It’s the start of my meal in Stanley’s and the plate before me is a little intimidating. There are microgreens, ribbons of carrots. thin slices of radish, segments of clementine and dollops of a balsamic reduction. In the middle of all this is a wheel of a rabbit terrine coated with crushed pistachio and a quenelle of foie gras (€12). The terrine itself is exemplary and the foie gras suitably smooth, but I’m having a hard time enjoying them through the noise of the surrounding vegetables who are all vying for some attention.
Brothers Stephen and Patrick McArdle opened Stanley’s in November of last year. Between them, they’ve garnered an impressive restaurant resume that includes stints in Deanes in Belfast, Chapter One (in Dublin and London), and One Pico Dublin, not to mention Stephen’s Chef-Proprietor role at The Arch Bistro in Churchtown. Their restaurant is housed in the St. Andrew Street venue previously known as Dublin City Food and then Saint, which closed quietly last year.
My dinner date’s starter is right on point, however, and those years of experience come through in this dish. A deeply flavourful bowl of seared, sweet scallops, these plump and caramelised beauties come with pearl barley, smoked bacon and cauliflower purée (€14). It’s a delight and our expectations are high for the rest of the meal.
Around the room there are a few well-placed paintings of iconic American actors dressed as Napoleonic emperors; Clint Eastwood, Bill Murray and Christopher Walken all watch over us as we eat. We wonder where all the paintings of iconic women are? Interior architect and designer Suzie McAdam worked with the brothers on maximising the space, and a particularly expert eye has been applied to the stunning upstairs dining room. The room has always had so much potential, and its beautiful bay window has been painted a shade of mint green that runs through the rest of the room.
We both go for fish for our mains. My crispy skinned cod (€24) which comes atop a Jerusalem artichoke risotto and wilted purple sprouting broccoli is a success, while the halibut (€26) feels a tad under-cooked. We’re kept on-side by its glorious accompaniment of a shredded crubeen that is breaded and deep-fried, and balanced with a celeriac purée and a veal jus.
If you’re thinking this all sounds very wintery, I would say you were right. We visited in early March and this gamey, comforting menu was well suited to the crisp and cold winds that were still whipping around our streets. Their spring menu is now being phased in; I spotted a lamb, basil gnocchi, goats’ curd and red pepper dish on their Twitter feed that piqued my interest.
I think I’m missing out on a lot at Stanley’s by not drinking wine. The wine list is lengthy and the restaurant’s Twitter feed is abundant with libatious hashtags along the lines of #winewords and #winewednesdays. They’re clearly serious about their accompanying wines and our waitress, who is fantastic throughout the meal, is particularly helpful when trying to help my dinner date decipher the wine list.
Desserts don’t blow us away; my panna cotta (€8) could do with a bit more wobble and personality, though the homemade shortbread biccies on the side are wonderful. The lemon cream (€8) comes in a Martini glass loaded with berries and ascends from average to accomplished thanks to the tiny meringues that sit centre stage.
We corner the brothers before we leave to give them hell about the lack of Streep or Winfrey on their walls. We suggest Fey and Poehler might be a good addition, or, at the very least, a Markievicz. Gladly the brothers are totally on board with the idea.
I also take the opportunity to question Chef McArdle about the oranges in the foie gras. ‘I was getting my ingredients and saw that those little clementines were in season, so I wanted to help them find their way into the menu tonight.’ An admirable commitment to seasonality, sure, but isn’t less often more?
Our bill, which includes a €6.75 glass of the house red (a young Portuguese grape called Quadrifolia which translates from Latin as ‘four leaf clover’) and a large bottle of sparkling water, comes to €110.
Stanley’s is a place I really want to like; the brothers have created a beautiful dining room and are clearly writing a menu from a place of passion for great food. That foie gras starter was worrisome, though. It not only crowded the ingredients but it distracted from McArdle’s talents. More of the scallop starter and less of the gratuitous ingredients, please. And let’s see Streep on the wall, too!
Stanley’s Restaurant and Wine Bar
7 St. Andrew Street, Dublin 2
t: 01-4853273
w: www.stanleysrestaurant.ie
Words: Aoife McElwain
Photography: Mark Duggan
