Travel: Is Alumni Kitchen Table worth the trip? (and sizeable bill)
- Lisa Cope
- Oct 14
- 6 min read
What's the background?
Alumni Kitchen Table opened in July 2022, a tiny eight-seater restaurant with rooms in the Kildare countryside. It's owned and run by husband and wife Philip and Kathy Mahon, him the chef, her the sommelier and front of house, and is designed to be a luxury dining experience, with the option of staying overnight. It's obvious the end goal here is a Michelin star (with star-level prices already in place), and the chef admitted as much here.
A new, exclusive opening like this should have garnered national attention, but in the three years since opening they haven't had one national newspaper review (just this semi-review up of an invite, which should have been clearly labelled as such by the newspaper). They have gotten a listing in the Michelin Guide, but no star yet. Many of you have asked us if it's worth the trip and expense, looking for critical reassurance outside of online diner reviews (which are overwhelmingly five-star), so when our next special occasion hit we booked in to give you the full, and fully paid for, lowdown.
