The Commons Restaurant was a

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

located in the historic Newman House on

St. Stephen's Green St Stephen's Green () is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by Lo ...

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

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 ...

. It was owned by Michael Fitzgerald. It was a

fine dining restaurant Fine may refer to: Characters * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (penalty), money to be paid as punishment for an offe ...

that was awarded one

Michelin star The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...

in each year in the period 1994–1997. The Michelin star was again awarded in 2002, but lost in 2003 due to the chef leaving. The restaurant later reopened on a more modest level. Head chef of ''The Commons Restaurant'' during the last "Michelin period" was

Aiden Byrne Aiden Byrne (born 1972) is an English chef, best known as the owner of a number of establishments including The Collingwood, a bar and restaurant in West Kirby. Career Byrne is best known for opening The Collingwood pub in West Kirby a number ...

. The headchefs Gerry Kirwan (1994), Michael Bolster (1995) and Leslie Malone (1996 & 1997) took care of the first period. Last chef in this period was

Sébastien Masi Sébastien Masi (Clermont-Ferrand, France, 16 July 1974) is a French head chef and Michelin star winning restaurateur with restaurant Locks Brasserie. Masi emigrated to Ireland in 1994 to work and train at Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud. Later he wo ...

, but he, just aged 22, could not retain the star. Shortly after losing the star the restaurant ran into financial difficulties and closed down.

Dylan McGrath Dylan McGrath (born 4 August 1977) is an Irish celebrity head chef. He was the owner of the now defunct Michelin starred restaurant Mint in Dublin which closed as a result of the economic downturn. In August 2010 he opened 'Rustic Stone Restaur ...

worked under Aiden Byrne as souschef.The emergence, development and influence of French Haute Cuisine on public dining in Dublin restaurants 1900-2000: an oral history. Thesis DIT by Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire, 2009. 3 downloadable volumes.
Part 2, p. 391

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Commons Restaurant Defunct restaurants in Ireland Michelin Guide starred restaurants in Ireland Restaurants in Dublin (city) Restaurants disestablished in 2003 Restaurants established in 1989

See also

References