Restaurant Of The Year In A Border Village

In 2001 the family business passed to the next generation. Neven and his wife Amelda took charge of MacNean House & Restaurant in Blacklion^[1]. They have run it together ever since.

The food was rooted in the area. Neven bought from local and artisan producers and built his menus around them^[2]. Guests got little extras too: a bite before the starter, a small dessert before dessert, and petits fours with coffee^[2].

A National Treasure

In 2007, Georgina Campbell's Ireland Awards named MacNean House & Bistro its Restaurant of the Year^[2]. Campbell did not hold back. She called the place nothing short of a national treasure^[2].

She had known it a long time. Her first visit was in 1993, when a reader tipped her off about a well-kept secret in Blacklion^[2]. Fourteen years later, the secret was out.

The restaurant had changed to match. For the 2007 season the small dining room was refurbished and a little bar was added^[2]. Bit by bit, the modest restaurant with rooms was turning into something more spacious and comfortable^[2].

Still A Family Business

Fame did not change the feel of the place. By then Neven was a TV chef and a bestselling author. Yet family members still served the guests, and it still felt like a family restaurant^[2].

The guide came back with more praise in 2012. It gave Neven its award for Outstanding Contribution to the Hospitality Industry^[3]. It praised how he had stayed in a small border town and drawn people to it, and how he had made suppliers such as Thornhill Duck known around the country^[3].

A new extension that year added more rooms, a reception and a bar^[3]. Even in the recession, the house was booked out months ahead^[3]. The little bistro his parents had opened was now one of the most sought-after tables in Ireland^[1][3].