Growing up in Ireland born into a family of Scottish fishermen and hunters, food has always been my biggest passion. From the cooking classes that I ‘begged’ my mother to send me to at the age of 11 (or so she says anyway!), to trout fishing in the west of Ireland as a teenager with friends, to salmon fishing with my father into adulthood and then deciding to pursue a career in hospitality at the age of 16, I have pretty much always been in the kitchen.
I studied hospitality management in the Dublin Institute of Technology while working in Fitzpatricks Castle Hotel in Killiney, where I was employed for 6 years. From there I moved to Killarney, Co Kerry and worked for a friend and colleague who was opening his first, now very successful restaurant. I subsequently managed Donnybrook Fair Restaurant back in Dublin and then moved on to manage The Gables restaurant, Foxrock, where I met my wife!
In 2012, we embarked on a whole new adventure in our life together and moved to New York City where I managed PUBLIC restaurant, a Michelin starred restaurant in downtown NYC. Working and living in NYC was an amazing experience and it afforded me the opportunity to dine in some of the worlds greatest restaurants as well as tiny innovative hole-in-the-wall places, eating some of the most interesting and exciting food imaginable, all with my culinary companion - my beloved wife. These experiences have had a great influence on my style of cooking and how I elevate my everyday dinners at home!
Recently we moved to Brisbane, Australia where I have been a stay-at-home dad and believe me when I say that there is no more challenging and rewarding job than this - I’m sure all of you out there in a similar boat will concur! Although unfortunately my little princess doesn't seem as enamored by my cooking as my wife does 🙂
Looking towards the future, the next challenge in my career is getting my private catering company up and running.
I decided to start this blog to share with you my passion for food and cooking and my constantly evolving collection of savory dishes and baked goods that I have created or adapted over the years.
I hope you enjoy looking through them as much as I have enjoyed creating them. Please feel free to reach out to me for any advice or to offer me any suggestions as you try out my recipes! I’d love to hear how you get on with them!