John Wyer – Beef Tartare, Comté Angolotti, Roasted Monkfish with Mussle Foam;What a week it was?? From the unbelievable dishes you got to taste and make every day to the talent of the guest chefs, to the friendly atmosphere and brilliant wisdom of the school!
When I saw this course advertised before Christmas with contributions from both Enda McEvoy from Loam, Galway (newly crowned Irish Chef of the Year) and John Wyer from Forest Avenue, Dublin (newly crowned Dublin Chef of the Year), I knew it was going to be special. Both chefs did one day each during the week which was heavy on both the demonstrating and the tasting; serious tough work for us attendees!!
Day 3-5 was where we really got to cut our teeth at plating up like professionals using syphon guns, piping bags, blow torches, foams and the ever present subtlety placed garnish. The recipes varied greatly from sweet to savoury, fine dining to Asian cuisine including a stop off in pasta making & sugar craft spinning along the way. Fermentation, foraging, seasonality and zero waste were strong influences with both of the guest chefs.
My favourite dishes in no particular order were: Enda McEvoy – Chewy Carrots, Duck & Rose;
John Wyer – Beef Tartare, Comté Angolotti, Roasted Monkfish with Mussle Foam;
Tara Livingston – Beef with Roasted Cauliflower, Lemon Tart with Cherry Sorbet; 
Richard Gleeson – Chocolate Pistachio Mousse Cake, Salted Cod Asian Salad, Mango Mousse Layer Cake and not to mention the Spinach & Ricotta Malfatti!!
It was great fun and I would highly recommend the school to anyone as they have a wide variety of courses from supper clubs, demonstrations to three month certificate courses. The one week course is a great opportunity for any one who enjoys cooking and wants to flex their creative side whilst getting the opportunity to learn from two of Ireland’s top chefs and not forgetting the very talented Dublin Cookery School owner Lynda Booth and tutors (Reg White, Richard Gleeson, Tara Livingston) who no doubt will be coming back as guest chefs from their own establishments in the future!