It’s all about the fusion of French and Vietnamese cuisine at Béni Brasserie, where Head Chef Marcelo Batista Samuel has devised an extensive, globally inspired menu featuring Vietnamese dishes with a classic French twist. Aromatic dishes such as Green Tea Smoked Duck have been paired with award winning Lithuanian Craft Beers, fine wines and a unique range of signature cocktails. We caught up with Simon Cooper, the man behind the Dún Laoghaire newcomer, for a chat.
Simon, tell us how Béni Brasserie came about.
I’ve been in the food business my whole life. My mother owns the Hairy Lemon restaurant, so I’ve worked in the industry since I was very young. I’ve travelled a fair bit and I’ve been all around Vietnam and Thailand and I’d never experienced anything like the food I tasted there. I thought the different aromas and flavours were sensational and when I came back I wondered why those kinds of foods weren’t available in Ireland. I experimented with cooking for friends and quickly realized that there’s a huge appetite for this kind of food, so I found this beautiful premises with high ceilings and wooden floors, recruited some great staff and here we are!
What makes Vietnamese French Fusion different?
When the French colonized Vietnam two incredible types of cuisine fused and they created some phenomenal dishes as a result. Vietnamese food is actually the third healthiest food on the planet and it feels very fragrant and fresh. Star anise, cinnamon and black cardamoms are typical of Vietnam and very different to the type of food that you would find in Chinese cooking for instance. Our pho soup is homemade with beef stock, and infused with black cardamom, star anise, ginger and cinnamon. We add vermicelli noodles and thinly sliced beef and the beef is poached in the soup. It’s served with herbs and spices such as fresh lime, chillies and Thai basil on the side. You can add as many or as little of them as you like, so you can almost make your own dish and have it the way you like. It’s very tasty!
You’ve gone to a lot of trouble with your cocktails.
We brought in Milan Ormanovic, an award winning flair bartender, who does the spinning of bottles and the flipping and has some amazing videos on You Tube. He’s a beverage chef and the way he puts a drink together is really impressive. He trained all the staff and because he also created particular recipes for us we have some astounding drinks that you won’t find anywhere else in the world. We offer the Bomb Meringue, which includes chardonnay, plum bitters, egg whites, lime juice and white rum. Sometimes the egg white and alcohol fuse together and they erupt, so because of the explosive element we decided to call it the Bomb Meringue (laughs). We actually keep a spare shirt in the bar now because of that! It’s an amazing drink and it goes down very well. We bring Milan back in for training every now and again and if he’s here when you come in it’s quite a show!
What makes a dining experience at Béni Brasserie different?
Essentially we’re just trying to put our best foot forward in every way, we want the diner to have the best experience possible, so everything we do is about providing the customer with something new and top quality that they haven’t had before. We source our meats from Tony Gray and our seafood is supplied by Glanmire Irish Seafood Company who fish in Irish waters, so at every angle we’re providing the best possible product we can.
How easy has it been for Béni Brasserie to get established in Dún Laoghaire?
One of the reasons we came here is because Dún Laoghaire is such a beautiful place. It’s on the DART line by the sea and we’re offering a really nice dining experience with good value and good service. We’re here three months now and the reviews are great. With the beautiful building, the award winning chef and great staff it’s all come together nicely. Béni is actually the French word for blessed and that’s partly why we decided to call the restaurant Béni Brasserie. I really feel blessed!
Béni Brasserie 73 Upper George’s Street Dún Laoghaire For more see www.benibrasserie.com
Words: Martina Murray
Images: Béni Brasserie
