Brasserie Orange

Waterford's smart new Brasserie Orange opened with a series of four special gala dining nights. Eamon Barrett put on his good tie and went to see what was going down.

Wednesday March 30th saw the commencement of four nights of gala dining to mark the official opening of Brasserie Orange, Guy Kellners much-heralded new restaurant in Waterford city. Located in the building previously occupied by Martin Dwyer's eponymously titled - and Bridgestone Best 100 - restaurant, Kellners Brasserie Orange was launched in a very high profile and novel manner: over the course of four nights four different 'star' chefs cooked four completely different menus and at the end of the run profits from the events were donated to the local Garter Lane arts centre.

Kicking off on Wednesday night was Jean Louis Dumonet of the Carlyle Hotel in New York, Thursday was the turn of Victor Broceaux of Restaurant Associates, also New York based. On Friday night Laurent Gras, until recently Chef at the highly acclaimed Fifth Floor restaurant in San Francisco took to the stoves and to finish the week, Conrad Gallagher, well known to Irish diners, did the cooking on Saturday night.

It is a measure of the success of the PR campaign surrounding this restaurant that all four nights were sold out weeks in advance of the event.

On the Thursday night that we attended Laurent Gras, best known for his time at the acclaimed Fifth Floor restaurant in San Francisco, was in charge. The menu was fixed and apart from dessert was completely seafood.

To start a wonderful dish of diver scallops, perfectly cooked, served with a Riesling reduction and a sharp lemon verbena infusion, a great accompaniment. Next some 'Day Boat Brill' served with hot smoked jasmine tea and a lobster and foie gras sauce. A great looking dish, this was a super white piece of brill, cooked just a point, served on some lovely asparagus with shaved raw asparagus on top. The flavour from the brill was clean and fresh, the asparagus a great partner, the sauce adding a layer of complex flavour to an otherwise simple dish.

For main course some Atlantic salmon, served 'paella style' with some really perfect squid, a couple of langoustines and some cooked oysters, was a continuation of the extremely light nature of this menu. The saffron essence that accompanied the dish was 'barely there' and in truth this course could have done with a little more punch, a criticism that could certainly not be levelled at the dessert course, which was the knockout of the evening.

To begin, a small rice cake, lovely and chewy, topped with fresh grated coconut. Next a shot glass filled with chilled passion fruit juice with black pepper, wonderfully tart, like a favourite ice-lolly you remember from childhood, I kept wanting more. Finally a superb panna cotta topped with chocolate mousse and a layer of Belgian chocolate shavings. A great finish.

Kellner has completely transformed the old Dwyer's building creating an airy and funky double height space with a truly open kitchen. Upstairs is a private dining area and a cool lounge space with some 'marshmallow' style seating.

Ironically, now that the gala opening is over, the menu at Brasserie Orange is very simple and looks to be very well priced. Starters include some good salads, crab cakes, mussels in garlic cream and duck ravioli, to name a few, with prices from €6.00 to €10.00. Mains feature a choice of about fourteen different dishes with the emphasis on meat and game priced from €15.00 to €23.00.

Brasserie Orange, 8 Mary St. Waterford. Tel: 051-875880

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