With views overlooking St Stephen's Green, Kevin and Muriel Thornton's renowned Dublin restaurants to be found on the top floor of the Fitzwilliam Hotel. You can take a lift up through the hotel, but it is best approached from its own entrance on the Green: mounting the wide staircase, deep-carpeted in dark blue, conveys a sense of occasion.
The rather plain dining room has long been a subject of debate but most agree that the renovation in recent years has created a more stylish space: the square room has been divided by panels of glass over-printed with sepia toned fish scales; Just like the arresting photography hanging on the walls these were shot by Kevin, who is as adept with a camera as a sautée pan.
The clever revamp has seen the addition of an intimate canapé bar with smart stools at the bar and comfy sofas, where diners can drop in for a more relaxed experience.
Gorgeous breads, miniature creations perhaps foie gras rolled in black truffles, a sushi plate and iced lollies - and desserts can be individually ordered (from €3.50 each) to accompany some exceptional wines by the glass, such as the celebrated dessert wine, Chateau d'Yquem (€40 per glass).
For those who have come to dine, however, the understated linen-clad tables leave you in no doubt that the food is to be the star here. Given that Kevin Thornton is one of the most talented chefs in the country, lunch, with three courses costing just €25 or €47, represents outstanding value.
Dinner is a full-on gourmet affair and although the dinner menu (€76) offers just three choices per course – and there is a pre-theatre menu offering exceptional value at €47 - it's the tasting menus, available as 5 or 8 courses (€90, €120) that really showcase his genius. In addition, an 8-course ‘Surprise’ tasting menu is just that; a Canapé tasting menu offers a selection of five small dishes plus petits fours(€39); and several vegetarian menus, including a tasting menu, are also available.
Recently, in line with a number of other top restaurants, Thornton’s has introduced a Chef’s Table, so that guests can experience ‘the heat of the kitchen’; not too literally in this case, as the designated table for six is set up beside a large round window that allows diners to see everything that’s going on without disrupting the smooth flow of work. You can have a menu, with matching wines, designed especially for your table, and you will be talked through each course as it arrives.
Kevin Thornton has a perfectionist's eye for detail with a palate to match, and he has passion for sourcing the very best seasonal ingredients – lucky for the diner that one of his signature ingredients is gold leaf, available all year.
He has always had a name for generosity with truffles too, and he will not disappoint: an early summer first course of warm white asparagus with green asparagus comes with truffle hollandaise, for example, or you might try a a canapé of roasted Bere Island king scallops with truffle mousse - and among the vegetarian dishes you may find a main course of celeriac and truffle lasagne with spring vegetables and Madeira sauce.
Signature dishes include roast suckling pig, and trotter served with glazed turnip and a light poitin sauce - and variations on these creations (braised pig head with poitin sauce, for example) may appear throughout an 8-course Surprise Menu (€125, available only to complete tables) and among the canapé tasting dishes.
Desserts, like a signature molten Valrhona chocolate, and imaginative petit fours, are always exquisite.
Although invariably inventive and beautifully presented, this is not show-off food - the cooking is never less than sublime and the emphasis is always on flavour; even the quartet of salts offered at table is not affectation, as their different characteristics are quite distinctive.
As one would expect for dining at this level, the wine list is extensive, featuring many great marques and a good choice of wines by the glass.
Service is formal and never less than polished, and on recent visits the extreme professionalism found at this level has been lifted by some humour, which is especially welcome at lunchtime, when the restaurant can be surprisingly quiet.
The food is the star, of course, but if you want to experience this restaurant at its best, push out the boat and head in for dinner – then you will indeed find a restaurant experience with that real wow factor which could be missing at quieter times.
Seats 80. D Tue-Sat 6-9.30 (last orders) L Thu-Sat 12.30- 1.30pm (last orders)
