End of an era as regulars bid goodbye to Crawford Gallery Café
Crawford Gallery Pictures: In the This Larry Closing Cork City Cummins Is Weekend
It was a bittersweet reunion for one group of life-long friends as their favourite dining venue prepares to take last orders on Saturday after nearly 40 years serving the city.
As they reminisced over another excellent meal at the renowned Crawford Gallery Café in Cork city's historic Crawford Art Gallery on Friday, the former nursing colleagues who trained in the same class in the former North Infirmary Hospital more years ago than any of them were prepared to admit, did admit that it will be very hard to find a replacement venue for their catch-ups.
Mary Joyce, from Tipperary, said: “It was just a lovely place to meet friends and relax. And the food is very nice. We will miss it. Having the art gallery attached made it such an interesting place to come to.”
Mary Nyhan Quaid, from Waterfall, has been a regular visitor to the café for many years.
“I just love the culture of the place, the ambiance, the decor, the tableware,” she said, as she held a vintage metal sugar cube holder by its dainty handle.
“It’s the little touches like this. And of course the food, the wonderful food. It was always a joy to eat here.
“Hopefully someone will come it and take it over but maintain the same ambiance, the whole experience. But it will be difficult to replace.”
The gallery café was opened in 1986 by the late Myrtle Allen, and taken on by her daughter, Fern, who built an impressive reputation based on its Ballymaloe ethos of using the very best quality food and cooking it simply but beautifully.
In the early days, the food was prepared at Ballymaloe House in East Cork and transported in a little red van to the city each morning.
Many Ballymaloe chefs and graduates of the cookery school, including Rachel Allen, have worked in its kitchens but Ballymaloe involvement in the management of the café ceased many years ago.
But it has regularly featured in the McKenna Guide’s top 100 restaurants in Ireland.
The gallery has leased the space to operators over the years but it has been run by celebrated chef, Sinéad Doran, for well over a decade.
In a surprise move this week, the café announced on social media that it will not be reopening after it closes for holidays this weekend.
It prompted an outpouring of goodwill messages, but Ms Doran declined to comment publicly on Friday.
Sources said it was a difficult decision for her, given the impact it will have on her loyal staff, and on her loyal customers, many of whom she knew on first-name terms and by their orders.
She said the decision must be viewed in the context of the struggles during and after Covid, and in the longer-term context of the gallery’s extended closure from late next year for a multi-million capital regeneration project.
Ms Doran plans to take some time off before deciding what to do next.
But she said helping to prepare the banquet for Prince Charles and Camilla during their historic visit to the city in 2018, when 60 VIPs dined in the gallery’s long-room, remains a personal highlight.
Gallery director Mary McCarthy paid tribute to Ms Doran and her team.
"We are sorry to see them go. The cafe was a quality experience and has been a vital part of the gallery’s visitor attraction - they made it a destination gallery for many people,” she said.
“We will regroup over the coming weeks and look at how we can provide something in the space.”
As the former nursing colleagues ordered coffees and shared their final memories in their favourite café of their times in nursing, and of their lives since, Geraldine Crowley, said she, her friends, and indeed the city at large will miss the place.
“It was something unique to Cork - in the city centre, with fabulous surroundings, the food is excellent, and the wine is good, what more do you want?" she said.
“It will be difficult to replace."