{"id":5182,"date":"2017-12-01T11:07:49","date_gmt":"2017-12-01T11:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/https:\/\/http:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/\/\/?p=5182"},"modified":"2017-12-01T11:07:49","modified_gmt":"2017-12-01T11:07:49","slug":"danni-takes-new-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/danni-takes-new-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Danni takes on a new challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Eipic head chef and Michelin Star winner, Danni Barry has surprised many people by signing up to a new partnership and tackling a restaurant revival project well away from the centre of Belfast…<\/em><\/p>\n

Danni Barry (31) was the name on everyone\u2019s lips in 2015 when she helped her employer, chef Michael Deane, recapture his coveted Michelin Star at his Belfast eatery, Eipic, where she was head chef.<\/p>\n

Now, the Mayobridge-born chef is back in the news as she launches the latest chapter in her career, as a partner in the revival of Clenaghan\u2019s, at Aghalee, three miles from the village of Moira, which closed its doors in 2015.<\/p>\n

In the project with Danni is Lisburn couple, Stevie and Christina Higginson, proprietors of the popular Square Bistro in Lisburn.<\/p>\n

Clenaghan\u2019s opened its doors to a warm reception in mid-November and the partners say that business has been brisk in the weeks since.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a big step for Danni, who is only the second Irish female chef to secure the industry\u2019s most sought-after accolade, the other being Myrtle Allen, who was head chef at Ballymaloe House in Co. Cork in 1975.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be fair, I\u2019m still adjusting to all this myself, we\u2019re still working at a certain level here in Clenaghan\u2019s, of course, but there is much more of a work\/life balance now.\u201d<\/p>\n

That need for personal space was a big factor in Danni\u2019s decision to step away from Eipic, where she was expected to be on duty Wednesday to Saturday evening every week:<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a big commitment for me and there\u2019s a certain shelf-life to a situation like that,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Danni began her culinary career with Michael Deane at the age of 17. A part-time dish-washing job in Mayobridge had been enough to convince her that a career in the restaurant trade was right for her.<\/p>\n

She went to college in Newry and left with a level two in NVQ cookery, part of which had involved work experience with Michael Deane and his head chef at the time, Ricky Hay.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very demanding and I wouldn\u2019t have known what a Michelin Star was back then,\u201d recalls Danni with a smile. \u201cI just saw Deane\u2019s as the best place to be if I was going to work at that level.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Danni\u2019s career hasn\u2019t all be spent in Belfast. In 2007, the urge to see something of the world led her to embark on an extensive working tour, travelling to Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and other locations in Europe.<\/p>\n

Eventually, she settled in GB where she began working at Simon Rogan\u2019s L\u2019Enclume, now widely acclaimed as one of the leading restaurants in the UK with Five AA Rosettes. At the age of 26, she was appointed to head up the kitchen at Simon Rogan\u2019s other venue, Rogan & Co. in Cartmel, where she remained until Michael Deane persuaded her to come back to Northern Ireland and work for him in his new restaurant, Eipic.<\/p>\n

Danni stayed with Michael until she was approached by Stevie and Christina during a visit to The Square:<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew their business and I knew they\u2019d been doing well,\u201d says Danni. \u201cThey said that they wanted a head chef for Clenaghan\u2019s and did I know anybody. I told them that I was thinking of making a move myself and the partnership just developed from that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Danni was further convinced after a visit to the building itself on the Soldierstown Road:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a wee gem\u201d, she says, \u201cI just couldn\u2019t say no\u201d.<\/p>\n

Inside the refurbished venue, a cosy ambience is enhanced by open fires and original artwork by Irish painter, Sir John Lavery. A brand new kitchen has also been installed and one of the venue\u2019s existing bars has been converted into a dessert counter which serves to extend the kitchen out into the dining area.<\/p>\n

When Danni spoke to LCN, the restaurant had been open for just two weeks and everyone was still \u201cfinding their feet\u201d, she said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just going to let the customers decide what we can do with the place,\u201d she adds, although there is space at the front of the building and Danni indicated that this could be turned into a kitchen garden.<\/p>\n

As for her personal ambition, she smiles when she says that up until now, she\u2019s just been \u201cwinging it\u201d:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still ambitious, I still have things that I want to achieve,\u201d she adds. \u201cI\u2019m going to see where Clenaghan\u2019s takes me and what happens from there is hard to say. I\u2019ve had some great opportunities so far and I am happy now just to wait and see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Eipic head chef and Michelin Star winner, Danni Barry has surprised many people by signing up to a new partnership and tackling a restaurant<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":5183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDanni takes on a new challenge - Licensed & Catering News (LCN) - News Coverage from the Local Trade<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"bingbot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/danni-takes-new-challenge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Danni takes on a new challenge - Licensed & Catering News (LCN) - News Coverage from the Local Trade\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Eipic head chef and Michelin Star winner, Danni Barry has surprised many people by signing up to a new partnership and tackling a restaurant\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/danni-takes-new-challenge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Licensed & Catering News (LCN) - News Coverage from the Local Trade\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/licensedandcateringnews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-12-01T11:07:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/PEYE_031017KB1_0083-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"527\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LCNmagazine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LCNmagazine\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Licensed & Catering News\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/licensedandcateringnews\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/lcn_online\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/licensed-and-catering-news\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LCNmagazine\"],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/lcn.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":62,\"caption\":\"Licensed & Catering News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"Licensed & Catering News (LCN) - News Coverage from the Local Trade\",\"description\":\"An Online Resource and Voice for the Industry and Key Decision Makers\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/danni-takes-new-challenge\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/PEYE_031017KB1_0083-1.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":527,\"caption\":\"Pictured at Clenaghans to announce its reopening are the new proprietors Stevie Higginson; Cristina Higginson and Danni Barry, Michelin Chef with Alderman Allan Ewart MBE, Chairman of the Council's Development Committee.\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/danni-takes-new-challenge\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/danni-takes-new-challenge\/\",\"name\":\"Danni takes on a new challenge - Licensed & Catering News (LCN) - News Coverage from the Local Trade\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/danni-takes-new-challenge\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-01T11:07:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-12-01T11:07:49+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/danni-takes-new-challenge\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/danni-takes-new-challenge\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/danni-takes-new-challenge\/#webpage\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/98319456d00bbd69fe421602fd66cb4b\"},\"headline\":\"Danni takes on a new challenge\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-01T11:07:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-12-01T11:07:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/danni-takes-new-challenge\/#webpage\"},\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/danni-takes-new-challenge\/#primaryimage\"},\"articleSection\":\"Features\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/98319456d00bbd69fe421602fd66cb4b\",\"name\":\"Joe Kearney\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5b3d84f80acb587c1b8c34736286786b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Joe Kearney\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2024-05-11 20:03:01","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5182"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lcnonline.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}