The take-away offerings at newly opened Piply are radically different to the norm. Garrett Fitzgerald talks to us about the philosophy behind his healthy new food venture with business partners Eamon Lynch and Alex Gartland.
Garret, what led you to set up Piply?
A well-known fact about the catering industry and chefs in particular is that, while we work with lovely food all day, we don’t always have the best of diets ourselves. When we get home we’re not necessarily always up for cooking, so we often end up reaching for the take-away menu and having something quite indulgent. Piply was born out of that realisation about ourselves. We could see there was a gap in the market so we’ve tried to put together a take-away menu that’s nutritionally balanced and nourishing, as enjoyable as any of the other take-away options available. It’s healthy and vibrant so you should feel very satisfied after it, without the guilt of indulgence!
How do you decide on the nutritional aspects of the menu?
We design new dishes with our team here and consult with our dietician Clare Gray. It’s very much a collaborative approach and the strong emphasis on the nutritional value forces us to be more creative. We take the lead, do an initial draft of the menu and then the dietician gives her angle on it. We’re able to derive the calorific and nutritional information of each of the dishes, and present that on the website so people have a complete picture of what they’re ordering. We’re always trying to source other ways of dialing up the flavour side of things, so we use lots of fresh herbs and fragrant ingredients such as lemongrass, ginger and garlic to enhance the flavour. It’s all very transparent and we’ve also been very careful that there are no hidden sugars or salts.
Was it easier to get Piply up and running than Brother Hubbard?
There’s so much happening now on the food scene in Dublin and there’s a lot of confidence, but when we opened Brother Hubbard four years ago there was a completely different environment. It was the height of the recession and sometimes I look back and wonder how on earth I was brave enough [laughs]. You feel very vulnerable with any new venture, you’re risking a lot of investment and there’s an emotional element to it all. You worry if people will like it and if you’ll get the response you need, so it’s very reassuring when you get the kind of enthusiastic response that we’ve got so far. Piply is very different to running a café or a restaurant, and even though we’re open just a very short time the word of mouth has been very satisfying. We already have a number of regular customers, an interesting mix of people at home and those working late in offices, looking for something healthy to eat.
How did you come up with the name?
What I love about the food business is the creativity and the collaboration, for me it’s very much about working with other people, bouncing ideas back and forth and learning from each other. Three of us, myself, Eamon Lynch [head chef in Sister Sadie until recently] and his partner Alex have been working on this together. We wanted something representative of a new beginning, and because a pip is representative of a seed, generally found in something nourishing like fruit and vegetables we thought that would be a nice angle. We felt “pip” was too short and a bit sharp on its own so we thought we’d make it a little more fun and friendly by calling it Piply. I have to say there was a lot of debate about the name. Designing the menu was easy in comparison!
What dishes would you recommend for those coming to Piply for the first time?
The menu in Brother Hubbard and Sister Sadie is anchored in Middle Eastern Food so there’s a clear influence there. Piply serves a wider audience and while it’s not tied to a single cuisine, we have the same pure approach to the food, so the menu is very visual and fresh. Chicken Laska is a healthy refreshing dish that I’m really passionate about. It’s a lovely, warming, Malaysian style broth with chicken, fresh spinach and lots of herbs. We view it as our gateway dish for people used to ordering Thai or Indian food. There’s a really fresh, zingy herb mix with shredded red cabbage and carrot and a little bit of sesame seed on top. Our vegetarian main course is a sweet potato and kidney bean chilli that comes with a little pot of guacamole and some chargrilled sweet corn. It’s one of those dishes with lots of different things going on so every mouthful tastes completely different.
We also have fresh Vietnamese style summer rolls made using lovely soft rice paper, packed full of different vegetables with lots of herbs and spiced peanuts. There’s a nice dipping sauce with that and not only is it delicious, you really will feel better for having eaten it! We’re interested in being creative so we’re keen that the menu evolves in response to the seasons and what people are asking for, and we’re hoping to expand the service to other areas in the future.
Piply’s offerings can be ordered online at piply.ie or by phone on 01 555 7077, with a delivery area that covers parts of Dublin 2, Dublin 6 and Dublin 8 initially.
Words: Martina Murray
