Blue Haven Hotel Kinsale

No one better exemplifies the Can-Do, Must-Do spirit that created Kinsale as Ireland’s first dedicated food town almost fifty years ago, and which ensures that the spirit of culinary creativity exists to this day, than Ciaran Fitzgerald of The Blue Haven. Today, thanks to Mr Fitzgerald’s relentless work ethic, the Blue Haven has become the Blue Haven Collection, a  mini food empire in this handsome town which stretches all the way from street food trucks to cocktails, from modern cutting-edge cooking to Indian tapas, from Gourmet Gardens to serenely comfortable rooms for guests. Mr Fitzgerald has, in effect, created a culinary ocean liner, because you could visit Kinsale for a few days and never need to step beyond the confines of the hotel and its sister address, the Old Bank House, just a few doors down the street. The success of the enterprise is the individuality of each part, and the attention to detail paid to each part, from the refinement of the cooking and cocktails in Rare 1784, the flagship destination, to the comfortable rooms and the precise Irish breakfast. Fifty years on from Its first incarnation as a gourmet getaway, Mr Fitzgerald and his excellent team are keeping the Kinsale flag flying high.