'It's the right time': Owners of popular Cork café pass their business on to local chef

The owners of a popular café in Cork city centre have sold the premises to Cork-born chef Dermot O’Sullivan who will continue the ethos of the café.

Richard and Maireád Jacob of Idaho Café have decided to take some time out and said that while they have no immediate business plans, they have many ideas for the Idaho brand, all low volume, sustainable and country-based.

Idaho is set to become Greenwich, opening on Tuesday, January 25 under the new ownership of Mr O’Sullivan and both Richard and Mairéad have arranged to work alongside him in Greenwich for the first while after opening.

Speaking to The Echo, Mr Jacob said they are “delighted” to be passing on their business to “a like-minded person”.

We are both delighted to be passing on our business to a like-minded person. And we both think that it’s the right time, while we are proud of our business and still love going to work there.

"But it’s time to take some time out and stop running for a while,” he said.

In a statement on the Idaho website, they said: “21 years ago, today, we signed the lease for Idaho on Caroline Street.

“We have seen off economic collapses, Celtic Tigers, changes in currency, SSIAs, volcanic ash clouds, 9/11, main drainage schemes, awards, storms, a pandemic, property booms, property crashes, floods, resurfacing, politicians, USC, levies, curfews and whatever your having yourself.

You have been our friends, our customers, our inspiration, our drive, our reason and our motivation.

"We both feel that now is the perfect time to bow deeply and leave the stage.

“The pandemic created chaos, but also created change and allowed us to bring Idaho back to the personal and sharply edited place that it was when we opened.

“We think that Idaho has been as good, these last two years, as we have been since we opened and that now, is the perfect time to say stop.

“We have nothing left to prove, here.

Our incredible team, led by Colleen, have been our foundation, our strength, our friends, our everything.

They thanked their customers for “the trip of a lifetime” and described the journey as “epic”.