Mark Moriarty Studio

Entered through a basement art gallery off the Grand Canal, this is a unique proposition from one of Ireland’s best known chefs: one day a week (Friday), diners can join celebrity chef Mark Moriarty and team for two intimate sittings in his multi-purpose studio space that he uses the rest of the week for corporate events in-between recipe development, food shoots, filming and recording his weekly podcast.

Moriarty’s career has been a high-profile blend of fine-dining cheffing (The Greenhouse, Chapter One), commercial partnerships (Marks & Spencer), consultancy (New York’s The Dead Rabbit), food writing (two cookbooks and a weekly Irish Times column) and broadcasting (a weekly podcast and three RTE cooking shows). What makes this all unusual is that he has not, before now, owned his own establishment, but rather gained his renown by winning the San Pellegrino World Young Chef of the Year in 2015 at the age of 23.

Hence his unusual ‘studio’ concept has been highly anticipated – and happily it has proved worth the wait.

Hidden in the basement of IPUT Real Estate’s flagship Wilton Park development, diners are greeted at street level and guided by Moriarty through the gallery that shows art works from iPUT’s annual artists-in-residence alongside national treasures like Dorothy Cross.

Entering the chef’s studio itself, you are welcomed as if into someone’s home for a dinner party, albeit a home that sees a lot of varied work being done, and a dinner party with lots of small parties who don’t already know one another.

Seating is primarily counter-side looking into the kitchen where the surprisingly calm action of service takes place, most of the graft having been done well in advance. There is also a booth for four and a dining table for four, as well as low seats for an overflow area between services.The flexible space can also hold a long table for private dining, or open up for various event formats such as champagne tastings with bowl-based ‘canapés’.

Moriarty has gathered around him one of the best front of house teams in town, led by manager Virginia Aston (previously l’Ecrivain, Chapter One and Haddington House) and assistant manager and sommelier Laoise Dempsey (previously manager at Library Street) with the help of Nina (previously Haddington House) and a moonlighting Ed Joliffe (Pembroke Wines and previously sommelier at Chapter One). Together they set the tone for a memorable evening where fun is as valued as finesse.

An aperitif from the a la carte drinks menu might include a Dead Rabbit French Martini or a glass of Charles Heidsieck champagne from Laoise’s smart wine list, which includes plenty of reasonably priced choice by the glass, a concise but considered list by the bottle and a serious cellar list with serious prices to boot.

Moriarty himself is as present on the floor as he is in the open kitchen, introducing many of the dishes personally before slipping back into the well-choreographed dance of the kitchen service, led by head chef, Odhran Devine (previously Ardtara Country House, Deanes Epic, River Cafe).

As at a dinner party, each stage of the 11-course tasting menu is served to every diner at the same time, more or less. They often appear in pairs, as with the bold opening contrast of delicate tartlet of wild sea trout (a single bite canapé dressed with lilac flowers and trout caviar) and decadent ‘Big Mac a la Rossini’ (a two-bite canapé with foie gras, truffle and a green pickle dressing that nails that Big Mac profile).

Next perhaps, a star dish of pristine raw hamachi (yellowtail or amberjack, highly prized in Japanese sushi) garnished with frozen oyster pearls, pear and a clarified barbecued tomato broth, paired with a buckwheat strumpet with creme fraiche and dark green caviar – a mouthful that is satisfying in its decadence and wholesomeness.

Bread courses can be controversial, with some arguing that bread is there for mopping, not to star solo. However Moriarty’s baked potato sourdough bread deserves the limelight. Dark in colour like a rye bread but lighter and spongier in texture, he uses dehydrated baked potato skins in the starter to imbue that distinctive flavour, and paints the crust with a homemade yeast extract for utter moreishness, complemented by straight-up, no-fuss Glenilen farmhouse butter.

Other dishes follow in a beautiful flurry. Celeraic shaved thin, wrapped and baked in a salt and yeast dough, and served as a slice of terrine with a feathery layered effect, lifted by quietly complex flavours of fino sherry and a yeast sauce with apple and preserved truffles. Castletownbere-landed cod, lightly brined, roasted until just set into pearly layers, and paired with a light-touch pork cheek ‘paella’. Extraordinarily tender Donegal milk-fed lamb served pretty pink with a flavour bomb of crisp fat attached, an intense green olive sauce, summer veg and a glorious lamb jus gravy – offset by a crunchy caesar salad with grated pecorino playing on the meat’s sheep milk flavours.

The next course bridges sweet and savoury with treats like tangy sheep’s yoghurt mousse, vibrant apricot and jasmine tea condiment and salted coconut sorbet, sat upon a powerful smear of tangy honey vinegar to cut through it all. Dessert proper could be chocolate and ice-cream on steroids, with a roast vanilla ice-cream and tamarind crisp picking up the brightness of Vietnamese Mekonga 70% chocolate fondant. And finally, a tray of brown butter madeleines served straight from the oven, just like you’d dream of in this unique home-from-home.

Moriarty’s self-proclaimed philosophy is that we dine out for a good time and delicious things, not to hear a convoluted origin story for every ingredient. His team can talk about the provenance or process behind each element on every plate – but only at the customer’s prompt. Clearly fans of his cooking shows and food writing come here to nerd out, many of them ending up doing a tour of the open kitchen. But like a good old-fashioned dinner party, if you’re here for the chats and the company and the new connections, that’s exactly what they’re here to facilitate and enjoy too. A quirky and original addition to Dublin dining worth planning a booking for.