The Pubs of Cork: ‘We welcome people here like it’s our kitchen’

Picture this: boy meets girl working in a restaurant across the street from the bar he works in.

He swings by twice a week and orders a pint, so he has an excuse to talk to her.

She gets caught up in his big blue eyes.

They chat. They laugh. They fall in love.

For Charlie and Brendan O’Sullivan, their love story was the start of a life together fuelled by a shared passion for hospitality, and a gift for warm welcomes and the promise of good times.

Kinsale’s newest wine and cocktail bar, All Apologies, is all those things – and more.

“All Apologies is where you can leave your apologies at the door. Come and misbehave! Let loose on the dance floor; have one too many cocktails. The apologies are on the walls!”, says Charlie.

When they met in Dublin, Charlie was recovering from malaria picked up working in Mozambique.

“I got a job with Rita Crosby at H Bar in Grand Canal Dock,” says Charlie. 

“She took me under her wing. She’d look at me sometimes and say: You look so tired; get this girl a glass of champagne!”

Brendan was working at Dublin wine bar Ely and, as their romance blossomed, Charlie’s passion for wine was reignited.

“They used to call me ‘Bin Ends’ because they would give me the last of the wine on the house. I got to drink some exquisite wines for free, which was a real privilege but also developed my palate,” says Charlie.

Born and raised in Queens, New York, the son of an Irish garda and an Italian American academic editor, Brendan came to Dublin to study medicinal chemistry at Trinity.

“I was working in bars while studying to try and keep myself afloat,” says Brendan.

“I bluffed through my first shift in Ely. I couldn’t remember the names of the specials, so I named them after members of the French football team from the 98 World Cup!”

Despite the iffy start, it was here Brendan found his passion for hospitality.

“I gained a respect for the craft of hospitality, and I didn’t want to be in college anymore. I moved to Coppinger Row, and that’s where I discovered my love for cocktails.”

The dream was to one day open a venue of their own. But with no money to do it with, they set off to the bright lights of New York with a plan to spend a few years working hard, save as much and learn as much as possible, and come back to Ireland ready to go.

“I arrived bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to New York in 2019, and we had both landed our dream jobs,” says Charlie. “But then covid hit almost immediately, everything closed, and we were in a part of New York with the highest levels of covid. It was a horror zone.”

Home suddenly felt very far away.

“Coming back, we were lost as to what we were going to do, but Cork was calling,” she says.

West Cork held a special place for Charlie, but only Kinsale matched what they needed for their dream business, ticking every box.

“We moved here and never looked back,” Charlie says.

The pair settled into Kinsale life, landing great jobs in Rare and then The Black Pig, where owners Siobhan Waldron and Gavin Ryan sponsored Charlie’s sommelier exams.

But soon after moving to Kinsale, Brendan and Charlie both lost much-loved uncles.

“My uncle Vito died in his sleep,” says Brendan. “He was a party animal. There’s a plaque on a dive bar he used to go to, and you can have a vodka Diet Coke in his honour. He was all personality and big heart.”

“My uncle passed away when I was working in Rare,” Charlie says. “He was like a second dad to me, and his favourite thing in the world was restaurants, hospitality, wine, music, hosting. He was like a magnet to people in a room. He died suddenly, and I was heartbroken.”

In their passing, both uncles left Brendan and Charlie enough money to pursue their dream of opening a bar.

“We literally have angel investors!”, says Charlie.

“They were the two people that allowed us to misbehave,” says Brendan. “They’d be up with us at 4am drinking, partying, joking and laughing. They showed us the fun sides of life more than anyone else. It made sense that with their money we should do a bar.”

All Apologies is not just a bar with great cocktails, a fantastic wine list, and delicious eats; it’s also a legacy and an homage to all the people that helped shaped Charlie and Brendan lives.

The bar takes its name from the song of the same name by Nirvana, a band they both love.

“We were listening to the song, and both said how much we loved it,” says Charlie. “It’s also about us saying we don’t take ourselves too seriously because we are constantly apologising for everything!”

All Apologies existed as a concept before it was ever a physical place and lit the touchpaper of interest in a novel way.

“Barbara, from St Francis Provisions, approached us and asked us about doing a pop-up,” Charlie says. “She hadn’t even tasted our cocktails yet, but she’s great at giving people a platform.” The event sold out, and the carefully curated plan to have three seatings of 20 people quickly dissolved.

“Nobody would leave, which is probably the best compliment,” says Charlie. “It was like a cocktail rave. At one point we were doing 3.4 cocktails per minute - slamming them out!”

The positive feedback fuelled them onto other successful nights at The Black Pig and at The Old Posthouse, enabling them to road test the concept and let Kinsale know All Apologies had arrived.

But they still needed a space to call home.

At the cocktail rave, friends said to try the old Vista Bistro venue on Kinsale’s harbour front.

