The drinks, the people and the places

Written on 28 September 2026, the second of three looks back before the move. The move has since come forward to the end of October.

Part two of looking back before Scotland: the drinks, the people and the places.

I've been cooking since I was seven. It started at home with a vegetarian jalfrezi, and it never really stopped; it just moved behind the bar.

The drinks

The best drinks I've made began in a tea shop in the English Market in Cork. I'd gone in for something else, caught the smell of a cherry pie hibiscus loose leaf across the counter, and had to try it. It went home with me, and at Brick Lane it became the base of two cocktails that had nothing else in common.

The Dingle Bay Fizz was the bright one: Dingle Gin, elderflower, the hibiscus tea, cranberry and lemon, topped with soda. The Rebel's Fashioned went the other way: bourbon stirred with cherry and hibiscus syrup, aromatic and cherry bitters, an orange twist and a Luxardo cherry.

Then came the part I enjoy as much as the drinks. A cocktail-of-the-week card on every menu, so a guest could picture the glass before it arrived, and a guide for the team so the fortieth one on a Saturday tasted like the first.

The people

This year I went back to five-star, at Aghadoe Heights above the lakes in Killarney. What stayed with me was the people. Managers who were on the floor, not behind a door. A supervisor who saw the small things before they became big ones. Chefs who cared about every plate that left the pass. And a team who could make a hard service feel like a good night.

The afternoon tea there was four courses, ninety minutes, and a window full of mountains, and the care that went into it was the point: a hundred small things done properly so that the guest never had to notice any of them.

The places

Kerry was good to me outside work too. Days on the beach at Glenbeigh with friends, and a swim in the Atlantic that leaves your skin tingling for an hour afterwards.

Next is Scotland. I'm looking forward to the Highlands, and, once my Category A test is done, to riding them. In the meantime I'm doing advanced training on a Harley-Davidson Nightster 975 with Andy at Harley-Davidson Dublin, so that when the time comes I'm ready for the roads.

Part one of this look back is where it all started; part three is why the Highlands.

What's the drink you're proudest of, and where did the idea come from? Tell me in the comments on LinkedIn, or hit reply if this came to you by email.

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