Dylan McGrath (born 4 August 1977) is an Irish celebrity

head chef A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads and manages the kitchen and chefs of a restaurant or hotel. A chef patron (feminine form ''chef patronne'') (French for ''boss chef'') or executive chef ...

. He was the owner of the now defunct Michelin starred restaurant

Mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...

in Dublin which closed as a result of the economic downturn. In August 2010 he opened 'Rustic Stone Restaurant by Dylan McGrath' on

South Great George's Street South Great George's Street is a street in south-central Dublin, Ireland. History Early history and naming The area is associated with Early Scandinavian Dublin. Four burials excavated near South Great George's Street were also associated ...

in Dublin's city centre. In 2011 Dylan was announced by

RTÉ One RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís ...

as the judge on the Irish version of the show ''

Masterchef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with the UK version in July 1990. The format was revived and updated for the BBC in February 2005 by executive producers Roddam and John ...

''. He also appeared in the 2008

television series ''

Guerrilla Gourmet ''Guerrilla Gourmet'' is an Irish television series broadcast on RTÉ One. The series features professional chefs from various backgrounds, such as Dylan McGrath and Kevin Dundon, who each take on a new challenge. Each episode sees a different c ...

'' and in the

fly on the wall Fly on the wall is a style of documentary-making used in film and television production. The name derived from the idea that events are seen candidly, as a fly on a wall might see them. In the purest form of fly-on-the-wall documentary-making, t ...

series '' The Pressure Cooker''. Derry Clarke has called him a "brilliant young chef".

Early life

McGrath was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

and lived in Carlow until age six. He was brought up in west Belfast before attending catering college."Programme 6"
RTÉ. Accessed 25 April 2009. He later travelled from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

in search of a career, where he worked under chefs such as

John Burton Race John William Burton-Race (born 1 May 1957) is a British Michelin starred chef, television personality and celebrity chef, made famous by the Channel 4 series ''French Leave'' and its sequel ''Return of the Chef'' and '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me O ...

and

Tom Aikens Tom Aikens (born 1970), also named Tom Aitkens, is an English Michelin-starred chef. Aikens briefly worked for chefs in London and Paris restaurants. Under his tenure from 1996 to 1999 as head chef and then chef patron, Pied à Terre earned it ...

, before returning to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Career

''Guerrilla Gourmet''

McGrath appeared on the television series, ''

'', which was broadcast on

in early 2008. The premise of the programme was that professional chefs set up temporary "guerrilla restaurants" at an unusual location of their own choosing. McGrath featured on the sixth and final episode of the series. He chose a dark room in the

Royal Hospital Kilmainham The Royal Hospital Kilmainham ( ga, Ospidéal Ríochta Chill Mhaighneann) in Kilmainham, Dublin, is a former 17th-century hospital at Kilmainham in Ireland. The structure now houses the Irish Museum of Modern Art. History A priory, founded in 11 ...

in Dublin as his temporary restaurant venue, serving a menu of

lemongrass ''Cymbopogon'', also known as lemongrass, barbed wire grass, silky heads, Cochin grass, Malabar grass, oily heads, citronella grass or fever grass, is a genus of Asian, African, Australian, and tropical island plants in the grass family. Some ...

and

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

dessert. One week after filming an episode for this show, McGrath received his first ever Michelin star.

Controversies

McGrath has been involved in numerous controversies, mainly with his fellow chefs. Whilst promoting ''Guerrilla Gourmet'', he appeared on the television chat show ''

Tubridy Tonight ''Tubridy Tonight'' is a talk show hosted by Ryan Tubridy that aired on RTÉ One for five seasons between 2004 and 2009. The programme featured guest interviews (usually three per show), audience participation and live music from both a guest mu ...

'' and sparked off a row with his rival chef

Kevin Dundon Kevin Dundon is an Irish celebrity chef, television personality and author, known for featuring on television series such as '' Guerrilla Gourmet'' and ''Heat''. He is the author of the book, '' Full on Irish: Contemporary Creative Cooking'' and ...

over his mistreatment of staff in his ''Pressure Cooker'' show, an argument which was described by the '' Irish Independent'' as being serious enough to "

chieve Chieve ( Cremasco: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cremona in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about northwest of Cremona. Chieve borders the following municipalities: Abbadia Cerreto, Ba ...

the rare feat of having that show discussed at water coolers days later". Relieved of the pressure to obtain a Michelin star, he has softened a bit. McGrath also has a difficult relationship with

Richard Corrigan Richard Corrigan (born 10 February 1964) is an Irish chef. He is chef/patron of Corrigan's Bar & Restaurant Mayfair, Bentley's Oyster Bar and Grill, Daffodil Mulligan Restaurant & Gibney's Bar London and Virginia Park Lodge in Virginia, County C ...

, who suggested that he should work in theatre, days after he had called Corrigan's food "simple and nice". Corrigan went on to call McGrath "a muppet."

Restaurants

In 2010 McGrath opened Rustic Stone Restaurant. Later he also opened Fade Street Social The Restaurant and Taste at Rustic.

Awards

Dylan has won number of prestigious awards * Michelin Star; restaurant

, 2008 and 2009 *

Food and Wine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and season ...

's "Avant-Garde" award; Fade Street Social, 2014 *

Good Eating Guide In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

's "Over-all Winner with 'Taste at Rustic' in 2016 * Georgina Campbel's "Chef of the Year 2016"; Taste at RusticGeorgina Campbel’s Chef of the Year 2016
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References

External links

Fade Street Social The Restaurant
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGrath, Dylan Irish chefs Irish television personalities People from County Antrim 1977 births Living people Head chefs of Michelin starred restaurants Irish television chefs Irish restaurateurs