Aimsir resignations: Couple who set up Michelin two-star restaurant quit their roles

Jordan Bailey and Majken Bech-Bailey will leave their positions at the Co Kildare restaurant and Cliff hospitality group, which says it is aiming for a third star

Jordan Bailey, chef patron at Michelin two-star Aimsir in Co Kildare and his wife Majken Bech-Bailey, who has a management role in the Cliff hospitality group that owns the restaurant, have both resigned from their roles. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw
Jordan Bailey, chef patron at Michelin two-star Aimsir in Co Kildare and his wife Majken Bech-Bailey, who has a management role in the Cliff hospitality group that owns the restaurant, have both resigned from their roles. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw

Jordan Bailey, chef-patron at Aimsir, the Michelin two-star restaurant in Celbridge, Co Kildare, and his wife, Majken Bech-Bailey, who has held a number of management roles at the restaurant and within the Cliff hospitality group, have resigned from their roles. The couple relocated from Denmark to set up the restaurant in 2018. It opened in May 2019, earning its two-star rating from Michelin five months later.

Bailey’s final dinner service at the restaurant will be on Saturday, April 15th. Bech-Bailey, who was previously restaurant manager, has been on maternity leave from her position as business development director at the Cliff hospitality group, which owns the restaurant.

In a statement released on social media on Monday morning, Bailey said: “After five years, myself and Majken decided recently that we will be moving on from Aimsir and the wider Cliff Group.

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“Since our first days here, my wife and I have married and had a baby girl and have fallen in love with Ireland but, although the current team at Aimsir is the finest I have ever worked with and I am very proud of what our team delivers every service, we both feel the time is right to move on.

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“We both know exactly what we want to do next in Ireland and hope to announce that later in the year. We would like to thank all of our exceptional team who have worked with us at Aimsir since we opened, and all our wonderful guests, friends and suppliers. Majken and myself have received nothing but widespread welcome, positivity and support since we came to Ireland, something we have appreciated more than I can ever say, and we look forward to our next chapter in this country.”

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On Monday morning the restaurant’s owners said: “As part of its latest phase of investment, the two Michelin-starred Aimsir restaurant at Cliff at Lyons Hotel has begun recruitment for a new chef patron to spearhead the next phase of its development.

“Following the successful appointment of a new chef patron, the owners will also launch details of its new Aimsir Innovation Hub. In doing so, Aimsir is intent on creating a new centre of excellence, with the ultimate goal of achieving the restaurant’s third Michelin star in the near future.”

Marie Claire Digby

Marie Claire Digby

Marie Claire Digby is the former Senior Food Writer at The Irish Times