By Barry Coughlan
“We think it’s going to be beautiful,” Castlemartyr Resort General Manager Brendan Comerford noted less than a year ago on a walk-through to mark the conversion of the once named Bell Tower Restaurant.
The restaurant was renamed Terre, which seats 34, including eight in a private dining area, and is under the control of French Chef Vincent Crepel.
A Michelin Star later for this very fine dining offering, and Mr Comerford’s words turned out to be a gross understatement
However, given the background of the resort’s co-owner, it’s not a hugely surprising development. Peng Loh, a Singapore-based businessman with deep roots in Ireland, counts the three Michelin-starred Zen in Singapore, the two star Da Terra in London, and four restaurants with one Michelin star among his portfolio.
Loh brought Vincent Crepel, a 38-year-old native of the south-west of France, to Cork to oversee the food offering at Terre and the move has paid immediate dividends.
The Chef’s career took him to Arzak in San Sebastien and the Hotel de Ville Crissier in Switzerland, before a move to Singapore resulted in a meeting with André Chiang, and a stint as sous chef at Jaan par André, which was located in a high-end hotel.
Within eighteen months, Jaan par André was ranked at 39 on the World’s Best Restaurants list. When Chiang decided to leave the hotel to open his own eponymous restaurant in the Chinatown area of Singapore, Crepel went with him.
A couple of years later, it was time for Crepel to move on – after so many years away, he missed Europe and had a hankering to get back. He didn’t head for France, however, instead moving to Switzerland to rejoin the kitchen at the Hotel de Ville Crissier.
He stayed in touch with Andre Chiang, however, and it was through him that he met Peng Loh, who was also one of Chiang’s investors.
A plan began to take shape for Crepel to open a restaurant in Paris backed by Loh. Porte12 would open in 2014, and would mark the first time that Crepel had cooked a largely French audience.
One reviewer described Crepel’s cooking as striking “a great balance between comfort and finesse…the level of complexity in the dishes was just right; nothing was out of place.”
He had never been to Ireland before Peng Loh approached him to gauge his interest in moving to Castlemartyr, but sensed that it could offer what he was looking for – a location close to a city, but also with the countryside and coast on its doorstep.
He has been living in Cork since January, and has spent the intervening months travelling to meet suppliers around the country.
The menu at Terre is not the only thing that will feature Irish suppliers – the furniture is being made by Modet in Kinsale, metal coasters and other pieces are coming from Leeside Forge in Cork, and tableware is being sourced from Fermoyle Pottery in Ballinskelligs.
The wine list focuses on small, family-owned grower-producers who work with organic, biodynamic, and low-intervention methods.
In particular, it features winemakers who have been reintroducing traditional indigenous wine varietals which were lost or replanted in favor of international grapes.
A 12-course taster menu is available for $150 with accompanying wine for $130.