{"id":648451,"date":"2026-08-21T04:25:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T04:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/648451\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T04:25:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T04:25:44","slug":"west-belfast-chef-brings-heart-and-soul-of-former-restaurant-to-new-venture-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/648451\/","title":{"rendered":"West Belfast chef brings \u2018heart and soul\u2019 of former restaurant to new venture \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

A west Belfast chef who has trained under some of the world\u2019s leading culinary figures, including Marco Pierre White, is bringing the \u201cheart and soul\u201d of his former restaurant to a new local venture.<\/p>\n

Michael O\u2019Connor has been appointed executive chef of the newly relaunched Avenue Brasserie at The Malone Hotel, bringing with him more than 30 years of experience in kitchens stretching from south Belfast to Sydney.<\/p>\n

The move also sees the former Barking Dog owner return to BT9, less than a minute from the restaurant he ran for 15 years before its closure in 2023.<\/p>\n

Speaking to The Irish News, Michael admits he never expected to find himself cooking in the area again.<\/p>\n

\"West<\/a>\"Helen<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI genuinely thought that chapter had closed,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut coming back to BT9 is very familiar. It feels a wee bit like home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BelfastMichael O\u2019Connor has been appointed executive chef of the newly relaunched Avenue Brasserie at The Malone Hotel.
\nPICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN <\/p>\n

Michael had previously worked at The Malone as acting sous chef but when the executive role initially came up he admits he was hesitant to take it on.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just thought, I don\u2019t want a job. I want to go in, get a bit of cash and go home basically,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember Gareth Macklin, the director of the hotel, saying \u2018Just put your hat in the ring\u2019, and I was like, \u2018No, I don\u2019t want to. I\u2019m not in the headspace for it\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, several months later, Michael found himself missing life at the helm of a kitchen.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife went, \u2018You want back in the game, don\u2019t you?\u2019 and I went, \u2018Yeah, I do\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I went back in to see the general manager, Chris Lockhart, and we sat down for a good two hours and had a good chit-chat and I was offered the job,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came out of it, went home and spoke to the missus and she just went, \u2018You\u2019ve got a twinkle back in your eye now\u2019.<\/p>\n

Read more: <\/b>\u2018I must have been in prison in a previous life\u2019: Top NI chef Paula McIntyre\u2019s next culinary adventure<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\"BelfastFormer Barking Dog owner Michael O\u2019Connor is returning to BT9 with his new role at Avenue Brasserie.
\nPICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN <\/p>\n

\u201cThis place just sort of lured me back into the kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael\u2019s career in food began at 17 after a \u201cchance encounter with a cooking leaflet\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n

We want to use good produce and concentrate on what I started off doing at The Barking Dog, which was using great suppliers and great ingredients<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Michael O’Connor<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWhen I went to college I had a lovely tutor called Cathy and she just handed me a leaflet and that\u2019s literally how I became a chef and just fell in love with cooking.\u201d<\/p>\n

After gaining experience at home, Michael moved to London where he spent around nine years working in professional kitchens, including Marco Pierre White\u2019s Mirabelle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was four years into cooking and I thought I knew how to do it. When I went over there, I knew absolutely nothing,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were 30 chefs in the kitchen when we were used to maybe four or five, so I was just trying to absorb everything going on around me like a sponge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny because Marco is the original angry chef but his head chefs and sous chefs were just as bad. They were bulldogs. They were properly relentless.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything had to be down to the perfect tee.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BelfastWest Belfast chef Michael O\u2019Connor brings more than 30 years of experience to his new role at The Malone Hotel.
\nPICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN <\/p>\n

