2013 Award Winners CHEF OF THE YEAR 2013

Ian Orr, Browns Restaurant & Champagne Lounge Derry City

Great ingredients have always been the essential foundation for great meals – the celebrated French chef Paul Bocuse called them ‘the building blocks of good cooking’- and our best chefs take full advantage of the fact that Irish producers are supplying world class ingredients in abundance.

Ian Orr is just such a man, renowned for his dedication to fresh seasonal produce and support of local suppliers. Cooking with a deft hand and a light touch that allows the natural flavour, texture and colour of ultra-fresh seasonal ingredients to take the lead is his trademark – and even diners who may be reluctant to try Tasting Menus, fearing ‘a lot of bits and pieces’ rather than a decent meal, need have no worries here.

While delivering on the culinary bells and whistles demanded of special occasion menus, Ian has his feet firmly on the ground and ‘real food’ is always at the heart of his cooking – which rates with the finest in the land.

So visitors to the Derry, the 2013 City of Culture, who may be keen to experience the best the area has to offer should ensure that at least one meal at Browns Restaurant is firmly fixed in their itinerary!