In the Restaurant with Richard Corrigan

In this age of chef-as-celebrity, Richard Corrigan is something of a breath of fresh air. His down-to-earth manner sets him apart from his more ego-driven colleagues while his humility belies the reverence in which he’s held by those who know the trade.

His latest success is Bentley’s in Dublin. On a visit recently, I asked him about the, er, ingredients for success in the restaurant trade? “Success in any business means getting the basics right. The right location is crucial for any restaurant. Bentley’s is in a beautiful building and overlooks St Stephen’s Green, one of the nicest city parks in Europe. I don’t do snobbery myself, so we attract the most democratic range of people, from the humblest butcher to the knights of the glen. Having seen the overwhelming success in London’s version of Bentley’s I felt that the same approach – beautiful fish and soups, lovely oysters, clams, mussels and some meat – has to work in Dublin if we can get the prices right.”
With recession looming, customers are more cost-conscious than ever. Corrigan is aware of this. “If we can have a number of dishes under €20 we can attract people who find that, overall, restaurant prices are very expensive.” I wonder does he have a favourite dish of his own from his Bentley’s menu? “My idea of heaven is to have half a dozen oysters up at the bar,” he replies, clearly relishing the thought.
Bentley’s decor is Georgian in tone. “The feel has to be marble, silver and nice pictures. The pictures have to be extraordinary. But no matter how good the decor or the location or the staff, the food has to be very good. By that I don’t mean chef ‘twiddle’, but beautiful, simple, food cooked with care. There’s been too much emphasis placed on chefs, even though I’m one myself. We should try to give customers a good time and an enjoyable experience. I believe totally that the customer is always right, and I’d sack the whole staff if I thought they weren’t following that philosophy.”
Needless to say, he’s aware of the power wielded by food critics. “Oh my God!”, he exclaims in horror, before laughing and then adding, “the power of the restaurant critic is extraordinary. If the critics decide to pan you when you open a new restaurant it’s rarely that you can recover. You can push a restaurant with good reviews, but it’s hard if you’ve got a string of bad ones. Bentley’s in Dublin has had a pretty nice mix of reviews, with praise for the place itself, the building and our good value. It wasn’t over the top. Nobody said Corrigan was doing something extraordinary or better than the greatest chefs in the world!”
Has any review upset him? “Not really! They try! But these guys are trying to sell papers, so I know what they’re about. Last week Trevor White annoyed me with an article he wrote in the Independent. He was quite kind to me personally, but this whole idea of chefs fighting among themselves is a load of nonsense. I’ve fought with nobody! I was even talking to Dylan McGrath on the phone yesterday. We find this made-up gossip extraordinary. So I phoned Trevor up and threatened to box his ears!”
He believes that celebrity chefs are generally good for the business. “Absolutely. I’ve waited all my life to become one! I could have done with becoming one about 20 years ago to make my life a little easier. I admire people like Dylan and Gordon Ramsey. Dylan is an up-and-coming superstar. We all know that, although I like teasing him a bit. That he’s based in Ireland is phenomenal. He has that ‘X factor’. He wants to climb to the very top of his profession. Ramsey has earned his hundred million. I’m trying to catch up with him.”
How does Corrigan respond to the view that TV shots of chefs like Ramsey losing their heads in kitchens portrays a negative environment in which to prepare food? “Chefs are very passionate people and when they see people doing something ridiculous tempers can be raised and the volume often goes with that, but it generally calms down fairly quickly,” Corrigan reckons.
But do they ever hype it up for the cameras? “I’ve never hyped it up for the camera. In fact people often tell me I should smile more on Corrigan Knows Food. But I’m a chef, not a performer. There’s no, ‘which Richard Corrigan mask am I wearing today?’ about me. I say it as it is, and I’m trying to get better at saying it.”
So what’s the worst thing he’s seen in a restaurant over the years? “It has to be the occasion when a chef lost his finger in a slicing machine in a London restaurant. That has to have been one of the worst occasions of my life. It’s still ingrained in my memory. Everything ground to a halt.”
Not surprisingly he has a few pet peeves about customers. “When you open a restaurant there’s always somebody who wants to tell you how you should have maybe put the fireplace somewhere else. These are nearly always people who’ve never run a restaurant themselves. That gets my blood boiling and steam coming out my ears! Some people will tell me that they prefer the old Browne’s which was on the site we’re on now. But Browne’s employed about twenty people. We’ve spent a million bucks on the design to make it nicer and employ 77 staff, and somebody tells me he prefers the old fucking restaurant! Give me a break!”