Paul Cartwright, director at Roly’s Bistro, reflects on his 41 years in the industry, from working on navy ships to the three-Michelin-starred La Tante Claire in London and serving top celebrites, as his son Conor joins him in the kitchen
Chef de cuisine and director of Roly’s Bistro Paul Cartwright and his son Conor in the Dublin restaurant’s kitchen. Photo: Gerry Mooney
When it comes to the hospitality industry, I’ve always been struck by the number of restaurants and small hotels in France and Italy that go back maybe two or three generations, serving their local communities with pride. It’s not a pattern we’ve seen here as the norm, probably because back in the day, apart from a few celebrated Dublin restaurants of yore – such as Jammet’s and The Red Bank on D’Olier Street – we didn’t really have a thriving homegrown high-end restaurant industry.
It was really only with the advent of the Kinsale Gourmet Festival in 1976, started by a group of ambitious restaurateurs, and the ensuing 1980s, that things started to kick off. Even nowadays, however, I’d struggle to think of many generational restaurant operations here, apart from a few, such as Farmgate in Cork and the Dunne & Crescenzi group, each now with the involvement of the second gen. It’s understandable, I guess, unless you have a vocation, as it’s a backbreaking business that involves long hours, which can be disruptive to family life.