US chef making headlines over COVID-19 response has a history of cooking in Ireland

Chef Patrick O'Connell's philosophy of fresh local ingredients and about O’Connell’s delight at visiting his ancestral homeland of Ireland.

Patrick O’Connell is known to embrace a challenge. Most recently he has announced that his award-winning restaurant called The Inn at Little Washington in Virginia will be filling half of its tables with mannequins dressed in costumes from the 1940s. O’Connell says he wants to keep the area from looking empty as it reopens to the public, post-pandemic.

It’s a move that made headlines, alright. And two years ago, he was making headlines in Ireland, cooking at Ballyfin.

That five-star luxury country house in County Laois has served high-level politicians, stars seeking getaways, and the rich of the world on vacation. Sam Moody is the Ballyfin’s Executive Chef, a Michelin-star chef himself, invited Patrick O’Connell to join him for the culinary spectacular. They made use of Ballyfin’s famed vegetable gardens for the produce served at the meal and took time to explain their process to the tables of lucky diners invited to attend.

You can hear all about their philosophy of fresh local ingredients and about O’Connell’s delight at visiting his ancestral homeland of Ireland in this episode of Erin’s Isle. Just click here.

The Inn at Little Washington has just received another three-star rating from Michelin and is working out the details of re-opening to the public and to placeholders dressed in grandeur from the past.

This article was submitted to the IrishCentral contributors network by a member of the global Irish community. To become an IrishCentral contributor click here.