It is probably the clearest indication of just how the style of Michael Clifford's new restaurant differs from his previous place, that the new restaurant on Cork's Patrick Street should take the informal first name of the chef as its title - Michael's - while his previous incarnation, on Cork's Mardyke, wore the more formal surname - Cliffords.
Michael's is a laid-back, generous, big room at the top of the stairs, brightly colourful in rich Fired Earth blues and greens, a place for families and informality.
But while the name may have changed and the location has moved right smack into the centre city to an upstairs room owned by Adrian Power, what has not changed is the utter distinctiveness and trueness of Michael Clifford's culinary style. If it is the highest compliment to pay any chef to say that his or her style is utterly personal and utterly distinctive, then we can bestow that compliment on Mr Clifford. No one else in Ireland cooks like him, his style an immaculate fusing of aristocratic technique with a ruddy appreciation for the ingredients he uses.
His brilliant stew of wild rice, pearl barley and wild mushrooms with Clonakilty black pudding shows all of his gifts at full tilt: the starchy resonance of the rice and the barley is offset by the finesse of the mushrooms, while the coins of black pudding add that note of fatty punchiness to balance the whole thing.
It is a dish which manages to be both sublime and smack-in-your-face and when you eat it, you realise how much you had missed Clifford's cooking, following the closure of his last restaurant.
A chilli and sweetcorn chowder was just as good as the stew of wild rice, perfectly consoling and invigorating with the flavours beautifully stated.
Another great Clifford signature dish, chicken with Milleens cheese, has been revised for the new restaurant and instead of appearing as quenelles, it now comes in little orbs of deep-fried chicken and is served with a red-onion marmalade. The change to deep frying means the dish has somewhat less finesse than before but it is still a fine, lively starter.
Indeed, what Michael's does is effectively to fuse the disparate disciplines of Mr Clifford's previous incarnations - the restaurant and the bistro - and present the dishes on one menu. So there are haut cuisine touches such as a thrilling carrot and orange risotto to partner a perfectly cooked piece of monkfish and, on the other hand, you can opt for the simple rusticity of oven-baked baby chicken with a bread and clove sauce served with parsley boiled potatoes. Always a sucker for nursery dishes, I ordered the chicken and it was a pure joy, with all the taste details perfectly captured, a delightful comfort dish for dinner. It is a tribute to Michael Clifford that he cooks a dish like this with such respect, appreciating the timeless nature of the flavours, and remaining unconcerned about its total lack of fashion. Roasted wood pigeon was just as good as the chicken, elegantly flavourful, accompanied by shredded red and green cabbage and a baked potato with a chive and yoghurt dressing, the latter wrapped in foil in true bistro style. Clifford's other variant on the noble spud comes as an excellent champ, which partners a fillet of salmon, the fish picked up by a clean, lemon, butter sauce. All four main courses were precisely rendered and unarguable in terms of logic and technique and, best of all, the simplicity and rigour of them made for food which was satisfying and enjoyable, without a gratuitous or egotistical element in evidence.
There is a small desert menu - a well-judged chocolate truffle and rum slice with Baileys scented cream; caramelised pancakes filled with bananas; chocolate and passion fruit parfait; ice cream and sorbets which include a good chocolate chip and a fine special, the night we visited, was a mango bavarois with a passion fruit coulis.
If the food in Michael's is as precise and flavourful as one would expect of Mr Clifford, the special delight of his move to a more accessible space is the superlative value. Four adults can eat here and drink a couple of bottles of wine and get out the door for £100. For such fine cooking, this represents one of the best bargains in the country.
Starters range in price from £2.50 for the chowder up to £6 for West Cork smoked salmon, while main courses range between £7.50 for a vegetarian stew of beans, tomato, garlic, fine herbs and Ardrahan cheese to £12.70 for sirloin of beef with a whiskey cream sauce, and £13 for roast monkfish with carrot and orange risotto. Desserts are between £3.25 and £4.50. At lunchtime, prices are similarly keen: potato and leek soup with Parmesan bread is £1.95 and main courses are all in and around a fiver. To have Michael Clifford back in a Cork kitchen is a luxury and a treat and to have such distinguished food at such prices is nothing less than a gift.
Michael's, 71 Patrick Street, Cork. Tel (021) 277716 Open 12.30 p.m. -2.30 p.m., 6 p.m. - 10.30 p.m. Mon-Sat. Major cards. Children welcome - high chair, creche, play area, special menu. No wheelchair access.