Alan Barrins - Bridgefoothouse restaurant: Quietly confident
Alan’s assured and confident cooking has made a big impact on Sligo’s culinary scene in a short space of time since opening in early July 2019.
“At the start of 2020 we had great expectations of things to come but that wasn’t too be”, says Alan Barrins from Bridgefoothouse restaurant Sligo. We had great plans too, incorporating Alan’s cooking into our Sligo Food Tours featuring specials like home smoked salmon and locally sourced fish as well as a coffee tasting from local roasterie Carrow. Well for now Bridgefoothouse operates a very well sought after take away service. “We will persevere and fight another day”, says Alan. And yes he will succeed, because there is far too much substance, experience, confidence and passion in this young chef.
His CV is impressive and also telling. He worked at the Lanesborough Hotel in Knightsbridge with Chef Paul Gayler, who revolutionised vegetarian cuisine. Then with Anthony Demetre in Arbutus in Soho which earned a Michelin star within 6 months of opening. (“I believe it is here where I learned how to really cook”). With Neil Perry in the Rockpool in Sydney, rated in the worlds 50 best restaurants. (“It was ran by Mike McEnearney at the time and the fusion cooking was insane, from Asian dishes to European”).
After backpacking through Australia and all of South America and stints at Anthony Demetres brasserie Les Deux Salons in Covent Garden (“A monster of a place”) and Charlottes Bistro in West London, Alan became Executive Chef at Richard Corrigan’s eponymous Mayfair restaurant in London. (“Here I got to experience the pressure of cooking for a restaurant with 3 fully private rooms, two of which were in the kitchen”). He finished there after three years and after working in Dubai for a year came home to his native Sligo in 2019 to realise his dream and set up his own restaurant in O’Connell street not far away from the corner of Harmony Hill / John Street, where his father once operated a small cafe, The Helm.
Not much of a person for the publicity side of things as he says, he arrived quietly, but quickly garnered quite a reputation through word of mouth. Alan and his team are passionate advocates for the local produce of Sligo and the West coast. The restaurant’s meat, fish and fresh produce are sourced from local suppliers along the Wild Atlantic Way.
The Bridgefoot House ethos is simple: To produce really tasty affordable food, that is locally sourced, kept simple while making customers happy.
Here is Alan Barrins uncovered
What is your favourite food? I am a massive fan of Thai Food, the complexity of flavours and freshness for me makes food sing, but I do believe the French cuisine is hard to beat and many different cuisines still use the French techniques as a base.
Finish the sentence: A chef is someone with a mixture of artistry, craft and graft. You must learn the craft to really excel. Nobody is born a great chef, I think it takes a lot of mistakes (and burns) to really understand what you are doing.
The country you travel for food: I would choose to go to L’Ambrosie by Bernard Pacaud in Paris for a meal above anywhere else. An old school 3 star restaurant for me beats any of the new molecular gastronomy/ scandinavian style restaurants.
Three things you always have in your larder/fridge? Honestly its always empty, I can easily say I very very rarely cook at home, but you might find a variety of pickles and hot sauce somewhere just to brighten up a wet and rainy day.
What is your most used gadget? Not too many gadgets in our kitchen, but we do use the Vitaprep (commercial high speed blender) a lot and of course for homemade ice-cream we couldn’t do without the Pacojet.
Do you read cookbooks and which one do you come back to? I have thousands of cookbooks (a small portion displayed on the restaurant shelves) but I don’t have a particular one. I suppose it depends on the season, but you’ll find me going through Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Tom Kitchin, Kitchen by Mike (Mike McEnearney), Gramercy Tavern by Michael Anthony, Daniel Boulud.
Who is your inspiration (not necessarily from the food world)? I keep a close on Nathan Outlaw I think his food is magically simple and seasonal. Tucked away on the Cornish coast his restaurant is stunning along with the more simpler version of Outlaws fish kitchen down the street. He really done it right in a small little fishing village. Having worked for Richard Corrigan I also find him inspirational. For decades now he is among the top chefs in London, constantly changing with the times and re-inventing his concepts.
What are you currently listening to? I’ve been listening a lot to Lankum recently, a contemporary Irish folk group, I also recently discovered Luz Corrigan.
Something people don’t know about you? I nearly took another path as a civil Engineer, might come in handy now to get rid of the road works on O’Connell street.
What will be hot in 2020? Sanitiser. All we can hope for now is that all the great little restaurants, cafes and producers in Sligo and beyond can recover and bounce back.