West Cork-based chef: We’re trying to source everything within about 10km

YOU know the story: boy meets West Cork, boy falls in love with West Cork, decides to live there, opens an exciting new restaurant, and lives happily ever after.

Jack Bell, age 35, is the chef-proprietor of Jacks at Pilgrims Rest in Rosscarbery. It’s the same location previously occupied by much-loved Pilgrim’s restaurant which closed earlier this year.

In a way, Jacks at Pilgrims Rest has big shoes to fill. The reality is that, since opening in early July, the restaurant has been well and truly embraced by locals and visitors alike, who enjoy high-end versions of classic brunch and lunch dishes in a relaxed and convivial atmosphere.

He is the latest émigré to the county’s premier food region. Originally from Portloe, Cornwall, via eight generations of Yorkshire fish merchants, Jack comes with an impressive résumé of restaurant experience.

Since the age of 13, the kitchen has been his whole world. When not in school, he was pot washing, and from there, watching the world of the kitchen brigade play out before him, worked his way up the ranks, including Michelin kitchens and owning multiple restaurant businesses, latterly in Essex.

He stumbled upon the market town of Rosscarbery when he took a position at The Celtic Ross Hotel as Food and Beverage Manager in January this year, and quickly rose to Deputy General Manager.

A self-starter and highly motivated worker, it was a need for a change of scenery and the chance of a fresh start that brought him to this part of the world.

Going and working for someone else was for a bit of security, but I realised I couldn’t do it; I had to be my own boss, I need to work for myself.

Jack was about to leave for another change of scenery, this time to Kerry, but something told him to take one more look online to see if anything was available in the area.

“That’s when I saw this place,” he says. “I fell in love with the building, and there’s something about Rosscarbery anyway. Even though I’ve been here such a short period of time, everyone has been so friendly, and the produce is just outstanding.

“I grew up in Cornwall surrounded by seafood, but here the quality is unbelievable; some is even better than Cornwall – the cheese and fish are great!”

West Cork is a playground of produce for chefs like Jack.

“We’re trying to source everything within about 10km,” he says. “A few things come a bit further; for example, our beef comes from Bantry. We’re working with three local allotment gardeners, as well as Allshire’s for pork, Caroline Murphy for eggs, and Sally Barnes for our smoked fish.

“Nowhere I’ve ever been or lived has matched up to what there is here. Everything is on your doorstep; you don’t have to go far, and the quality of what’s available means our menu could go in any direction we want.”

The food offering at Jacks at Pilgrims Rest is currently brunch and lunch seven days a week, and a hearty roast on Sundays. From August, a twice weekly evening dinner service has been available Friday and Saturday.

“It’s French classics with twists - that is my style of cooking. I’m classically trained but doing fancy gastronomic cooking is not my bag. I’d rather find the best piece of turbot, the best piece of plaice, the nicest tomatoes, and treat them with respect and get the most flavour out of them to put a plate of food together that’s not too complicated,” he says. “Simple is best.”

“Everything is homemade here. Some simple poached eggs from West Cork Eggs with avocado, homemade chilli and lime jam, that’s our best seller at the moment. Eggs in Hell is like patatas bravas with a spicy tomato sauce and roasted Clonakilty potatoes, eggs, local coriander and a herb oil. Steak and Eggs with Chimichurri sauce; a lovely French Bread with Glandore Honey and either Bushby’s or Union Hall strawberries.

Lots of classic brunch dishes, but what we’re aiming for is that, for example, it’ll be the best poached eggs you’ve ever had – that’s our aim.

“The Sunday Roast is lovely. Blushing roast sirloin of beef from Bantry, beautiful baby carrots and parsnips from up the road, roast potatoes, swede and carrot mash, served with a stunning gravy made from roasted veal bones that takes 36 hours to make. No Yorkshire puddings though!”

When the evening menu kicks off, diners will be treated to a multi-course tasting menu, but while the dishes leaving Jack’s kitchen will be refined and elevated even more, he is determined the experience will be anything but restrained.

