{"id":159923,"date":"2025-11-03T05:27:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T05:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/159923\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T05:27:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T05:27:16","slug":"the-italian-restaurant-in-dublin-that-takes-bookings-90-days-in-advance-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/159923\/","title":{"rendered":"The Italian restaurant in Dublin that takes bookings 90 days in advance \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Grano<\/a>, the wildly popular Italian restaurant<\/a> on Dublin\u2019s<\/a> northside, is many wonderful things but it is definitely not big, and it quickly becomes clear that it\u2019s going to struggle to accommodate two people from The Irish Times standing around like eejits during dinner service.<\/p>\n

While it is not yet 7pm, things are getting busy \u2013 and by standing in all the wrong places at all the wrong times, we\u2019re getting in the way. So we retreat to the shadows to watch. <\/p>\n

The kitchen, where three chefs are working quickly but calmly to produce some of the most authentic Italian food<\/a> west of the European boot, is not much bigger than what you might find in a typical Irish three-bed semi, while the restaurant floor, with space for 40 diners, is no bigger than many Irish sittingrooms.<\/p>\n

Its size, of course, is part of its charm, because what is rare is beautiful. Free tables in Grano are rare indeed.<\/p>\n

The front-of-house staff and the kitchen staff weave around each other effortlessly (at least until The Irish Times breaks their rhythm) and plates move swiftly from the pass to simple wooden tables. Elenice Parente is quietly rolling pasta into thin tubes that will soon make their way on to those plates. The space the Brazilian lawyer-turned-pasta-maker is using could have been given over to another table to generate extra revenue, but her presence on the restaurant floor reminds diners that fresh pasta rolled before their eyes is central to the Grano mission. It all plays out to a soundtrack of gentle laughter and quiet jazz. It is all so mellow and gorgeous.<\/p>\n

But all that gorgeousness takes planning.<\/p>\n

At 10am the engine that powers Grano starts purring with just three people in the kitchen \u2013 the owner Roberto Mungo<\/a>, the chef Francesco Chiodi and the pasta man Giovanni Mannino. <\/p>\n

They talk quietly in Italian as they go about their business, prepping the fillings for the ravioli and setting up the sauces that will be central to tonight\u2019s short and focused menu.<\/p>\n

But by that time, one member of staff working next door in A Fianco, the wine bar Mungo opened three years after Grano in 2022, is already nearly halfway through his shift. <\/p>\n

\"RobertoRoberto Mungo of Grano, Stoneybatter. Photograph: Dan Dennison \"Grano,Grano, Stoneybatter. Photograph: Dan Dennison \"Grano,Grano, Stoneybatter. Photograph: Dan Dennison <\/p>\n

Pastry chef Alan Heffernan already has his first batch of focaccia and sweet treats resting on baking trays before being devoured by the 60 or so people who will be fed at Grano tonight. He is starting to work on the tiramisu. <\/p>\n

Back in the main kitchen, a giant pot of beef shin mixed with a mountain of onions has been cooking overnight, soon to be pulped to stuff the ravioli Mannino is making from scratch. <\/p>\n

Chiodi is marinating venison and prepping pumpkin beside a giant pasta boiler, which is next to a huge pot of simmering tomato sauce.<\/p>\n

Grano is a restaurant built on simplicity, strong family bonds, a sense of social solidarity and community. And warm comfort food like you might find at home \u2013 if your home was a village in the south of Italy and if your family was steeped in the traditions of Calabrian cuisine. <\/p>\n

Chiodi has been in Ireland for almost 18 years, and has been working with Mungo for the past decade, having met him in another restaurant in north Dublin. Before coming to Ireland, he worked as a chef in Rome for 15 years. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have never made carbonara here,\u201d he says, although the dish is from his home city. \u201cWe do make amatriciana though, and that is almost a Roman dish. It is great here. We are a small team and we spend an awful lot of time dancing around the kitchen. We give out about each other, of course; it\u2019s like a family that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCooking here is a little bit like a dance all right,\u201d says Mungo. \u201cYou have to get the rhythm just right. People might think there\u2019s a large number of staff in here all shouting \u2018Yes, chef,\u2019 but it\u2019s not like that at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

I don\u2019t want a bigger Grano. I love the way we work. I love my team. I love what we\u2019re doing every day<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Roberto Mungo<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mungo immigrated to Ireland from Amaroni in Calabria 17 years ago with hardly any money, and started out as a pot washer and kitchen porter. Mannino came from Italy to work as a farm hand in asparagus fields before moving into kitchens. Heffernan has a degree in zoology but a passion for baking, and spent 18 years perfecting his pastry skills in restaurants around the north of Italy, and five months working his way up in Chapter One before coming to Grano.<\/p>\n

