Dave Mulligan is the man behind the newly-opened Bar 1661, which is dedicated to celebrating the incredible variety and history of Poitín, a drink with an unique story. Here he explains how his passion for Poitín came about, and how its taken him on a journey from bar to brand owner and back again, via the streets of London and Dublin.
Lily Ramirez-Foran has called Ireland home for the past 18.5 years. In this interview we learn about her route here. Why she is passionate about Mexican food and why the history of it is so important.
Nick Reynold’s Caribbean Kitchen ‘Lil Portie’ has proven to be a hit with Dubliners. Here he explains how he developed the idea to fuse the Jamaican recipes taught to him by his Nan with cooking techniques inspired by his travels in South America.
Barry Wallace opened his latest eatery Pang on Dublin’s Kevin Street a year ago, a healthy takeaway specialising in Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls. Here he explains how the recession became the catalyst for starting his own business, how a market stall opened with a friend in a suburban business park became a successful brand and how his travels in Asia and passion for variety and sustainability inspired him to bring this latest unique concept to Dublin.
Kelli and Patrick Marjolet started dabbling in chocolate-making after getting an unexpected gift of cocoa beans from a friend in San Francisco. Their passion for the process eventually led to them leaving their respective careers in the corporate world to start their own business, The Proper Chocolate Company.
Ireland is experiencing a craft beer revolution, with smaller independent brands swaying the masses away from the mainstays. One of these is DOT brew. Founded by Shane Kelly in 2015, they have focused on serving up distinctive brews to their followers. Here Shane describes his passion for brewing, and how it all came about in the first instance.
Laura Molloy is a Latvian native that made the move to Ireland well over a decade ago. In this interview she talks about how she graduated from working in a factory to running an award winning cocktail bar in south Dublin.
The Cupcake Bloke aka Graham Herterich talks about how he went from working in high end kitchens to studying to become a priest, to dropping out to create his own business. This interview details how a series of lucky breaks took him to where he is now, a successful business owner with a regular TV slot.
Paul O Connor and Stephen Clinch are cousins and owners of Trouble Brewing. In this interview they talk about their desire to get away from working for someone else so that they could own something of their own. They also chat about not chasing targets and their love of a good pun.