Dylan McGrath (born 4 August 1977) is an Irish celebrity

head chef A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads a kitchen and its cooks. A chef patron (feminine form ''chef patronne'') (French for ''boss chef'') or executive chef is a chef that manages multiple kitche ...

. He was the owner of the now defunct

Michelin Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...

starred restaurant

Mint Mint or The Mint may refer to: Plants * Lamiaceae, the mint family ** ''Mentha'', the genus of plants commonly known as "mint" Coins and collectibles * Mint (facility), a facility for manufacturing coins * Mint condition, a state of like-new ...

in Dublin which closed as a result of the economic downturn. In August 2010 he opened 'Rustic Stone Restaurant by Dylan McGrath' on

South Great George's Street South Great George's Street () is a street in south-central Dublin, Ireland. History Early history and naming The area is associated with Early Scandinavian Dublin. Four burials excavated near South Great George's Street were also associa ...

in Dublin's city centre. In 2011 Dylan was announced by

RTÉ One RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...

as the judge on the Irish version of the show ''

Masterchef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with MasterChef (British TV series), the British version in July 1990. The show aims to discover the culinary talent of chefs of varying sk ...

''. He also appeared in the 2008

television series '' Guerrilla Gourmet'' and in the

fly on the wall Fly on the wall is a style of documentary-making used in film and television production. The name derived from the idea that events are seen candidly, as a fly on a wall might see them. In the purest form of fly-on-the-wall documentary-making, ...

series '' The Pressure Cooker''. Derry Clarke has called him a "brilliant young chef".

Early life

McGrath was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and lived in

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had a population of 27,351, the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland, ...

until age six. He was brought up in west Belfast before attending catering college."Programme 6"
RTÉ. Accessed 25 April 2009. He later travelled from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

in search of a career, where he worked under chefs such as

John Burton Race John William Burton-Race (born 1 May 1957) is a British former Michelin starred chef, television personality and celebrity chef, made famous by the Channel 4 series ''French Leave'' and its sequel ''Return of the Chef'' and '' I'm a Celebrity... ...

and

Tom Aikens Tom Aikens (born 1970), also named Tom Aitkens, is an English Michelin star, Michelin-starred chef. Aikens briefly worked for chefs in London and Paris restaurants. Under his tenure from 1996 to 1999 as head chef and then chef patron, Pied à T ...

, before returning to

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Career

''Guerrilla Gourmet''

McGrath appeared on the television series, '' Guerrilla Gourmet'', which was broadcast on

in early 2008. The premise of the programme was that professional chefs set up temporary "guerrilla restaurants" at an unusual location of their own choosing. McGrath featured on the sixth and final episode of the series. He chose a dark room in the

Royal Hospital Kilmainham The Royal Hospital Kilmainham () in Kilmainham, Dublin, is a 17th-century former hospital and retirement home which is now mainly used to house the Irish Museum of Modern Art and as a concert and events venue. It is notable as being the first l ...

in Dublin as his temporary restaurant venue, serving a menu of

lemongrass ''Cymbopogon'', also known as lemongrass, barbed wire grass, silky heads, oily heads, Cochin grass, Malabar grass, citronella grass or fever grass, is a genus of Asian, African, Australian, and tropical island plants in the grass family. Some ...

and

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punica, Punicoideae, that grows between tall. Rich in symbolic and mythological associations in many cultures, it is thought to have o ...

dessert. One week after filming an episode for this show, McGrath received his first ever

star.

Controversies

McGrath has been involved in numerous controversies, mainly with his fellow chefs. Whilst promoting ''Guerrilla Gourmet'', he appeared on the television chat show ''

Tubridy Tonight ''Tubridy Tonight'' is a talk show hosted by Ryan Tubridy that aired on RTÉ One for five seasons between 2004 and 2009. The programme featured guest interviews (usually three per show), audience participation and live music from both a guest mu ...

'' and sparked off a row with his rival chef Kevin Dundon over his mistreatment of staff in his ''Pressure Cooker'' show, an argument which was described by the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

'' as being serious enough to "

chieve Chieve ( Cremasco: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cremona in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about northwest of Cremona. Chieve borders the following municipalities: Abbadia Cerreto Abbadia ...

the rare feat of having that show discussed at water coolers days later". Relieved of the pressure to obtain a Michelin star, he has softened a bit. McGrath also has a difficult relationship with

Richard Corrigan Richard Corrigan (born 10 February 1964) is an Irish chef. He serves as the chef/patron of Corrigan's Bar & Restaurant Mayfair, Bentley's Oyster Bar and Grill, Daffodil Mulligan Restaurant & Gibney's Bar in London, Virginia Park Lodge and adjoi ...

, who suggested that he should work in theatre, days after he had called Corrigan's food "simple and nice". Corrigan went on to call McGrath "a muppet."

Restaurants

In 2010 McGrath opened Rustic Stone Restaurant. Later he also opened Fade Street Social The Restaurant and Taste at Rustic.

Awards

Dylan has won number of prestigious awards *

Michelin Star The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few restaurants in certain geographic ...

; restaurant

, 2008 and 2009 *

Food and Wine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine, wine pa ...

's "Avant-Garde" award; Fade Street Social, 2014 * Good Eating Guide's "Over-all Winner with 'Taste at Rustic' in 2016 * Georgina Campbel's "Chef of the Year 2016"; Taste at RusticGeorgina Campbel’s Chef of the Year 2016
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References

External links

Fade Street Social The Restaurant
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGrath, Dylan Broadcasters from Belfast 1977 births Living people Head chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants Irish television chefs Irish restaurateurs