Mungo can scarcely believe how his fortunes have changed in recent years. He knows it\u2019s far from a critically acclaimed restaurant in Dublin\u2019s north inner city he was reared.<\/p>\n

He arrived in Ireland with \u201cvery bad\u201d English, but he worked hard to learn the language and never lost sight of his dream of opening a restaurant. His grandmother had a restaurant in Calabria which served only fresh fileja pasta and tripe, while his parents ran a delicatessen.<\/p>\n

After serving time scrubbing pots at the sinks of various Irish kitchens, Mungo moved on to restaurant floors as a waiter and sommelier, but in his free time he learned more about food, and when he returned home to Italy to see his family he always made a point of taking cooking classes. <\/p>\n

He also saved assiduously, and when a small space in Stoneybatter on Manor Street in Dublin 7 came up for rent in 2018, he was ready to move. <\/p>\n

\"Grano,Grano, Stoneybatter. Photograph: Dan Dennison \"Grano,Grano, Stoneybatter. Photograph: Dan Dennison \"Grano,Grano, Stoneybatter. Photograph: Dan Dennison <\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was a lovely neighbourhood. I loved the sense of community, and my idea was to open a restaurant in the tradition that we have in Calabria. I wanted a small place with a short menu and not too many ingredients, with fresh pasta made with the ancient grains from where I am from at its heart. The idea was to give people the sense of a family dinner at home,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

The doors opened on December 5th, 2018, and despite being ready to catch the pre-Christmas rush, things were hanging in the balance when the Christ Church bells welcoming 2019 rang out. <\/p>\n

Mungo was working in the kitchen while his mother Roma \u2013 known to staff as Mamma Roma \u2013 was at a counter at the front of the restaurant, rolling out her fileja pasta all the way through the dinner service. <\/p>\n

\u201cHer being here was a game changer for me,\u201d Mungo says. \u201cHer support was very important and she was able to teach me some traditional techniques I didn\u2019t know. I know it sounds like an Italian stereotype, bringing your mom over, but I really needed her. It was just me, her and one other person doing the serving. We couldn\u2019t afford more staff.\u201d <\/p>\n

A few days in, mother and son were frazzled and fearful of the future. <\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the second week, we still didn\u2019t have enough customers and I was wondering if it was because our menu wasn\u2019t typically Italian,\u201d he says. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have things like lasagne or carbonara \u2013 the things Irish people might expect. It was very, very slow and my mom was so worried and wondering if we should change the menu. I said no, this is what we love, \u2018let\u2019s stick to the plan\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

My mom said one day that she gave me life, and I gave life back to them with the restaurants<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Robert Mungo<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And what exactly was the plan?<\/p>\n

Mungo wanted to serve only authentic food from his home place with freshly made pasta at the heart of everything. There were just a handful of starters, mains and desserts and some carefully chosen \u2013 but unfamiliar \u2013 wines from Calabria on the menu. <\/p>\n

While bookings weren\u2019t stellar, those who were coming through the doors seemed happy. \u201cThe vibe on the floor was good, but it was slow,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n

Early doors, the doyen of Irish dining Darina Allen of Ballymaloe came in. \u201cShe basically ate her way through the entire menu in a single sitting. She was so happy she gave me loads of hugs when she was leaving,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

Then came a review in The Irish Times in February 2019. Catherine Cleary summed Grano up: \u201cterrific handmade, home-cooked Italian food without shortcuts.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

She noted that \u201ccomfort home cooking can\u2019t be faked or mood-boarded into being with gingham tablecloths and Insta-friendly touches. Grano is the kind of place that won\u2019t get distracted by trends. It\u2019s the beloved food of childhood. That\u2019s the kind of cooking that crosses borders and translates into great food.\u201d <\/p>\n

Mungo woke up the morning it was published to dozens of emails and Instagram DMs from people looking to book a table. <\/p>\n

\"Grano,Grano, Stoneybatter. Photograph: Dan Dennison \"Grano,Grano, Stoneybatter. Photograph: Dan Dennison \"Grano,Grano, Stoneybatter. Photograph: Dan Dennison <\/p>\n

The year that followed was a great one for Grano, with queues out the door as people clamoured for a booking. Then Covid came and it was suddenly on the precipice again.<\/p>\n

But another twist was yet to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew that if we didn\u2019t act we would not survive, so two of us would come in every day and make sauces and pasta from 7am to midnight for people to eat at home. The people of Stoneybatter really supported us. They were part of our team, part of our family. The people in the neighbourhood felt it was important to help us so we survived, we managed to break even every month and to pay the bills.\u201d<\/p>\n

When restaurants were allowed to reopen, Grano was more popular than it had even been.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Restaurant review: Wine on tap and 15 pizzas on the menu at this Naples style Dublin spotOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

