The Tavern on shortlist for national awards

THE Tavern Bar and Restaurant in Murrisk are in the news again.

They are regional finalists for the Irish Pub Awards and have been shortlisted in no less than three categories for the prestigious Hotel & Catering Review Gold Medal Awards.

The categories are Wild Atlantic Way Restaurant, Menu Provenance Award and Ireland's Rising Star Chef of the Year for their head chef, Pauline McGovern.

Pauline McGovern joined the team at The Tavern a decade ago and since then has put her distinctive stamp on the kitchen. Rising to the position of head chef after three years, she has led the team to honours, top of which is inclusion in Michelin Eating Out in Pubs Guide for the last four years.

Hailing from just outside Westport, Pauline has a love of foraging and collecting from nature which far precedes the current trend. She has always harvested from both the seashore and the inland woods and hedgerows, reaping nature’s bounty and incorporating it into her cooking.

Seaweed and samphire, edible flowers and wild berries all find their way into her dishes. Her style is firmly stamped in traditional Irish cuisine, incorporating influences from France, the Mediterranean and Asia but always maintaining a genuine Irish core. A popular example from the standard menu is Mediterranean spiced Mayo lamb.

As you’d expect from a foraging chef, provenance is of the ultimate importance to Pauline and she works tirelessly with chef/owner Myles O’Brien to ensure that their produce is of the highest quality. They use many local producers for vegetables, salad leaves, meats and fish. Much of their shellfish comes from the local waters of Clew Bay, literally outside the door.

Pauline is a talented pastry chef and produces a constant stream of delicious breads, pastries and desserts, including the sweet crispy twists served with every cup of coffee. Under her tutelage the standard is consistently high.

Pauline has been an integral part of developing menus for the special nights and festivals for which The Tavern is well known, and periodic Mescan Nights where the specially developed menu pairs each course, including dessert, with a matching beer from the local craft brewery Mescan.

Now in their 29th year, the Gold Medal Awards are recognised as the leading independent awards for the Irish hospitality industry. Judging is carried out by independent industry experts.

The awards will be presented at a black-tie gala dinner on September 26 at The Lyrath Estate Hotel, Kilkenny.