With its picture windows, sunshine terrace, and outdoor pet-friendly space on the ground floor, they thought it would be “too rich for [their] blood”. “But” says Charlie, “the owners, Colette and Graham, wanted the space used again, and made us an offer that was crazy to turn down.”

Ever since, they have been busy creating a space with a welcoming vibe. The bar is bijoux so that, when the mood is right, tables can be pushed back, the music cranked up, and the dance floor ignited.

“We welcome people here like it’s our kitchen,” says Charlie. “We want it to be a place that’s unpretentious, but the food and drink offering is really great. If you want to come in for a beer, a gin and tonic, there’s no pressure. That’s a big part of what we’re trying to do here.”

Brendan brings an everyman mantra from a New York bar he worked at that vodka tonic keeps the lights on. “We don’t turn our nose up at anybody. We respect everyone’s order,” he says. “We often didn’t have a lot of money and would save up to go out, so the experience was important to us. We remember going to places where people would look us up and down, check out our shoes, and give us the crappy table. For us, hospitality is about welcoming everybody, regardless,” says Charlie.

The ethos at All Apologies is good times, good drinks, and good food served as sustainably as possible. That means leaning into the best of seasonal flavours, local produce, and sourcing as close to home as possible across wine, cocktail and food menus.

All Apologies cocktails are a blend of classic and signature drinks. Descriptors include Sharpeners, Bitters, Spritzes, Aperitivos, Classics and Signatures. There is also an impressive gallery of sherry, vermouth, whisk(e)ys, beers and spirits. Efforts to source drinks made in Cork first, then Munster, then Ireland before looking elsewhere is a reminder that Ireland’s craft drinks are world-class imbibes.

A generous selection of Low ABV cocktails, craft soda, kombucha, and other low- or no-alcohol drinks reflect the trend for drinking less alcohol, and a considered full-alcohol craft cocktail menu.

“Our No & Low ABV menus are for people who don’t drink or don’t drink very much, but we want them to feel like they’re still being looked after and not an afterthought. We want our cocktails to be as good for anyone who’s not drinking as someone who is.”

Signatures include Heart-Shaped Box, the perfect drink for the decision-fatigued! Tell your bartender what you mostly like (i.e., gin and citrus) and they’ll shake you up something tailored to your taste and mood.

The No Apologies Negroni is a savoury twist on the classic nothing-but-booze aperitivo, fat washed with a chilli cashew oil with nutty notes of sesame and gentle spice. Meringue-Oh-Tang is a dessert lemon cocktail topped with a whip of sweet Swiss meringue.

Or try out a Hoochie Brew, a cold brew nitro coffee infused with a spirit (think whiskey, rum or cognac) for a modern take on liqueur coffee.

“The idea is to get that almost Guinness sensation with a lovely Irish coffee vibe. We’re partnering with West Cork Coffee on that,” says Brendan.

While cocktails are Brendan’s domain, Charlie commands the wine selection which is all about making wine accessible and enjoyable.

“I just want to give somebody a glass of something they’ll really enjoy. I often will say to someone, what mood are you in? What do you feel like? Then it’s all about finding something on your list that’s going to suit every mood.

“I also wanted it to be accessible, and every single wine on there I absolutely love. I’m working with six different wine suppliers which means I can rotate my list,” she says.

“Our entry level is a stunning Verdejo, all the way through to some high-end Burgundies, and even some experimentals from BLANKBOTTLE. Most of our wines are sustainable, organic, from smaller producers, and if there is a romantic back-story to how it’s made, even better!

“We offer the option of wines as a 100ml servings so people can try different wines affordably. A glass starts at €7.40, but most are available for under €9 a glass.”

The final element is the food, and they are fortunate to have a chef pairing as clued into seasonality and sustainability as they are.

“Our chefs were the missing piece of our puzzle, but we are fortunate enough to have two amazing chefs,” says Charlie. “Robert Birins has come to us from Cask and Paradiso, and Jaden Mascarenhas is formerly of Kai (Galway) and Rare, both with a low-waste approach to their cuisine.

“There will be lots of beautiful small plates with menus changing every week, and we’re working with some great local producers like Food for Humans, Gortnacrusha, Glenmar Seafood, Ummera, Twomey’s Butchers, and Toons Bridge,” she says.

“It’s exciting to keep as close to the source as possible because everything on our doorstep is so great. Our chefs are passionate, creative, and buzzing to get stuck in.”

Mainly open evenings, Sunday is for brunch featuring a four-course meal with a reviver of your choice, offering the cure for what ails you with the All Apologies promise that: “If we messed you up the night before, we’ll fix you on Sunday morning!”

All Apologies is open Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday, 5.30pm to close, and Sunday Brunch 12.30-4pm. Pre-booking for Brunch via www.allapologiesbar.com.