Hi there. I’m Órfhlaith, a chef and nutrition student. In the summer of 2017 I graduated from the Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland. Since then I’ve been working as a chef in busy Dublin cafés, a baker and cookery teacher on an organic farm in the Cotswolds, and a private chef in the south of France. I’ve also completed two internships in Lima, Peru.

I graduated from the University College of Dublin in 2011 with a BA in Politics and Spanish. I then spent five years teaching English in Madrid, Spain and Hanoi, Vietnam. I liked the classroom, but I loved the food – sipping Rioja on sunny terraces and shlurping noodles on plastic stools is a nice way to live. Though I could have continued this way forever, I have always been passionate about cooking and knew if I never pursued it professionally I would regret it, so I returned to Ireland and enrolled on the 12 week course at Ballymaloe.

Where I am, where I’m headed : 

I’m currently based in Dublin, where I work full time as a chef and recipe developer while I pursue a qualification in Nutrition and Lifestyle Coaching. 

What kind of chef are you? 

Hmm. The hardest question. There is so much delicious food in the world and I want to explore it all. Maybe in ten years I will have nailed my elevator pitch but for now, this much I know. 

I love bread. Always have. My time as a sourdough baker cemented my standards. 

I’m not fancy. My favourite food is a soft boiled egg (a really fresh one from a happy chicken) on sourdough toast (see above) with salted Irish butter. 

I’m a flexitarian. My favourite thing about Vietnamese food is their sparing use of meat – it’s almost more of a condiment than a key component of the meal. My body and tastebuds were very happy with this balance. 

I originally wanted to be a pastry chef. Over time I have realised I also enjoy making practical, good for you food, but I will always love to play with sugar. 

Salads are my favourite thing to make. They are the perfect canvas for shapes, colours, flavours and cooking methods. Like an edible collage. If Jackson Pollock had been a chef he would have worked the salad section. 

All this to say : I’m deeply passionate about flavours, shapes, colours and textures and helping people feel good about food.