Inspire your palate with our foodie insider series, picking the brains of the best chefs and food-lovers alike around Ireland.
Alex Petit is the Group Executive Chef for Trigon Hotels in Cork since 2022. Originally from France, Alex’s culinary approach strongly focuses on international trained techniques grounded by local and seasonal cooking, with a deep commitment to sustainability and supporting small producers across Cork and beyond.
What are your top 3 restaurants in Ireland?
For an experience: DEDE in Baltimore, West Cork. Each dish tells a story, the team of chefs all come out to explain the dishes, you can sense the pride and love they have for both their Turkish heritage and the amazing produce from West Cork
For a fancy lunch: Kicky’s in Dublin. Amazing service, delicious food and great beverage selection, it is always a treat to have a meal there.
For family friendly: The Dock Wall in Union Hall, West Cork. Unpretentious, consistently good food, personal service and amazing views of the harbour, this family owned restaurant is always busy, a good sign for any restaurant. They source their fish from the harbour just 5 minutes’ walk away and you can taste the difference.
Best coffee spots in Ireland?
Drip in Rosscarbery: Started out as a coffee truck on the Warren beach in Rosscarbery. Shane, a native to Rosscarbery, opened his first coffee shop in Rosscarbery with great success. A super spot to meet up with friends over quality coffee and delicious homemade bakes
Wild Flour in Innishannon: Standout artisan bakery in between Clonakilty and Cork. Most amazing sourdough, homemade pastries with incredible cinnamon rolls and croissants and locally sourced coffee
What county in Ireland does food the best?
I really do think Cork has it all. From passionate and dedicated producers to great chefs to standouts eateries, the combination is just working.
What makes Cork special isn’t just that it has a few excellent restaurants, it’s the entire ecosystem and ethos. Cork county has over 60% of the Irish food producers which an extraordinary concentration of food producers, farmers, fishermen, cheesemakers, bakers, brewers and chefs, all operating within a relatively compact area. Fish can come straight from harbours like Union Hall, Castletownbere, or Ballycotton, vegetables, dairy and meat are produced nearby which means that chefs don’t have to go far to find fresh and local ingredients.
In terms of places to eat, the choice is incredible. You can have a world-class tasting menu in one evening, a perfect seafood chowder overlooking a harbour the next day and then pick up exceptional bread and pastries from a village bakery on the way home. Places such as Goldie, Dede, Farmgate in the English Market, Camus Farm, Wildflour bakery all feel very different, yet they’re connected by the same emphasis on quality local and seasonal ingredients.
From the English Market in Cork City to the fishing villages and farms of West Cork, there is a depth and variety to the food scene that is difficult to match anywhere else in Ireland. Cork has developed a food culture that feels authentic with a great sense of place, a reputation only strengthened by some of the pioneers who defined what local and seasonal food should be like Darina Allen, the Ferguson family, Sally Barnes, Helena Hickey to only name a few.
For me, that’s why Cork stands out. It’s not defined by a single famous dish or a handful of headline restaurants. It’s a county where great food feels woven into everyday life
What’s your favourite meal to make?
Due to where I am from, Brittany in France, I really enjoy anything to do with seafood, it’s the season that dictates which types of dish I get to make. In the summer, weather permitted, the BBQ would be on, I love a grilled lobster with lemon marinated and charred courgettes & a simple Pico de Gallo salsa. In spring, we love to cook freshly caught hake “en papillotte” which is cooking fish with vegetables and fragrant herbs in a sealed parchment paper and letting the steam do the all the work, it is so fresh and vibrant. In the autumn, we love to gather around a big pot of mussels “mariniere” and a loaf of sourdough bread, once again, extremely simple but it’s all about the freshness of the ingredients.
If you’re in a time pinch at home and need to rustle up a quick dinner, what is your go-to recipe?
Time pinch at home seems like everyday with 3 young boys who are always hungry. Our go to would be Fusilli con Salsiccia e Cime Di Rapa. It’s a combination of fusilli pasta with broccoli, sausage meat & garlic sautéed together and bound with a little of pasta water and chicken stock. This dish is finished with parmesan and the whole family absolutely devore it. Cooking for the kids need a balance of quick and cheap cooking mixed with a vegetable hiding strategy and this one seems to work for us.
What advise do you have for aspiring foodies in Ireland?
Well, firstly, I genuinely believe that Ireland is one of the best places for an aspiring foodie to begin to learn about some of the most inspiring food producers and the some of the most unpretentious yet delicious food produce. Irish food is best understood not by where you eat it but by where it comes from and the people you meet along the way.
I would recommend to start by doing some research on the people who have dedicated time to shape our current food culture, people who grow, catch, smoke & bake and learn about seasonality and localism. I also think it is vital to get on the road and visit as many places, food markets and food producers as there are some really incredible people and places to see, all with their own uniqueness and story to tell.
A good place to start is the English Market in Cork and will give you a good sense of what’s happening in Ireland and a clear sense of how interconnected the wider food landscape is.
It’s also very important not to underestimate “simple food done well” as Ireland has some incredible dishes that rely less on complexity and more on ingredient quality and technique: seafood chowder, proper butter, fresh sourdough, well-cooked roasts, and seasonal produce prepared without fuss.
Alex is part of a number of headline events for the upcoming Cork on a Fork Festival (12-16 August). For more see www.corkonaforkfest.ie
