Ireland’s Favourite Chef Neven Maguire Receives Best Chef 2014 Award
Neven Maguire of MacNean House & Restaurant and the recently opened Neven Maguire Cookery School has been awarded the prestigious Restaurant Association of Ireland’s Best Chef 2014 award in a special ceremony recently held in Dublin’s Burlington Hotel. The award was presented to the top chef having faced competition from over 40 finalists in the category from some of Ireland’s most talented chefs.
This is the second time Neven has received the top accolade, having previously won in 2009, the award celebrates and recognises the approach, design and execution of dishes of those who are clearly pushing at culinary boundaries in Ireland. Winning the Best Chef award is further recognition to the culinary works and achievements of MacNean House and Restaurant which also received awards in the Ulster regional finals of the RAI awards for ‘Best Wine Experience’ and ‘Best Restaurant’.
Accepting the accolade, Neven Maguire said, “I am extremely honoured to receive this award for the second time. I am dedicating it to my Mother, Vera whose own love of food inspired my passion for cooking. While this is an individual award, it is a reflection of the dedication and support of the team at MacNean House and Restaurant. They are like a family and their on-going commitment to excellence is something I am very grateful for.”
“I would also like to thank my wife Amelda, as being married to a chef is not always an easy task. We are so appreciative and grateful for the support of our loyal customers in Blacklion and across the Ulster region. We are committed to continuing to push the boundaries of culinary excellence in Ireland.”
Pádraic Óg Gallagher, President of the Restaurants Association of Ireland explains, “This year’s awards have been the biggest, brightest- and the best. They are the awards everyone wants to be associated with, and everyone wants to be a winner. As a testament to their success, we’ve seen a huge increase in nominations and votes since last year, with over 19,000 nominations for Ireland’s favourite restaurants, chefs, gastro pubs, hotel restaurants, restaurant managers and ‘foodie towns’ throughout the country. The Irish Restaurant Awards are all about celebrating those who have brought acclaim to the Irish food scene from abroad and who keep the restaurant industry thriving at home.”
Fulfilling a long-held dream, Neven officially opened his ‘Neven Maguire Cookery School’ alongside his award-winning restaurant in Blacklion, Co. Cavan in January 2014. The state-of-the-art cookery school provides a range of exciting culinary classes for all skill levels, tours of Neven’s extensive vegetable and herb collection, as well as an intimate ‘Chef’s Table’ experience. All classes are personally facilitated by Neven and his team.
Neven is one of Ireland’s most popular chefs and has achieved numerous accolades for his skills in the kitchen as well as for his MacNean House & Restaurant. Neven’s eleventh cook book, The Nation’s Favourite Food, was released by Gill & Macmillan in October 2013 and his RTÉ TV series ‘Home Chef’ broke viewing records in 2013 with an average of over 480,000 viewers tuning in to each show. The series was picked up by America’s PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) in the States and has been showing there since November 2013. Home Chef is also broadcast in the UK.
The multiple award-winning MacNean House & Restaurant employs a team of fifty staff and makes a substantial contribution to the local economy of Blacklion and the surrounding areas.
