It wasn’t easy, but chef Dermot O’Sullivan finally has a corner of Cork to call his own
It takes a village.
And chef Dermot O’Sullivan has set about building his own at his welcoming independent cafe, Greenwich on Caroline Street.
Having taken over the colourful corner eatery previously occupied by Idaho, the Ballymaloe grad flung open the doors of Greenwich in January.
It hasn’t been plain sailing. He’s overcome more than one challenge already, including price increases from every last one of his suppliers.
From the get-go, however, Dermot and his team placed a laser focus on showcasing quality local food. Now customers are beginning to take note.
Here’s how he’s working it:
“Cork is where I grew up. I studied Commerce at UCC before undertaking a Master’s in Food Business in 2010. From there, I worked internationally before taking a career break to learn how to cook. I came home, completed training at Ballymaloe Cookery School and I’ve worked in many great kitchens since.
I looked at a few opportunities here over the years but none felt good. Then opportunity knocked with a business that had been trading for 21 years. I knew it was definitely the right fit.
Greenwich is named after Greenwich Village, a district on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York. When I was down in Cork during the easing of restrictions; I was sitting outside the cafe, and the remodelling of Caroline Street through investment from Fáilte Ireland really gave the area a village feel. I guess it was just fitting. Since opening the cafe, I really feel this village vibe, especially now with the arrival of summer and the beautiful mature silver birch trees coming into bloom in the planters dotted along the street. Caroline Street has really transformed into a beautiful space and much like Greenwich Village it’s home to many great cafes, bars, and restaurants.
The menu is small and compact. It showcases as many of the traders in The English Market as possible, which is one of the reasons why we recently became members of Good Food Ireland. Our breakfast menu runs weekdays from 8:30am with free-range scrambled eggs, Challah French toast, and our own homemade cashew granola.
View this post on Instagram
Our lunch menu (until 3:30pm) features our fresh salads, fish pie, a Reuben using spiced beef from The Chicken Inn and a weekly special guest dish. Our cake counter always has our homemade coffee cafe, blueberry and lemon friands, and white chocolate blondies.
I own the business myself. There is no third party or investor. It was a private, off-market sale with the previous owners. Securing funding for the business was a big challenge and I’m going to be honest, funding remains the biggest challenge going forward.
Since we opened I have received price increase letters from every one of my suppliers. It is the biggest challenge facing small businesses across every sector at the moment and one that will see so many close their doors too.
Coming out of COVID it remains to be seen how businesses will navigate through the storm.
There are many things I would have done differently. For one, I would have announced the takeover differently. Too many are comparing me to those who operated before me and the reason for the name change was because it is a new business and not a continuation of the previous business. Many are of the opinion that the space is closed and that is proving to be very difficult. It was a takeover and not a closure.
On Mondays, I take a trip to The English Market and select some fresh flowers, see what has come into season that I could use on the menu, and see what we could make for a special dish for the week.
View this post on Instagram
I really love welcoming every customer in the door. I feel it is a real unique quality which we do so well at the cafe. It’s really nice seeing the same faces return – it shows we are doing it right and customers are coming back to support us. My team are my business and each one is as passionate about it as I am.
If I were to offer advice to another entrepreneur… I certainly would wait a good 12 months to see where the market is at and whether inflation has in some way stabilised. I would do as much research as possible and I wouldn’t open the doors of any food business unless you have worked in the sector.
The one food business I really admire is Bread 41 on Pearse Street in Dublin. Eoin Cluskey has created a fun brand producing quality bread and pastries in the bakery and constantly evolving and leading the way in terms of sustainability.
I love their milk float, which shows up at the local farmers’ market – the queue forms well before they park up.
One of our team members, Joe, looks after all the Instagram and is doing a great job. I feel Instagram is the main social media base right now and we keep doing reels, images, and stories. I’m on Twitter but I feel everyone has moved to Instagram.
I am very organised. I plan out the week and days with each team member and ensure we are working smart. I couldn’t work with disorganised people and the cafe here is a smooth-running ship. The tiles in the kitchen are my whiteboard for notes, dates, and agendas!
To switch off, I read a lot. I have a great interest in current affairs. I spend time with friends and I always take a day off in the week and try to head to the coast for some headspace.
There is lots in store at Greenwich this summer. We’re opening an extra day in the week, our new brunch menu on Saturdays is a great success so we are going to continue making this even better and do more with our wines including a few talks from our suppliers.
We’re also redesigning our planters outside; we’re hoping to turn them into an outdoor herb garden.
Check out the menu at Greenwichcafe.ie.
