Great expectations

EATING OUT: Expect the unexpected when you eat at the Ivory Tower, writes Trevor White

EATING OUT: Expect the unexpected when you eat at the Ivory Tower, writes Trevor White

Readers are invited to name one restaurant in the city of Cork that does not have a Ballymaloe graduate in the kitchen. Together, the hotel and cookery school have launched the careers of a thousand Irish chefs - probably even more. Yet the most colourful cook in Cork has never even dined at Ballymaloe. This is no reflection on Ballymaloe, but it says a great deal about Seamus O'Connell.

His restaurant, the Ivory Tower, occupies a first floor premises, above an O'Briens sandwich bar. The staircase resembles a student flat in Rathmines, circa 1987. The restaurant itself is more modern. One of my guests said it was like her mother's dining room, and when she saw the plates, she could not resist a laugh. "This is my mother's dining room."

Now 10 years old, the Ivory Tower is still the daftest restaurant in Ireland, and one of the most exciting. It is only open four nights a week. "I don't want to burn out," says O'Connell, who has five children. There are 30 seats, and dinner is usually fully booked. The service is slow. Our waiter did not smile once in four hours. Punters come to be provoked, delighted and - finally - well fed. The critics are thrilled and bemused in equal measure. They say O'Connell is a genius, but he has never won a Michelin star, and Tom Doorley refused to join me for dinner in the restaurant, because "it's too erratic". O'Connell says he's more consistent than he used to be. "I have mellowed," he claims. Oh yeah? "If you work for a pharmaceutical company, I'll let you in. Things have changed since the early days."

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O'Connell is a principled chef, but he has made a name for himself by tearing up the rule book. Among the dishes on our eight-course tasting menu (€75) were a carpaccio of wood pigeon, some sea urchin sushi, a tequila sorbet and venison with chocolate. This last dish was a bit of a disaster. It helps explain why O'Connell remains a chef on the margins, rather than someone - like his friend, Kevin Thornton - who is reaching for stars. The venison was completely overwhelmed by the (unsweetened) chocolate sauce. Yes, the texture was good, and it was an interesting idea, but none of us could taste the venison. I don't care about the elaborate explanation - and I'm sure he has one - for putting chocolate and venison together. It just didn't work.

Forgive this carping. Seamus O'Connell is trying to do unusual things with food, and for that reason alone, he deserves encouragement. There is little enough imagination in many Irish restaurants, and here you will find it in abundance. I look forward to returning soon.

By the way, a three course dinner costs €50. I was in the company of some notorious oenophiles, and am too embarrassed to tell you how much our bill came to - or what time we left the restaurant. Heck, it's that sort of place. twhite@irish-times.ie

The Ivory Tower, The Exchange Buildings, Princes Street, Cork (021-4274665)