Danni Barry was the head chef of Eipic restaurant in Northern Ireland and executive chef in Balloo House. She is now executive chef in Ballynahinch Castle, Connemara, Galway. She was the second female Irish chef to hold a Michelin star. In 2016, she was named Irish Chef of the Year.

Career

Barry began working in a professional kitchen at the age of 14, as a

kitchen porter (, "kitchen brigade") is a system of hierarchy found in restaurants and hotels employing extensive staff, commonly referred to as "kitchen staff" in English-speaking countries. The concept was developed by Georges Auguste Escoffier (1846–1935 ...

. She began to work as a chef after attending a catering college in

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Armagh, Armagh and County Down, Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry ...

, Northern Ireland. She was mentored by chef Michael Deane, and started to work his restaurant Deanes in 2003. Barry travelled around the world to gain experience as a chef, including at

Simon Rogan L'Enclume (, French for "the anvil") is a restaurant opened in 2002 in Cartmel, Cumbria, England, run by chef Simon Rogan and his partner Penny Tapsell. L'Enclume received a rating of 10 out of 10 five times in the ''Good Food Guide'' and name ...

's L'Enclume restaurant. She moved on to work as

sous chef A sous-chef is a chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the ...

under Raymond McCardle at Restaurant 23, before becoming head chef for Rogan at his

Cartmel Cartmel is a village in Cumbria, England, northwest of Grange-over-Sands close to the River Eea. The village takes its name from the Cartmel Peninsula, and was historically known as Kirkby in Cartmel. The village is the location of the 12t ...

based restaurant Cartmel & Co in 2012. In 2014, she left to return to Northern Ireland where she opened restaurant Eipic as head chef under Deane, who owns the restaurant. Barry gained a Michelin star within 18 months, becoming the only female chef in Ireland to hold the award, and only the second ever. In addition to cooking, she also forages herbs and

wild garlic Plant species in the genus ''Allium'' known as wild garlic include the following: *''Allium canadense'', wild onion *'' Allium carinatum'', keeled garlic *'' Allium drummondii'', Drummond's onion *''Allium ochotense'', Siberian onion *'' Allium ole ...

several times a week. Barry has appeared on BBC Two cooking competition

Great British Menu ''Great British Menu'' is a BBC television series in which top British chefs compete for the chance to cook one course of a four-course banquet. Format Series one and two were presented by Jennie Bond, the former BBC Royal correspondent, whe ...

in 2015, where she competed for Northern Ireland against Ben Arnold and Chris McGowan. In 2016, she was named Irish Chef of the Year at the ninth Irish Restaurant Awards, while the restaurant was named Ulster Restaurant of the Year and owner Deanes won Entrepreneur of the Year. The same year, Barry was named one of 17 chefs to watch by '' Olive'' magazine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Danni Living people People from Mayobridge Head chefs of Michelin starred restaurants Women chefs British chefs Year of birth missing (living people)