Barry Canny: The owner of Peploe's restaurant thinks ambiance is vital, writes Melanie Morris
What's your foodie philosophy? "Firstly, it's unfussy food. I think there's a real swing away from formal, Michelin star cuisine and back to a comforting, homely style with good stocks and easily identifiable sauces. I'm a great believer in cook it, plate it and serve it ... forget the flashing lights and all that stuff. That's what we do in Peploe's. And I have a real love affair with wine. I think it's part and parcel of the experience."
Who cooks at home? "We both do; the family love their grub so it's a foodie household. My wife Dee cooks during the week, I do weekends." Where do you shop? "The Ice Box on Dún Laoghaire Pier for fish, Cavistons, Sheridans and I like buying good market vegetables in season. I would fill two trollies for every one of Dee's. She's disciplined and organised, I'm like a child."
Do you follow recipes? "No, Dee's great at that, but I prefer to interpret and will spend forever doing so. I had an amazing vermicelli dish in a restaurant called La Mezza Luna on the Amalfi Coast once and I'm still trying to work it out. It was vermicelli, served in a copper pot with lobster, prawns, green olive oil and white wine."
Do you entertain at home? "Yes, but not as much this year with the opening of the restaurant. But we'll do our big annual summer bash - about 70 or 80 people outside for a barbecue. I get a chef friend to do it and we'll serve things such as fish skewers with crab claws and prawns, nice medallions of beef and big tasty salads such as rocket, tomato and Parmesan."
What makes a restaurant work? "There are so many bits involved in the winning formula, but right now I think it all boils down to ambiance, informality and value. I see the trend for casual dining increasing over the next five years and while we want sophistication, we want to feel relaxed as well."
Is the recipe for successful home entertaining the same? "No. In a restaurant we're all players on a stage trying to make a memorable experience for others. When I entertain at home it's very much a 'you'll eat it when it's boiled' scenario."
What was your most memorable meal? "In a restaurant called Commerce 24 in Barcelona - a really unusual experience. Don't ask me what we ate, but it was basically posh tapas. One of the courses was a hot essence that you simply inhaled to clear the palate to revitalise the senses ... Something you wouldn't do every day."
Your favourite restaurants? "We rarely eat out unless we're away, and then I love Spanish food - I probably sold Browne's Townhouse to a Spanish company as an excuse to go over there more often. As a family, we love Ballymaloe House and make an annual pilgrimage there for holidays. Dee and I might eat locally in Monkstown every so often too."
What can't you pass on a menu? "A good porcini risotto. Hard to find but I had an excellent one at Locanda Locatelli in London recently."
Your favourite comfort food? "Shepherd's Pie, but it has to be made on stock boiled from veal bones. That's the secret."
Do you have a sweet tooth? "Yes, but I won't indulge it. I can't. I love a good Victoria Sponge with home-made raspberry jam and cream, though."
Your most trusty kitchen gadget? "It'd have to be my corkscrew. I have a simple wine waiter's one and I'd be lost without it."
Do you diet? "Frequently, but no particular regime. I just try to limit wine during the week and eat fresh, healthy fish, salads and fruit. I also walk and swim a fair bit. And I've trained myself to cut out the sugary stuff."
What would be your death row last meal: "A bowl of chips and a bottle of '82 Lynch-Bages. I'd just linger over the taste of the two."
And finally Barry, if you are what you eat, then you are ... "A Tuscan wine grower."