Tom O’Connell could do it the easy way. He could coast by on his family connections, he could allude to his famous siblings, tell you about his illustrious extended family. He could drop names. He could make it easy for himself.
Instead, he does the opposite. He never drops names, but he will tell you the minute he meets you of some interesting new food person he has discovered, and he will send you a mail advising that so-and-so is worth the detour. He obscures himself, the better to advocate for others.
It is this quality that has made Mr O’Connell one of the great restaurateurs. He is a great restaurateur because he is always seeking to discover and promote talent, to encourage, to bring on, to champion. He has a menu composed of champion dishes. His wine list comprises champion wines. His crew are champions, one and all.
And there, on the sidelines of O’Connell’s (but actually at the centre of O’Connell’s) is Tom, cheering on his team, willing them to victory: play up, play up, play the game!
His team play the game with the pzazz of Barcelona and the rigour of Arsenal. Give them the chance to show what they can do – order a dish of roast chicken – and they turn it into one of the best pieces of theatre in Dublin, the chicken carved tableside on the shimmering trolley and garnished with bread sauce, gravy, cranberry sauce and all the trimmings. The theatre makes you ravenous to eat it, but the flamboyance means you want first of all to applaud.
Making simple things special is the restaurateur’s art, and here they do it to perfection. How on earth do they make the cabbage – cabbage! – taste so good? How can they make a potato gratin so delicious, knowing that your own gratin – of which you are so proud – pales hopelessly in comparison, and that your lacerating culinary self-criticism will only be consoled by the sumptuous magnificence of this congregation of potato and cream.
You won’t eat a better steak frites in Dublin than the one they serve here, nor a better boeuf Bourguignonne, and this sort of classic comfort fare explains why the room is packed with happy, comfortable diners, people who don’t bother to dress up for dinner. You also won’t find better value in the city, or better service from a team who combine graciousness with theatrical wit. O’Connell’s is one of the great restaurants, presided over by one of the great restaurateurs.
