally from Scotland, has been a part of the Press Up team for two years. His stellar career includes cooking royal meals under Clare Smyth at Gordon Ramsay’s Royal Hospital Road in London, a five-year tenure at Dublin’s Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud, and Cordon Bleu skills honed at London’s Pollen Street Social while serving as head chef.
Recently, Jean-Georges led an esteemed group of his team to Dublin for a comprehensive ten-day training stint with the local team. Concurrently, menu refinements were overseen by Bryans. Jean-Georges aims to incorporate the essence of New York into the flavours, being a French trained chef with an internationally inspired palate. He reminisced about a five-year culinary tour across Asian cities like Bangkok, Singapore, and Hong Kong which sparked his love for Asian ingredients and taste. This experience was a game-changer for Jean-Georges, who hails from Strasbourg and was previously known for his potato cabbage dishes. The discovery of Thai cuisine was, according to him, life-altering – sweet, salty, sour, fragrant; a real awakening of senses.
Vongerichten is content with the calibre of the ingredients he has discovered in Ireland. “We’re in collaboration with local providers. The beef fed on grass here is excellent, plus the close proximity to the sea results in a fantastic supply of various seafood including wild turbot, monkfish, cod, hake, and langoustine. Superior food can’t be made without high-quality ingredients, a core component for us,” he asserts.
The eatery’s initial dinner menu is categorised into sections: caviar and crudos, appetisers, and pasta from both land and sea, besides side dishes. Additionally, a five-course tasting menu, representing a range of dishes, is offered. At the time of writing (on Monday), no pricing details were disclosed. Ross Bryans mentioned that the prices would be “competitive”, projecting the restaurant to fall under the “premium casual” class.
The tasting menu begins with egg toast, caviar, and herbs, succeeded by tuna tartare accompanied by avocado in a spicy radish ginger marinade. Turbot from the wild, crisped with nuts and seeds in a sweet and sour jus, comprises the seafood course, while grilled lamb chops served in a smoked chilli glaze with roasted asparagus comprise the meat course. Dessert features a warm chocolate cake served with vanilla ice cream. “I bring my unique style, my selection of sauces and spice, and blend them with Irish ingredients to create exceptional products”, says Vongerichten.
The bar’s cocktail menu is innovative, with Nathan Robinson, director of bars at Jean-Georges Management, noting that it has been formulated to pair well with food. “Our cocktails have a minimal sugar content. Adding savoury elements are a wonderful way to inject flavour since sugar often contributes excess calories. Hence, we’ve taken a different approach”.
Food will also be servable in the Collins Club downstairs, a fusion of bar and supper club featuring smaller dishes and snacks available until late at night. However, it is the rooftop area, with celebrity chef Jean-Georges of The Leinster’s fame, boasting Instagram-ready interiors, that will attract the gastronomes. The space is multi-functional, serving brunch and lunch, and catering to hotel guests by offering breakfast.
Vongerichten, a chef who developed a love for breakfast in America, enthusiastically lays out a trio of dishes from his menu. The selection includes an avocado toast sprinkled with a gentle punch of French Espalette pepper, and organic scrambled eggs that incorporate finely diced broccoli and cheddar cheese, achieving a near custard-like texture. His signature touch? A house-made fermented red chilli concoction. “Eggs and hot sauce are a delight for me,” he shares. “Constructed from finger chillies, salt, vinegar and fresh sriracha, we let it infuse for two days.” Accompanying gluten-free almond pancakes loaded with nut butter, banana and maple syrup, is what appears to be cream but turns out to be a concoction of aerated almond milk and banana fresh from a soda siphon.
On this particular day, the bread and pastries are supplied by Bread 41, located on the neighbouring Pearse Street. “My baker will be here next week. We have a limited kitchen space, so we plan to make our own ciabatta for the toast, sourdough, and few pastries for the morning,” he says.
In the restaurant’s inaugural year, the seasoned chef plans to make four visits to Dublin, aiming to develop menus that suit the changing seasons. The thrill of embarking on a new venture excites him – “Coming in with 20 ideas and hopefully exiting with 40,” he says, showing his love for brainstorming and exchanging ideas. Vongerichten considers travelling a means to land new experiences and opportunities. He forms part of his team that is in-charge of designing and arranging the delicious fare, although this venue is a sure-fire Press Up flagship.
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With a vast number of restaurants under his belt, does he have a favourite? “Yes, the most recent one, so it’s this for now.” Apart from his love for his gastronomical ventures, his work is his other beloved. Even at the age of 67 (with his birthday around the corner), Vongerichten, unlike his contemporaries who are often drawn away from their kitchens due to their burgeoning enterprises, still manages to cook on a regular basis. “It’s basically my therapy – six hours of everyday culinary indulgence. I absolutely love what I do, which is cooking, and I have no intentions of quitting,” he states.