Marc Gallagher and Sligo Wellness Centre: Food is your medicine
Marc Gallagher is working as a chef for 8 years and was influenced by his Mum. “She started me cooking at a really young age and introduced me to lots of different flavours and dishes, so she's responsible for my current career!”
We featured the Sligo Wellness Centre on all our vegan food tours and are very much looking forward to a new season when its safe to do so! Like so many of our partners on Sligo Food Tours, Grainne Gilmartin and her team kept going all throughout last year and kept the shop and deli open and set up an online shop late last year with nationwide delivery.
Their physical shop has stayed open during the current pandemic. Shoppers are limited and the team are happy to take orders over the phone and drop it to the door or arrange delivery. The shop and deli is open Monday - Friday 8:30 to 18:00 and Saturdays 9 to 18:00, with Sunday openings upcoming.
Grainne Gilmartin: Let food be your medicine
The Sligo Wellness Centre was opened in 2008 by owner Grainne Gilmartin. The ethos of the Wellness Centre is to provide a wide range of complementary and alternative therapies. After moving a few blocks down to its current location on Wine Street in 2015 the deli opened along with organic health food, fresh fruit and vegetables and essential supplements. With a wealth of holistic classes and seminars, all under the one roof, the Wellness Centre is truly unique in Sligo.
Grainne’s passion is good health and she believes in food being your medicine. “The food element came about through clients who were constantly looking for fresh organic produce as well as high quality supplements”, explains Grainne. “We often found the food we were recommending to clients wasn’t available or couldn’t be found, so we decided to fill the gap ourselves!” Chef Marc Gallagher has brought a wealth of experience and creativity to the kitchen.
Organic Certification
Sligo Wellness Centre is the first licensed organic deli in town serving hot and cold vegetarian/vegan food on a daily basis. They bake fresh bread and bakes every morning and serve organic coffee, tea, smoothies and kombucha. They now offer Organic Cheese Boards in a Box and Dinner Kits for Two.
They stock a wide range of wholefoods, including fresh organic local vegetables from The Organic Centre and Tattie Hoaker Community Farm. Local suppliers include Blakes Always Organic, Carrow Coffee, Vu Coffee, Murson Farm and The Irish Tea Company.
Here we have Marc Gallagher Uncovered
What is your signature dish? I'm very dependent on my Yellow Coconut Curry, it's a recipe that I always fall back on in a tough spot.
What is your favourite food? At the moment I making a lot of overnight Foccacia at home...it requires a bit of a wait but results in a lovely oily, salty and chewy bread. I'll eat the whole loaf in a day.
What is your favourite drink? Lorna, my partner makes an Elderflower cordial that is amazing with some sparkling water and mint.
Are you trained/self-trained, what is your background A bit of both - my mum had a Cafe when I was a teenager where we banged out Full Irish Breakfasts and Toasties, later in life I wanted to shift into a career in food service so I did a month long course at the Cooks Academy (https://www.cooksacademy.com/) in Dublin which helped jump start my new career.
Who is your inspiration (not necessarily from the food world) My Mum started me cooking at really young age and introduced me to lots a different flavours and dishes, so she's responsible for my current career!
What is your favourite music/song/film? My favourite band of all time is Wilco and I love all their music, and I'm a big Sci-Fi geek but my favourite movie is probably The Empire Strikes Back.
What is your most used gadget/equipment? Victornox Serrated Pastry Knife, great for everything not just baking!
Do you read cookbooks, what is your favourite cookbook? I prefer looking up different blogs or food websites - https://minimalistbaker.com/ and https://tasty.co/ are the two that I visit most.
What is your favourite vegetable, meat, fish, ingredient? Smoked Paprika - I'm obsessed and I put it in everything. It's great for seasoning!
Something people don’t know about you? I'm an out-of-practice drummer who recorded 3 albums and toured around Ireland for about 6 years.
How long are you open/in business/working? I've been working as a chef for 8 years
What is your biggest challenge as a chef / business? Balancing creativity with practicality.