In 2021, Mungo opened A Fianco (meaning \u201cnext to\u201d) next door, to give people a place to have a drink while they were waiting for the table. It quickly became a place to eat in its own right. A Fianco has also given him extra kitchen space, and allowed him to move the baking and pastry elements there. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe only serve the fresh pasta that we make. We grow our own grains in Calabria now,\u201d he says with pride.<\/p>\n

Starting out, he bought grain from more traditional suppliers, but ensuring it was high quality and free from pesticides was a perennial problem. <\/p>\n

\u201cThen one day we were having dinner and my dad said that when he was a child, his parents had a farm, and beside their farm there was a small piece of land where there was grain growing. He said the people who owned that land were stopping because nobody wanted their grain any more because of the low yields. My dad said we could take it on and grow our own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mungo could scarcely believe the idea was a runner, but it worked, and the Mungos of Stoneybatter started growing ancient grains in Calabria. \u201cI love the idea of something that was being lost being revived. And I love that we know exactly what goes into the grains now, and know there are no pesticides.\u201d<\/p>\n

But of as much importance to Mungo is how the growing process has strengthened the father-son bond. \u201cFor five years I have been going to the farm with my dad and we chat and look at how the grain is growing and talk about the weather, and then we work together to bring it over.\u201d <\/p>\n

He says food provenance is \u201ccrucial for us. We buy from people after we have eaten together and shared wine together. We see how they work, and that\u2019s very important for us. We bring a lot of produce from Italy, but we also try and use Irish produce in season.\u201d <\/p>\n

Like all restaurants, Grano deals with cost of living struggles<\/a>, and Mungo points to \u201crent, rates, electricity and everything else. There are so many small expenses every day, and I need to pay attention to it all. I can\u2019t just cook. I have to pay attention to so many other things, from breaking plates and glasses to plumbers and all the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Would he ever be tempted to move from this small restaurant and expand the team so others take on all those day-to-day stresses, and he could sit back and watch the money roll in? <\/p>\n

\u201cGrano will be always be here,\u201d he says emphatically. \u201cI don\u2019t want a bigger Grano. I love the way we work. I love my team. I love what we\u2019re doing every day. I love my customers. I wouldn\u2019t be able to do something else, you know, I love all of this \u2013 bringing ingredients in and cooking them and talking with the guys and talking with the suppliers, and bringing in the wine. Of course it can be stressful sometimes when you are short of staff or something happens, but that\u2019s part of the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love my regulars. I live in Stoneybatter and I love the chats I have on my way to work, with the local butcher and the local barber.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then there was the time he had the chats with Stanley Tucci<\/a>, a man who really knows his Italian food.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Stanley Tucci in Dublin: \u2018We love Kerrygold \u2013 we have vats of it in our house\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in A Fianco and was doing the baking. I heard this voice outside. I follow Stanley Tucci on Instagram and I said to myself, that sounds really like Stanley Tucci, but it couldn\u2019t be him. What would he be doing in Stoneybatter? I went outside and it was him. He had heard about the restaurant from a friend of his in London. That blew my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sadly, he didn\u2019t have time to eat.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe next time,\u201d Mungo says. \u201cHe was such a nice man and so humble. His wife told me that the journalists in Ireland who were lining up to interview him got 15 minutes. And I got 40.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stanley Tucci might get a table next time, but others will struggle. Grano takes bookings 90 days in advance, and Mungo admits it \u201ccan be tricky for people to plan that far ahead and book a table in time\u201d.<\/p>\n

But there is not much he can do about it. The restaurant is small and popular; availability is always going to be a problem. \u201cIt is good just to send an email, maybe the day before or on the day because we get cancellations. People who live in the area just pop in on the off chance. We get no-shows like every other restaurant.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Pasta the Italian nonna way: \u2018Spaghetti alla bolognese does not exist\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Mungo peppers his conversation with talk about his parents. \u201cMy mom and dad are very proud. When I go home we always talk a lot about the restaurant. My dad will quiz me on where I am getting the salami and how I am slicing it. He still gives me tips, because he had his food shop for 30 years. He organises the pallets for shipping. And he is on first-name terms with all the couriers. My mom said one day that she gave me life, and I gave life back to them with the restaurants, because now they are involved and we are all working together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Grano, the wildly popular Italian restaurant on Dublin\u2019s northside, is many wonderful things but it is definitely not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[2190,18,117,64254,19,17,92937,361,5281,36847,92936],"class_list":{"0":"post-159923","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-cost-of-living","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-food-month","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-italian-cuisine","15":"tag-magazine","16":"tag-restaurant","17":"tag-stanley-tucci","18":"tag-stoneybatter"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115484114856375482","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}