{"id":633406,"date":"2026-08-12T15:40:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T15:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/633406\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T15:40:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T15:40:15","slug":"the-bottom-line-is-i-didnt-have-the-money-maggie-roches-wicklow-cafe-little-acorn-to-close-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/633406\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The bottom line is I didn\u2019t have the money\u2019: Maggie Roche\u2019s Wicklow cafe Little Acorn to close \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wicklow chef and RT\u00c9<\/a> Today show contributor Maggie Roche is closing her Little Acorn cafe in Baltinglass, Co Wicklow<\/a>, because the building where it is located is being sold.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew about the building going up for sale. The owner did tell me and asked me if I was interested in buying it. It was going for \u20ac750,000 [now priced at \u20ac650,00] and it was way out of my league,\u201d Roche said, adding that there was no \u201cfallout or dispute\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey decided they were going to sell the building with the lease not being renewed. The bottom line is I didn\u2019t have the money. I wouldn\u2019t put myself under that pressure. It just wasn\u2019t an option,\u201d Roche said.<\/p>\n

The cafe will close later this month but Roche, who is also resident chef at Co Wicklow wedding venue Ballybeg House, said she will \u201cstay very busy\u201d with 55 weddings scheduled this year. Her philosophy, informed by extensive fine-dining experience, is \u201csimple things done well with local produce\u201d.<\/p>\n

Roche also has a \u201cplan\u201d for another venture and is \u201cin the height of getting things ready\u201d. She said it will not be a cafe this time.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, cooking is always the most personal thing you can do for anybody. The opportunity to make people happy through your food, it\u2019s very special. Food is memory at the end of the day,\u201d Roche said.<\/p>\n

Little Acorn operated successfully for six years, despite Roche never having envisaged opening a cafe. Her previous experience had included five years in the Merrion Hotel<\/a> in Dublin and periods in a number of three-star Michelin<\/a> restaurants, including the Waterside Inn near Maidenhead in England.<\/p>\n

Roche said the cafe came from a \u201clong line of tragedies\u201d, her move home to Co Wicklow having been spurred by her father developing dementia. A temporary relocation soon became long term.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I ended up staying for five years. Circumstances change. To be honest I always wanted to be the best. You always picture yourself being the top person, the top chef. And then your priorities change because people you love get sicker,\u201d Roche said.<\/p>\n

\"DishesDishes on the menu at Little Acorn Cafe. <\/p>\n

When the Baltinglass property became available to rent at that time, \u201cthe banks weren\u2019t giving out money\u201d so Roche turned to family.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all thought we were secure in hospitality, but we weren\u2019t. Thankfully I have five brothers and two sisters and they were able to help. I wouldn\u2019t have ever been able to open it without them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cafe\u2019s name was inspired by her Waterside Inn mentor, Michel Roux, who died just before it opened. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he died I wrote an article and in it I compared him to an old tree the other chefs and I were all like his little acorns. Then I said, \u2018Oh, my God, the cafe has to be the Little Acorn\u2019,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately this has all been about fulfilling a dream. I think when you do something that you really love, you don\u2019t do it for money.\u201d<\/p>\n

It takes 70 years for an oak tree to produce an acorn, she said, and she is certain that \u201cthe Little Acorn will remain as the Little Acorn one way or another\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wicklow chef and RT\u00c9 Today show contributor Maggie Roche is closing her Little Acorn cafe in Baltinglass, Co…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[75],"tags":[18,117,19,17,5281,946],"class_list":["post-633406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-restaurant","tag-wicklow"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117083297463026164","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633406","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=633406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}