“We’ll highlight the local produce and cooking techniques we’ll use, but I don’t want the evening to be stuffy in any way. The casualness of the day will flow into the night, but you’ll have quality wines, and we’ll reduce our capacity from 90 during the day to 40 at night. It’ll be a little more formal than the daytime, but it’ll still be busy and have that buzz.”

All this speaks to Jack’s wish to put his restaurant at the heart of the community that has made Jack feel welcome.

“I didn’t know anything about West Cork or Ireland before I came. I have friends in Cork who said to come over, and that’s what I did. I started visiting different places, and just fell in love with Ireland.

“It’s very similar to being home in Cornwall, but there’s something better about it here, and I can’t put my finger on it. 

There’s just something here that’s really special. I feel instantly at home, everyone has been so welcoming to me and supportive of the restaurant. 

"We have 25 members of staff working here, and all are local or living local.”

It’s a remarkable comeback by someone put through the mill, experiencing profound personal challenges and changes. But Jack’s passion for his craft keeps propelling him onward.

While he is across all stations of the kitchen, his heart lies in pastry (where he excelled in his early career), and the fish station no doubt is an homage to his family’s heritage as fish merchants.

West Cork itself was an important centre for the herring fishery in times past, when pier side women were busy gutting, salting and barrelling the slick fishes for trading.

There used to be oyster beds and an oyster festival in Rosscarbery, and Jack has hopes of reviving the town’s old oyster festival.

“Fish has always been a massive part of my life. I’m eighth generation in our family involved with fish, since 1720 in Yorkshire when the first shop was registered, all the way through to the 1920s. Bell and Son’s were wholesale fishing curers; mainly herring, but also salmon. My great, great grandfather started the second shop which really kicked off the business in the 1800s. There was a square, like Rosscarbery, that was renamed Bell’s Yard, and it’s still there now. We had about six shops in the end, but we moved the fish around the Yorkshire Dales by horse and trap.”

Jack’s focus is on building strong relationships with local producers, creating a dining experience that is a welcoming social hub for catch-ups and celebrations, and cooking up a storm at the stove.

“I want Jacks at Pilgrims Rest to be an experience that’s not just about the food – it’s the whole package. Come, not just because the food is great, but because the staff are amazing, the buzz is great, there’s lovely drinks, amazing cocktails. It’s not all about me; it’s about the team.”

Back in the UK, Jack was an ambassador for The Burnt Chef Project, a mental health charity supporting those working in the hospitality industry.

“I struggled with my mental health when I was very young, and as soon as I moved to Ireland, I realised how much of an issue it was here, too,” Jack says.

Hospitality has always had a bad rep but talk to any of my staff here: work is work, obviously, but we all have a really good time at the same time. It’s important to me to change the misconceptions of hospitality.

Balance is key, and not something easily attained when you’re the owner of a new restaurant operating seven days a week in a place you’re still learning to settle into.

“Obviously, I’m working a lot right now, but I’m in a trade I absolutely love. I’ve tried other things, and I always go back to hospitality,” Jack says.

“It’s the buzz of service, but I love prepping for service as well – the build-up; early mornings, meeting suppliers and getting their produce, building those relationships because then it’s fun and everyone you’re working with are friends more than staff.”

The reception since opening has been positive and supportive.

“Everyone’s loving it; we’ve been very busy with a real mixture of people. We opened very quietly. It was important to get everything settled in and the team working together. Customer expectations are higher, people are short of money, so when they go out, they expect something phenomenal, whether that’s a €12.50 avocado and poached eggs or a black sole at €40. It’s got to be right at all levels, and hopefully we can exceed those expectations.”

From brunch and lunch with generous jugs of mimosa, to Sunday roasts and evening dinner, where the weekend buzz is accompanied by trad or DJ tracks, Jacks at Pilgrims Rest is a neighbourhood restaurant that offers something for everyone.

Open seven days a week, 9am-5pm. Food served 10am-3pm with brunch and lunch menus. From mid-August, dinner service from 6pm. Instagram: @jacksatpilgrimsrest. Reservations: 023 883 1796.

Next week: Kate Ryan interviews Cork chef, Nell McCarthy, of Cashel Palace