Shelbourne Social Opens In Ballsbridge

For years McGrath's restaurants clustered around South Great George's Street. In 2018 he crossed the city to Dublin 4^[1].

The site was One Ballsbridge, a new development. In March 2018 The Irish Times reported plans for a 4,500 square foot restaurant there, called Shelbourne Social^[1].

Bigger Than Ever

The project showed how far his group had come. He and his partner Vincent Melinn already served around 850 diners on a busy night^[1]. They employed more than 300 people^[1].

He said Fade Street Social had been built without bank funding^[1]. He was also talking about growth abroad, with the UK first on the list, and fine dining was not ruled out^[1].

Doors Open

Shelbourne Social opened shortly before Christmas 2018^[2]. It was a split-level restaurant and an anchor tenant of the One Ballsbridge development^[2].

Hot Press met him a few months later. He was talking about a small, high-end restaurant, though nothing was confirmed^[2]. The fire for fine dining never quite went out.

The Group Today

The years after were tough for Dublin restaurants. In 2024 McGrath closed Rustic Stone and Brasserie Sixty6^[3]. Fade Street Social, with 340 seats, remained his main restaurant, and in 2023 he had signed a new 20-year lease on it^[3].

He was also clear about his own job. He now worked from a test kitchen on South Great George's Street, developing menus for every room in the group^[1]. Shelbourne Social would carry that work to a new crowd in Dublin 4.

The new room was part of a wider plan for the group. In the same interview he spoke about refining Taste at Rustic into Taste at Bonsai, and about the Bonsai Bar, a Japanese cocktail lounge he ran with Melinn^[1].

Shelbourne Social marked the high point of the group's growth. It was the moment the chef from Ranelagh, Rustic Stone and Fade Street took his name to a whole new part of the city^[1][2].