A Star In Ranelagh, And Cameras In The Kitchen

Ranelagh is a busy village on the south side of Dublin. In the 2000s, food lovers knew one address there above all: Mint, at 47 Ranelagh Village^[2].

Dylan McGrath ran the kitchen. Before that he had spent a couple of months with Conrad Gallagher, but at Mint he finally had a stage of his own^[2]. It was a small team. He went from running a London kitchen with 22 cooks to a Ranelagh kitchen with just four^[3].

The Star

The work paid off. Mint held a Michelin star in 2008 and 2009^[1]. The Irish Book Awards later described McGrath as one of the youngest Irish chefs ever to earn a star^[4].

In early 2009 Hot Press asked him about a second star. Difficult but doable, he said^[2]. The ambition was huge.

Cameras Rolling

Television had been watching. An RTÉ documentary, The Pressure Cooker, followed his push for the Michelin star^[3]. It showed the fierce, raw side of a top kitchen, and it caused a stir when RTÉ broadcast it in 2009^[2][3].

The film made him famous almost overnight. People who had never eaten at Mint now knew his name. Some were shocked. Others saw how much it takes to cook at that level.

Then The Crash

The timing was cruel. After the 2008 financial crash, Ireland went into a deep recession, and fine dining was hit hard. Mint closed^[5]. The Irish Times later noted that Mint was where he rose to prominence, and that it closed after the crash^[5].

He kept his notebooks from the pass. Years later he still had them^[3]. Mint was over, but what he learned there would shape everything he cooked next^[3][5].