Day in the Life - Kevin Dundon, chef

Kevin Dundon is the chef and proprietor of Dunbrody Country House Hotel and Restaurant, located in County Wexford is coming back to Savour Kilkenny again.

Arguably one of Ireland’s best-loved and most recognised chefs, Kevin can usually be found busy at work in one of Dunbrody House kitchens, the cookery school, or online. For the last 15 years, Kevin has worked with supermarket retailers SuperValu Ireland.  

Reflected in all of Kevin’s cookbooks, is his passion for locally-sourced indigenous produce, Kevin considers himself spoiled with the positive bounty of fresh seafood, lamb, beef and fantastic fruit and vegetables literally on his doorstep and around Ireland. Of which we’ve so much here in Kilkenny!  

He has been involved in Savour from the very first year and has attended every year since. Here is a glimpse into Kevin’s tasty world…

Kevin, why do you keep coming back to Savour Kilkenny year after year?

It’s a fantastic festival and one that stays true to its ethos and hasn’t lost it. 

A lot of food festivals start off fantastic and drift away but not Savour Kilkenny. It’s a festival that showcases the best of artisan producers in the marketplace and supports Irish and Kilkenny producers.

In particular Mag and Ger Kirwan from Goatsbridge Trout farm, I love their products and always use them. Then there’s Edward Hayden who is always shouting loud and proud about Savour Kilkenny. He is brilliant and we worked together for several years.

Then there’s the support of the people attending the festival, be it the people of Kilkenny and those who travel to it. Normally I’m there all day chatting to them about food.

Not forgetting all Kilkenny’s great restaurants. Having two Michelin Stars restaurants just shows that there is a real love for food in Kilkenny. When you get restaurants at that level in a city and countryside, it means the people who live there are gourmands and seek good food.

Old pals chefs Edward Hayden & Kevin Dundon

Kilkenny’s Edward Hayden and you go way back.

Edward came to work in Dunbrody as a student chef when he was studying in WIT and stayed with me for years. He worked in the main kitchen and ended up working in the Dunbrody cookery school and directly with me.

We have a lot of time for each other, and I’m delighted to see him doing so well. It's always great to see people that work with you, move on, progress and do their own thing. The student is now a Lecturer and the Programme Leader in South East Technological University!

You were born in Malahide and moved from Dublin 25 years ago to Dunbrody, County Wexford. Have you been able to stay true to the dream?

My wife Catherine and I bought Dunbrody House in October 1996, and opened it in May 1997. It’s a labour of love and a chef’s paradise as we grow all our own vegetables as well as being so close to the sea, so everything is locally produced.

I think the more successful you become in the cheffing world, the less cooking you actually do particularly in the hotel trade. However, being in Dunbrody really brought me back to my roots and I get to cook in the kitchen every day, which is what I love doing the most.

The trouble is as you get older you can’t stand on your feet for hours cooking, it's really a young person’s game!

 Do you still host a cook-a-long on your Instagram @KevinDundon every day?

There were some silver linings with Covid, and we started to do a live cook-a-long every day at 2pm on Instagram and Facebook. Yes, I still do it five days a week. We have 2.5 million views per month, so I guess people like it!

Life is hectic for you, between writing cookbooks, travelling for TV appearances and Dunbrody House. Have you taken things easier after suffering from two pulmonary embolisms?

Initially yes, but eventually you drift back into being full on again.

Catherine and I are currently trying to set ourselves up for retirement as both of us would like to retire at 60, which is only another three years away.

I can’t see us completely retiring but we do want to slow right down. I have become choosier in what I do, and I don’t say yes to everything so I pick the projects I want to work on and the festivals I want to work with.

Travel was the killer. I’m out of America now altogether, I am not involved in any restaurants over there anymore, I just do TV work there.

What is retirement looking like for Kevin Dundon?

Well, I got my boat licence, so I hope to rent a boat out and chill with the family in the South of France. But I also have an itch to paint!

I was always good at it, especially painting horses because I was around horses all my life and I know every muscle in the body. I think I could lose myself in a piece of art.

Just like fly fishing, I just lose myself with it and all my worries disappear. All I think about is the sound of the fly going across the water.

If you were fishing with a younger Kevin Dundon, what would you tell him to do differently?

Not a whole lot to be honest! I’ve no regrets, I had and have a great life with three beautiful children and a great wife. We’ve a roof over our heads and they are all being well educated. So, what more do you want?

I was fortunate to pick a career at the age of 16 that I still love today, 41 years later!

Do you have any advice for a husband-and-wife team or any couple working together?

I think the reason why Catherine and I have such a successful business and personal relationship is because we both have specific roles within the business. Within working hours we have our meetings at a professional level and then outside that time we try not to talk about work at home, which is the hardest part!

The most important thing is that you treat it as a business relationship. I look after kitchen, maintenance, and housekeeping. Catherine looks after the front of house and marketing. They are the main roles and we both put our two cents about the business as a whole when we have meetings.

Is there anything about Kevin Dundon we don’t know?

One of my main passions as a young fella was to become a jockey. It might not be common knowledge that at the age of 16, I rode for Jim Bolger and my roommate was Aidan O’Brien, who is now a champion trainer. Declan Gillespie was the stable jockey and he turned out to ride over 1000 winners in his career.

Then I grew and it turned out not to be the career for me!

We are very fortunate to still have you coming back to Savour Kilkenny. What are you cooking for us this year?

I am starting off with honey and garlic Goatsbridge trout. Goatsbridge Trout is a delicious way to enjoy fish, and this Asian take on it with pakchoi is so tasty.

Then I’II cook Salisbury beef meatballs, colcannon mash, a perfect rich yet flavourful dish to enjoy any day of the week or after a full day of rugby!

I’II finish off with melting all chocolate cookies. The warm chocolate cookies are all chocolate, so think of a brownie in a small parcel.

Kevin Dundon’s demonstration is on at 12noon on the Savour Stage on Sunday, October 29, sponsored by SuperValu, Loughboy. For more information visit https://savourkilkenny. com/events/kevin-dundon