Ever since it opened some 14 years ago, Ballyfin Demense in Co Laois has been the object of public curiosity within Ireland. Originally built in 1826 as a private home of the Coote family, then run as a Patrician Brothers boarding school for boys for 74 years from 1928, Ballyfin was bought in 2002 by the Chicago-based Krehbiel family. It took a decade of restoration along with a fortune to transform it into the 20-room luxury hotel it is now.
One substantial reason people are so curious about Ballyfin is its cost. The current price of a night there for two people – for bed and breakfast, depending on the size of the room – is between €850 and €2,240. There are packages that include elements such as lunch and dinner, house tours, and welcome drinks, which are more expensive again, but offer more overall value for the price.
Nonetheless, these costs remain far beyond what an average domestic visitor could or would wish to pay for one night in a hotel in midlands Ireland. That’s taking into account that the hotel now has a one-star Michelin restaurant; a star that was awarded to resident chef, British-born Richard Picard-Edwards, in February this year. This month, Ballyfin also retained its three-star Michelin Key status – an award that recognises exceptional hotels.
Michelin star inspectors famously operate under the radar, which must have been trickier to pull off in a rural setting. Did Picard-Edwards and the team have any idea they were visiting before February’s recognition?
RM Block
“No! You always have your suspicions though,” he says, identifying “consistency” as the key quality Michelin inspectors seek. “You have to find your consistency across seven days. If I’m not here tomorrow, the food has still got to be good. And that’s why the majority of the staff have been with me since the beginning. Very few have moved on.”
Picard-Edwards is responsible for planning 90 per cent of Ballyfin’s dishes, with the pastry chefs doing their own specialised work. The demesne has eight acres of gardens, which supply the hotel through spring and summer; with other seasons, there is some buy-in of other vegetables.
It was humble vegetables that first stirred him as an aspiring chef. “I enjoyed cooking at school, and my auntie was a chef. At 13, I was sent to do work experience washing pots, where she worked in Yorkshire. I loved seeing all the vegetables come in the back door. You’d see a box of carrots or leeks or whatever vegetables come in in the morning, and in the evening you’d see them going out on the plate, and I’d see all this as I was washing up. It felt magical.”
Within six weeks, he progressed from washing pots to being in the kitchen. “From 13, I had a part-time job.”
His earliest favourite food memory is his mother’s macaroni cheese. This might explain why his single most popular and constant item on the menu is the gougere – the savoury baked choux pastry featuring cheese. “I just change the flavour with the seasons.”
Is he ambitious for a second star?
“I would be over the moon, of course. But I don’t overthink it. We try and do what we do as well as we can, and that’s fine.”
Having recently accepted a lunch invitation to Ballyfin, this writer can testify that Picard-Edwards’s efforts and those of others at the property are indeed impressive.
The first impression on arrival was that less is definitely not more at Ballyfin. The chandeliers are huge. The plasterwork is intricate. The astonishing original wooden marquetry floors are apparently of a higher standard than those laid at Buckingham Palace by the same craftsmen. The ceilings are vast. The mirrors are gilded. The paintings are many, and many are extremely large.
Ballyfin’s restaurant was previously open to residents only. In the evenings (bar Saturday), it now opens to non-residents, so you can now experience both the food and the hotel’s common areas - although “common” is a misnomer when it comes to anything at Ballyfin. Tables must be pre-booked, and there is a choice of an a la carte menu for €125 per person, or a tasting menu for €165 per person (with a vegetarian tasting menu option) – all prepared by Picard-Edwards and his team of 14.
Our lunch was served by candlelight in the lovely Van Der Hagen Room, originally a billiards room, overlooking the rear gardens. The room is named for the artist whose works hang on the walls here. The set menu came printed on stiff pearlised card: even the paper is a luxe experience here.
The two opening amuse bouches were: Gougere, butternut squash and Parmesan, followed by a set cauliflower cream, tomato essence, Kristal caviar. The first was a croquette of oozy cheesiness. The second, served in a little caviar tin, with mother of pearl spoon alongside, was an astonishing unami savoury custard with a spoon of caviar atop. Every bite sensational. It’s the best thing I’ve eaten all year.
The prettiest dish was the starter of West Cork Crab, with pink grapefruit, pickled turnip, buttermilk and shellfish sabayon (and more caviar, not listed on the menu). It was served looking like a flower wreath that fairy folk had woven; a beautiful, fresh, light showcase of delicate crab and a dab of the richness of caviar, all cut through with the slivers of pickled turnip. What was that tiny flower-like micro cracker dotted around the wreath? Why, it’s an edible Michelin star, to remind you who made this dish.
The main course was fillet of Irish beef Higgins, with celeriac, purple sprouting broccoli, and a side of a tartlet of braised cheek and autumn truffle. On paper, it sounds a lot. On the plate, the proportions - a cube of jelly, a little circle of potato with a piece of broccoli atop like a feather on a hat, three modestly sized beautiful slices of beef, the rich tartlet a mouthful - was just enough.
Unlike everything else at Ballyfin, less is more on Picard-Edwards’s plates.
