Star Chefs · Richard Corrigan

Stars

From A Meath Hotel Kitchen To A Michelin Star

Thibault Van de Sompele By Thibault Van de Sompele 2 min read Published

In Short

A boy from Ballivor learns to cook at 14, works his way through Dutch hotels and London kitchens, and wins his first Michelin star at Fulham Road in 1994.

  • Corrigan is a native of Ballivor, Co Meath[1].
  • At 14 he started at the Kirwan Arms Hotel in Athboy under head chef Ray Vaughan[1].
  • He worked in hotels in the Netherlands from the age of 17[2].
  • He won his first Michelin star as head chef at Fulham Road in 1994[2][3].

Ballivor is a quiet village in Co Meath. Richard Corrigan comes from there, and he has always said the farm and the fields shaped him[1][2]. Good food, to him, starts with the land.

A Master At The Stove

His first kitchen was not far from home. At 14 he went to work at the Kirwan Arms Hotel in Athboy[1]. The head chef was Ray Vaughan, and the teenager watched him closely for two and a half years[1].

Corrigan later said he knew he was watching the hand of a master. He made up his mind to become as good as Ray[1]. Decades later he still named Vaughan as an early influence, in The Richard Corrigan Cookbook, published in 1999[1].

Off To The Netherlands

Before London, Corrigan went to the Netherlands. From the age of 17 he worked in big international hotels there for several years[2]. He learned speed, discipline and the rules of a large brigade.

In his twenties he moved to London. He cooked at the Oak Room and then took charge of the kitchen at Mulligan's in Mayfair as head chef[2]. It was an Irish name on a London door, and it would come back into his life later.

The Star On Fulham Road

The big moment came in 1994. As head chef at Fulham Road, he earned his first Michelin star[2][3]. For a farm boy from Meath, it was proof that his plain, honest style could stand among the best in the city.

The Caterer later traced his rise back to these years: a long climb up the ladder, step by step, kitchen by kitchen[3]. There was no shortcut. There was the work, and a teacher in Athboy who had shown him what great cooking looks like.

Think of the distance he travelled. Athboy is a small Meath town. The Netherlands meant a new language and huge hotel kitchens. London meant the hardest crowd in Europe. In each place he started near the bottom and pushed his way up[1][2].

That first star was not the end of the story. It was the start of a London career that would bring a second starred kitchen, a famous oyster bar and a group of restaurants with his name on the door[2][3].

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from these sources. Each number in the text points to the source it came from.

  1. Press Meath Chronicle: Obituaries 19th April 2014 · meathchronicle.ie · consulted
  2. Press The Staff Canteen: CHEF PROFILE: Richard Corrigan, chef/owner, Corrigan Restaurants · thestaffcanteen.com · consulted
  3. Press The Caterer: Cateys 2018: Restaurateur of the Year – Independent – Richard Corrigan thecaterer.com · consulted