It might be just anecdotal evidence, but this is only our second new openings update of 2024 – by this point last year, we’d run four roundups. There’s no question it’s becoming a taller order to open a new food business in Dublin these days, and our hats are off to anyone with the force of will to do it. From açaí bowls and street food noodles to bakeries on both sides of the Liffey, here are the latest openings we think deserve your attention.
Jean-Georges at The Leinster, Mount Street Lower
The latest celebrity chef parachuted in to crack the Dublin market, Jean-Georges Vongerichten boasts ownership or involvement in north of sixty restaurants worldwide, serving up his signature French and Southeast Asian flavours here blended with Irish ingredients – he’s at least making all the right sounds about the quality of our grass-fed beef, turbot and monkfish.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all on the cards, along with a weekend brunch menu too. The Leinster’s high-end fitout for the space includes an outdoor terrace it’s billed as offering great views of Georgian Dublin, though recent events on Mount Street might make that a little awkward as you’re enjoying your caviar and champagne. Read our Jean Georges once over here.
September, Blackrock
Colour us very excited about this one: food truck Leroy’s, who sling stunning-looking sandwiches on Tartine ciabatta at the Merrion Cricket Club, have just opened a sister venture in the form of a natural wine café. They're hoping to start Friday and Saturday wine nights in a couple of weeks, and we spy loads of lovely natural bottles on those shelves, but for now you can pop in for breakfast baps, lunchtime sandwiches and homemade cookies seven days a week.
Biang Biang, Little Mary Street
After legal woes and a last minute name change, the latest opening from the team behind Stoneybatter’s Hakkahan and Stephen Street’s Nan Chinese, Biang Biang specialises in the street food scene of Xi’an, most prominently the hand-pulled wide noodles that give it its name. If the promise of steaming chili oil sizzling its way through a bowl of noodles and fresh veg isn’t enough to tempt you in, other Xi’an specialties like dumplings and minced pork Roujiamo (sometimes called a Chinese hamburger) might sweeten the deal. They’re advising peak time patience as everything is made to order - music to our ears.
Roots, Drury Street
It’s more nice things for Drury Street as Monkstown health food truck Roots has put down city centre… well, roots… in between Loose Canon and Kaph and right across the street from Mani – we dread to imagine how packed the place is going to be of a sunny summer morning. Granola-topped açaí and dragon fruit bowls are the name of the game here with a choice between four classics or a build-your-own option. The extensive fitout has lovingly restored the 19th-century building’s redbrick walls after generations of previous tenants covered it up with layer upon layer of paint – we reckon that’s a good sign they're in it for the long haul. Previous tenants Three-Twenty Ice-cream Lab are back in the evening as Spilt Milk.
CN Dumpling, Montague Street
“Chinese tapas” is the pitch at CN Dumpling, with a wide range of small plates joining the expected dumplings at Montague’s Street’s latest arrival. Run by the people behind Zakura, there are six choices of hand-made dumpling cooked in your choice of four ways – ours is in a Sichuan chilli broth – while plates range from classics like lion’s head meatballs and mapo tofu to signature maggi mushrooms and a cucumber jellyfish salad.
Una, Ranelagh
If ever there was a dead-cert gap in the market, it was the lack of a neighbourhood bakery in Ranelagh: the queues we’ve see snaking from Una since it opened only confirm it. Of course it helps that it’s run by the people who brought us Forest Avenue. With French-style pastries like kouign-amann and (gird your loins) bacon jam escargot to the fore, it’s small wonder early demand has seen them sell out time and again in their opening weeks – you’ll want to be getting in early to have any hope of a choice. There’s sourdough loaves and focaccia aplenty if you do miss out on the sweet selection.
Brown Bag Bakery, Blanchardstown
Lest the Northside feel left out of the fresh baked fun, there’s more sourdough and pastries to be had over in Blanchardstown’s Roselawn Shopping Centre, where Brown Bag Bakery has just opened its doors. The pared-back décor puts all the focus on the sizeable bakery space itself and the wooden shelves stacking its produce, and really that’s all we’re here to see anyway. Groundwork Coffee Co are supplying the beans, while a loaded apple crumble brioche is among the baked goods to have caught our eye so far. They’ll be selling their wares from 08:30 to 15:00 every Tuesday to Saturday.
Coming soon...
Sister 7, Smithfield
After their foray into the bar scene with Bootleg, BIGFAN are opening another restaurant inside brilliant beer bar Fidelity in Smithfield - Sister 7 - their sister bar in D7, geddit? It's also named after Head chef Chung Lee, who has worked at Big Fan since day one. Her Chinese colleagues call her "sister", and she will embody the new girl boss character "Sister 7", going toe to toe with the original BIGFAN boss man. The menu will be 70% BIGFAN classics and 30% crossover dishes developed with Whiplash using beer or spent product from their brewery, and there'll be an additional bar bites menu. Sister 7 opens next Wednesday.
Oakberry, Blackrock
Just six months on from opening its first Irish store on Anne Street South, açaí bowl empire Oakberry is expanding southwards with a new arrival in Blackrock. Since being touted as the latest superfood fad about a decade back, the popularity of this Brazilian berry has exploded globally, so quick growth for this franchise is no surprise.
