Talented Brian McMonagle will let the food do the talking at Sargasso located on the former site of Beetroot restaurant on the Port Road in the town.
“This is the right time for me to be in Letterkenny. I’m really pleased to be back and I feel it’s my time,” said the 32-year-old from Rareagh, near Newmills, after spending eight years honing his skills and progressing his career in Galway.
However, the former St Eunan’s College pupil didn’t waste any time while in the west and landed a job at the well-known eaterie O’Grady’s on the Pier in Barna.
Under his creative direction, the seafood restaurant notched up a host of accolades including the prestigious Hotel & Catering Review Gold Medal Award for “Best Bistro & Brasseries” as well as “Best Seafood Restaurant in Ireland” 2008 and the Most Creative Use of Seafood Award and Best Restaurant Connacht from Food & Wine Magazine.
Just as McMonagle was saying his goodbyes, O’Grady’s scooped the Best Seafood Experience 2011 at the Irish Restaurant Awards. So what made him return home and open a restaurant at this time in his career and in the current financial climate?
“It was a difficult decision to leave, it definitely was, but I had a feeling that it was the right time and yes, even with the way things are financially, I wanted to come back, ” said Brian, who was also former head chef at Arnold’s Hotel in Dunfanaghy.
“I believe in the restaurant. I think it looks great. I don’t want Sargasso to be perceived as a seafood restaurant but I would like to see people enjoying seafood more. I want people to come here and have a really good experience.”
The chef, who was asked by Ireland’s top food critic Georgina Campbell for a recipe for her book, also said, for him, one of the most important things was to present good, fresh ingredients and flavours without the need to be over-elaborate.
He said: “It really is about locally sourced produce and quality and that’s what I mean about allowing the food to speak for itself, not covered or hidden in all sorts of stuff but good ingredients.”
The young chef, who is single, said being back home has meant the chance to see more of his family as he was too busy working while in Galway. He has two brothers, John and P.J and three sisters, Marie, Roisin and Breda.
And he admitted that his sister Roisin, former restaurant manager at The Brewery restaurant in the town might end up giving him a hand.
“She’s left the hospitality industry now but I might drag her in here at the weekends.”
But it’s his mother Rosaleen who he credits for inspiring him to make a career as a chef.
“My mum would have been a definite influence on me. She would have done a lot of baking, scones and breads and other stuff and she was able to add and mix things up and it would taste great. That really interested me and I got a lot from her. It was all very rustic,” he said.
Brian cites celebrity chef Dylan McGrath as one of his food heroes but laughed off any suggestion he may have a fiery temper like McGrath.
“I respect his ethics and his work but I don’t think that would work for me, not all the time anyway.”
Sargasso opens on Wednesday and is now taking bookings.
It offers an a la carte menu as well as daily specials, vegetarian options and will also be open for Sunday lunch.
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