Michael still remembers arriving into work one morning after making a mistake the previous day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came in and everything from my fridge was sitting on top of my bench.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe senior sous chef walked past me and went, \u2018Morning, did you get my message?\u2019 and I went, \u2018Yes chef, got your message\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a lesson.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite its intensity, he credits the experience with shaping him as a chef.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the chefs I was working with said, \u2018Kid, go do it. If you last two weeks, two months or two years, you\u2019re going to learn something\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was tough, but it was brilliant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael later moved to Sydney, where he took on a senior role at a top restaurant inside Star City casino.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember when I got the job the executive chef said, \u2018There\u2019s only one rule. You\u2019ve got to get a hat in the first year\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more: <\/b>Belfast\u2019s \u2018best cup of coffee\u2019 and pizza with a can of beer: Last Orders with Regency House\u2019s Chris McClurg<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\"BelfastMichael O\u2019Connor says Avenue Brasserie will have its own identity while retaining some of the \u201cheart and soul\u201d of The Barking Dog.
\nPICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN <\/p>\n

After two years in Australia and another stint in London, Michael returned home.<\/p>\n

Not long afterwards, he met Sam Spain, who was then operating The Barking Dog as a burger restaurant.<\/p>\n

\u201cI met him for coffee on the Wednesday, he told me what his plans were, we met again for dinner on the Friday night and the two of us walked in on Monday morning,\u201d Michael says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe shut down the burger restaurant and we had The Barking Dog open 10 days later.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a budget of \u00a3940. We bought a saladette, a load of pans and we just cracked on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Barking Dog went on to become one of south Belfast\u2019s best-known restaurants, attracting loyal regulars as well as famous faces.<\/p>\n

Michael counts Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage among his favourite celebrity customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeter Dinklage was just lovely,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe used to come in every weekend with his wife and his kids and there was just good banter with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kit Harington, who played Jon Snow in the series, also provided one particularly memorable evening.<\/p>\n

\"GameGame of Thrones actor Kit Harington <\/p>\n

\u201cThe night he was killed off in Game of Thrones, he was actually sitting in The Barking Dog having a fish pie,\u201d Michael laughs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe paparazzi got a whiff of it and we had to bring him into the kitchen and get him out another way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now Michael is bringing that experience to Avenue Brasserie, where the new menu will combine several Barking Dog favourites with new dishes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a hard balance because people will expect to have Barking Dog favourites, which we will have, but we\u2019ll also have stuff that\u2019s unique to us in here. We want it to have an identity of its own.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve put on a beautiful halibut this summer. I usually stay away from halibut because it is at the high end of fish, but I thought, new restaurant, let\u2019s go high end.<\/p>\n

\"BelfastMichael O\u2019Connor has worked in kitchens from Belfast to London and Sydney during his three-decade career.
\nPICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN <\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to use good produce and concentrate on what I started off doing at The Barking Dog, which was using great suppliers and great ingredients.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Michael, keeping the food simple and allowing those ingredients to speak for themselves remains central to his approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung chefs have this habit of over-complicating dishes, where sometimes you just need to strip that back,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t need to stick another pur\u00e9e onto it. Just let the produce do the work.<\/p>\n

Read more: <\/b>\u2018It\u2019s a privilege for a wee boy from New Lodge to have a restaurant of his own\u2019: Belfast chef Danny Millar on his incredible culinary journey from meal tickets to the Michelin Guide<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\"BelfastMichael O\u2019Connor hopes to recreate the buzz of his Barking Dog days with the newly relaunched Avenue Brasserie in south Belfast.
\nPICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re already starting to make our own sauces and stocks and playing about with breads and stuff like that. We just want to make sure we\u2019re doing really fresh, delicious food.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Michael hopes to recreate the buzz he remembers around the area when he first opened The Barking Dog in 2008.<\/p>\n

\u201cA big success in a year\u2019s time is having the place filled,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s having both locals and tourists coming through the door regularly and bringing more bodies into the kitchen, more talent into the kitchen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s my main aim.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A west Belfast chef who has trained under some of the world\u2019s leading culinary figures, including Marco Pierre…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":648452,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[75],"tags":[43078,18,117,19,17,210301,5281,24514,15497],"class_list":["post-648451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-chef","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-malone","tag-restaurant","tag-south-belfast","tag-west-belfast"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117131603870750949","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648451","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=648451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}