‘After 20 years, it was time for a change’: Cork chef on decision to sell popular restaurant

Those pining at the imminent departure of chef Barry McLoughlin from his Bandon restaurant Poachers will be relieved to hear he is not planning on hanging up his apron for good.

Barry recently took to social media to announce plans to sell the hugely popular award-winning restaurant he has run with his wife Catherine for the past two decades, causing widespread surprise.

The questions on everyone’s mind are ‘why?’ and ‘why now?’

“It was a very considered decision,” says Barry. “Coming up to the 20-year mark, we had a good think; we had a think what life would look like if we stayed, and what it would look like if we made a change.

“And we felt we could make a change at the moment while we’re still young enough to try new things,” said Barry, 52.

Despite his unwavering commitment to the business - having steered it through a recession and a global pandemic, picking up accolades along the way - it wasn’t a daunting decision as such, he said.

“Catherine and I both arrived at a similar conclusion - we’ve had a really interesting, very rewarding period here. We loved the fact that we were doing this in our own town, we were very motivated by that, we took that responsibility seriously, but the 20-year mark initiated thoughts of, what’s next.”

“It’s like a big birthday, you reflect a bit,” Barry added. “If you’re staying, you’re planning, and you’re trying to deliver on that plan because you do have to think ahead.

“We weighed it up and we figured we have time to do something different, to put our energy into something else,” said Barry.

What that ‘something else’ is, is still a bit unclear, and there are lots of options being explored.

“I’ve been working on something with others lately in this sector, it’s still at early stages still, nothing concrete,” Barry said.

“I absolutely love the buzz of cooking and food service. It is really so enjoyable so I think some of the future will have some involvement in that, just with a little less responsibility.

“We’re not retiring and we’re very keen to throw ourselves into something else, just with a bit more flexibility, a bit more free time,” he said.

Barry previously worked in Kinsale’s Fishy Fishy before opening Poachers in 2006. From then until covid hit, they served lunch and dinner seven days a week, and while Barry mightn’t have been on shift for every service, he was never too far away - not that he’s complaining about the workload.

“You sign up for that, we understood the commitment involved,” he said.

“But equally, after two decades, we’re making a decision to kind of lessen that responsibility.”

Never once did he consider walking away from the business, despite its demands.

“When we started we were in a boom, after that there was a challenging recession, and at the moment inflation has hit, but that will pass, it’s a period in time,” said Barry.

“That’s something we have to accept, it’s not all plain sailing and you have to factor that into your thinking when you’re embarking on a long period of running a business.”

His last service will have a large helping of emotion on the side, as Poachers has not only been a business, but was where his relationship with Catherine, an accountant, blossomed.

“Her first job was in Poachers when it was called Reilly’s Daughter in the early 1990s. She worked here and we played rugby and would pop in after Tuesday night training,” Barry recalls.

What’s it like working with your other half?

“Catherine is front of house, I’m mostly in the kitchen so it helped! We’d run into difficulty if we were both on the floor because we’d talk too much!”

The restaurant was in fact named after Barry’s late father Joe, a well-known vet.

“He was a big influence and support. We were struggling to name the place and he threw it out there and we loved it!” recalls Barry.

The couple are parents of three, with two in college and one in fifth year, all of whom have worked in the restaurant.

“Like all of the students we had over the years, they gained a lot of benefits from it. It’s an amazing industry for young people,” Barry said.

His advice to the next owners of Poachers is to “embrace it, enjoy it”.

He added: “You’re coming into a fantastic town that’s coming to an end of some very large infrastructural projects, there’s a fantastic opportunity for you, in a really good community.

“I’m very proud of Bandon, and the people here are very fair and very supportive.”

Among other things, in the next chapter of his life, Barry is looking forward to having more time to enjoy gardening.

“I mightn’t have the proof of it yet, but after many years I can see how people really get into it and get rewarded from it,” he said.

“I also do a bit of swimming in the nicer months and help out where I can in the local rugby club.”

But in the meantime… it’s service as normal.