This special Christmas guest on this hugely popular programme will as always be given the chance – and the challenge – to be a chef for the night. Ernie’s in Donnybrook is the venue and this week Tom Doorley and Paolo Tullio are joined by guest critic and Dublin chef Oliver Dunne. Will they be impressed by what Eddie has in store for us..?
As always, our ‘chef’ will create and cook a full dinner menu in a real restaurant for real diners. The Head Chef’s menu must consists of three starters, two main courses, two desserts. Two bottles of wine must also be selected by the head chef. One must retail for under €10 and the other must retail for under €25.
The identity of our “mystery chef” will remain secret to all in “The Restaurant” until after the meal – but before the critics’ verdict is delivered.
Our guest chef will not be all on his own. Expert advice – and the highly trained regular staff of “The Restaurant” will work with Eddie at all times – even when they don’t agree with the approach and ideas of the new chef! Will Eddie prove to have a winning approach?
Eddies menu
Eddie’s tastes in food are fairly straightforward. When he cooks at home he favours light pasta dishes. He is a regular viewer of food and cookery shows on television. Eddie has included skate wings on his menu for The Restaurant. As a child he often went salmon fishing with his uncle, and skate often came up in the nets. He’s hoping his menu will be enough to turn The Restaurant’s critics into O’Sullivan fans. Will he succeed, or will his best efforts be mauled in a nasty dining room ruck?
Eddie O’Sullivan
Eddie O’Sullivan was appointed Head Coach to the Irish rugby team in late 2001. Since then his interest in food has taken on a whole new dimension. Eddie believes in the holistic approach to sports training. Alongside the development of training programmes for the national squad he has instituted a nutritional regime which tightly controls the diet of the squad. Every detail of the teams’ menus is worked out in advance and hotels where the team stay during training camp are required to serve food approved by the teams’ nutrition consultants. This means that any departure from the regular regime is welcomed by Eddie’s players. The offer of a scoop of ice cream, according to O’Sullivan, is enough to guarantee extra commitment during the following day’s training!
Oliver Dunne
Oliver Dunne is one of the “young guns” of the Dublin culinary scene. His career has taken him to work in some of the best known restaurants in Dublin and London. He began his career in Gotham Cafe in Dublin, from which he moved QV2 in Dublin. It was here he got a solid grounding in the workings of a professional kitchen. A spell at Peacock Alley and then Roly’s Bistro followed before Oliver moved to London in 1998, where he worked with Gary Rhodes and Gordon Ramsey. Back in Dublin he spent time at The Clarence as sous chef under Anthony Ely. A further spell in London saw Oliver at Pied a Terre where he worked with Shane Osborne. Only after all of this did he feel ready to head his own kitchen and Mint opened late in 2003 with Oliver as head chef.