Life’s a beach for Ballinadee man with seaside enterprises

CORK-born Olan Crowley visited Bali with his girlfriend, Maeve, in September, 2019. They stayed for a month, enjoying paradise, eating dragon fruit and smoothie bowls on the beach.

“It’s so cheap over there, it’s frightening. You can buy a bag of dragon fruit for 50 cent, here it’s €4.50 for one!” says Olan.

They were introduced to and inspired by this style of beach food.

Olan, who is a qualified accountant, worked for years in the city with different firms. Although he found much of the work enjoyable and interesting, he was left feeling somewhat unfulfilled. He was drawn to the memories of Bali and in 2021, after a year of Covid, he decided to give his food truck dream a go.

His initial plan was to work full-time in the city and to work part-time with his fledgling business, Bean & Berry.

“I knew I would get out of Bean & Berry what I put into it, the necessity for full-time hours was obvious after two weeks, so I handed in my notice and began the full switch of careers.”

Olan is a native of Ballinadee, which is a short distance from Garrettstown where he first put his food truck. If you visit Garrettstown now, you’ll see a smooth area of concrete where some trucks are positioned. When Olan first started over two years ago, the place was largely gravel.

Food trucks boomed during Covid as people had nowhere indoors to go. Olan’s was the first truck on the beach, and now there’s a range of different small businesses.

“There’s a real community feel around this area. The caravan parks bring thousands to the areas during the summer, also.”

As customers were casually strolling in for morning coffees, Olan was chatting to familiar faces. The sense of community feels strong and he appears to be in the middle of it.

There’s a large, semi-permanent sauna right next to his purple truck which is another dimension of business for Olan.

“Bronwyn Connolly, from Wild Design, has had this here for a while now and she asked me if I would like to be more involved, and since I’m here all the time, it was an easy decision for me.”

Olan, his food truck, and the sauna are there seven days a week for the summer and they’re there for as many days as possible during the winter.

“Throughout the whole winter, too?” I asked.

“Ya, we try to be. I have to move my truck further back and we move the sauna back too because the waves smash against the wall, and sometimes the waves will actually clear the whole sauna, even when it’s far back from the wall! You’ll get people standing on the wall allowing the waves to crash into them, because you can’t get in for a dip. It’s wild! And the views are amazing.”

Wild Wellness is the name of the sauna and Olan gave me a look inside. The panorama on that sunny morning was stunning as the encroachment of sparkling waves glittered endlessly.

Yoga is a massively popular beach activity nowadays and Olan, Bronwyn, and yoga teacher, Ciara O’Connell, have teamed up to offer a morning package of yoga, sauna and smoothie bowls.

“When we first started, we were aiming for six people to attend. Sometimes we didn’t even reach that target, but sure we went ahead anyway. Now, when Ciara advertises, she sells out classes of 25 every time – it’s great!

“People come early in the morning and they might still be here at midday. It’s a lovely day out and way to socialise.”

Olan has hosted a variety of different events. A local rugby team came out recently for some training, a sauna and a dip. Health coach, Sean O’C Fitness, came one morning with his obstacle course of equipment and had everyone competing in challenges on the beach.

Olan has hosted plenty of music, too, with performer Pa Fitz drawing a massive crowd and creating a festival buzz on the beach.

He’s opened a new premises up the hill from the beach and the overlooking views are spectacular. The morning I visited the sun was perfect, the temperature was warm, the breeze was light, and the early morning coffee sippers and dog walkers were enjoying their little slice of Irish summer from atop the hill.

The building in use was vacant for years, and when Olan asked the owner if he could rent the kitchen, the owner said, ‘Do you want to take the whole place?’

Olan, apprehensive at first, decided yes and has converted what used to be a beachside hotel into a slick and clean café with menu expansion ideas in the works.

Currently the Bean & Berry menu is available but it won’t surprise me if Olan expands on this sooner than expected as he clearly has an eye and a knack for growth.

Find him on Instagram @bean_and_berry_