Harry McKeogh forged the template for his restaurant even before he opened his doors back in 2000, and for over a decade he has stuck with the things he knows to be good and right, the dishes that work.
He returned to Clare having worked with the great Johnnie Cooke in Dublin and, like his former boss, he loves clear, clean, balanced, sweet flavours and the sort of combinations that give a dish poise, that give a dish nous, integrity. He’s a smart cook, and it shows – if he makes confit of duck he puts it with ginger and sesame, because that’s what works. If he fries up prawns then he congratulates their sweetness with garlic, lemon and herbs, because that’s what you do. With rack of lamb, it’s mint salsa verde. With beef, it’s mushrooms and spinach with fondant potato. In a way, the Cherry Tree cooking is K.I.S.S. cooking – except it’s not ‘keep it simple, stupid’. Instead, it’s keep it simple, sublime. For at its best, this food has an elegance and drama that goes beyond the ingredients, and the captivation of the food is matched by the smart, bright modern room.
