The Oriel in Co Down joined a very short list this week - Irish restaurants with Michelin stars, writes Liam Reid
The Michelin star remains that most elusive of prizes in the culinary world. In the latest Michelin Red Guide for Britain and Ireland, published on Thursday, only six restaurants on the island of Ireland were deemed to be of sufficient quality to be awarded a star. That is just one more restaurant than last year.
Of the six, just two - Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud and Thornton's in Dublin - have two stars each. L'Ecrivain, also in Dublin retained its one star. The remaining three are in Northern Ireland, including Restaurant Michael Deane in Belfast and Shanks in Bangor. The Oriel in Gilford, Co Down was the only additional Irish restaurant to gain a star in the 2004 guide.
Outside Dublin, there is no Michelin star restaurant in the Republic. And no restaurant, North or South, has ever received the ultimate Michelin accolade, three stars.
The fact that there are so few restaurants in the Republic with Michelin star status has been a subject of debate. For some it is an indication of all that is wrong with the Michelin star system, with an over-emphasis on French cooking and fussy formal service that is far removed from the tastes and price range of most consumers.
Indeed, it has been argued that the Michelin star drives restaurants towards a particular style of food and service and drives many chefs to a point of insanity and insolvency.
Last February, Bernard Loiseau shot himself following rumours that his restaurant, the Côte D'Or, would lose one of its three stars. Loiseau was a household name in France, and his death shocked the nation. It also provoked a storm of condemnation from master chefs towards guides such as Michelin that have placed the food critic in an all-powerful position. It prompted chef Paul Bocuse, another household name in France, to say: "These critics are like eunuchs: they know what to do but they can't do it."
The guide has an army of anonymous reviewers, who will visit a restaurant up to four times before a decision on a star is made. They are rigorous to say the least.
A restaurant cannot apply for a Michelin star, there are no written rules but most restaurants would be expected to have certain standards of service, including linen on tables.
The typical Michelin restaurant would also be expected to serve an amuse-bouche, as well as petit fours with coffee. The cooking is typically French in style, although there are a rising number of exceptions. For a second star, the service has to be even better. Silver cutlery, crystal glasses and fine china are often the norm in two-star establishments.
In Ireland, as in other countries, some chefs have turned their back on a Michelin star, believing it to be a hindrance rather than a help. Roscoff, the Belfast restaurant owned by celebrity chef Paul Rankin and his wife, Jeanne, was the first to be awarded a Michelin star in Northern Ireland in the mid-1990s.
However, the Rankins found the star to be too restrictive, in terms of the food they would be expected to serve, as well as the formal service, white linen on the tables and so on. They closed Roscoff and turned it into a more relaxed restaurant, Cayenne, where they could experiment more with food.
Attaining a Michelin star is not the key to riches in the restaurant business in Ireland. The business is notoriously difficult, especially for better quality establishments during an economic downturn. Figures from the Restaurants Association of Ireland suggest that the rate of restaurant closures doubled last year. The most high profile closure in 2003 was the Commons Restaurant on St Stephen's Green. The previous year, it A was awarded a Michelin star. The restaurant's owner, Mike Fitzgerald, had invested considerably in the restaurant in order to attain the star rating, losing it in 2003 when his chef, Aidan Byrne, left.
For some, however, the paucity of Michelin star restaurants in Ireland is not the fault of the guide, but rather an indication that Irish restaurants are just not making the grade, providing over-priced food of poor quality, poorly served.
Thirty-year-old Barry Smyth is the latest Michelin star chef in Ireland. His small restaurant, the Oriel, in the Co Down village of Gilford was the only addition to the list of Irish Michelin star restaurants this year. He trained in Roscoffs with the Rankins before moving to the Yellow Door in Gilford which he bought in 1999 and renamed the Oriel. Since then he has been working towards a Michelin, with staff often putting in 18-hour days, six days a week.
He believes that restaurants in the South have no excuse. For him, the paucity of Michelin-star restaurants is indicative of a lack of quality. "Myself and the other two chefs in the Oriel do a lot of research, and so we have visited a lot of restaurants in the South. Restaurants are always very busy but definitely many are providing very poor quality.
"There are just a handful of places that are really good. It should be a lot better, for a country that size and with a large tourism industry."
According to Smyth, restaurants cannot blame the ingredients. "There definitely should be more Michelin stars because in terms of our produce, in terms of freshness and quality, they can't be beaten."
One of the keys to his winning the star, Smyth believes, was to keep insisting on the best quality basic ingredients from suppliers. "It took us two to three years to get to that stage. Now our suppliers know what we are looking for, and our customers really appreciate it."
Paul Flynn, the former Irish Times food writer, retained the Bib Gourmand for his restaurant, the Tannery in Dungarvan, Co Waterford. The bib is awarded to restaurants serving good food at moderate prices.
For Flynn, who trained with the famous three-star Michelin chef, Nico Ladenis, in London, the Michelin stars are still "the food Oscars". However he does believe that, despite the lack of stars in Irish restaurants, quality is improving.
"Food generally in Ireland is getting better from the ground up," he says. Flynn names chefs such as Ross Lewis of Chapter One in Dublin, and William O'Callaghan in Longueville House in Co Cork as being deserving of stars.
"Chapter One has really pushed the boat out with better service and food in the last year," he says. "And Longueville for me is right on the mark. It is the epitome of what a star should be."
While Flynn does see improvements, he agrees with the public perception that many restaurants in Ireland are not providing value for money, and that eating out can be expensive for what you get.
"I think people aren't offering quality, and they should be if they're charging these prices. If you're charging €22 for a main course you should be offering quality. Restaurateurs should focus on upping the quality."