Organic wine bar, all-round beautiful little neighbourhood favourite, and recipient of the Michelin Bib Gourmand award, Tartare, has been closed for almost two months now, but co-owner JP McMahon, who also runs Michelin-star restaurant Aniar and Cava Bodega, says there wasn’t just one reason for the permanent closing of doors.
“There’s a lot against the industry at the moment, which is evident with the number of places closing around Galway (Marmalade and Cupan Tae for example )”, Mr McMahon said.
“The after effects of Covid - namely the energy crisis and staffing issues made it very difficult for restauranteurs. We had to make a tough call, and as a business model, Tartare was no longer working.
“Personally, I felt like I needed to focus on the other restaurants (Aniar and Cava ) - both of which I actually still don’t have enough staff for. I feel sad about it,” he said.
“Tartare was a big part of Galway and I know it was important to the locals. They were who I felt the most sad for actually - it was tough having to tell them. I just really hope we don’t see any more closures, but this winter might prove difficult for restauranteurs.”
“Energy and food costs are going up, and people have less money to spend. Leading up to the period of Covid, we had been going through a period of good times for about three or four years. Then, after Covid, the war in Ukraine hits. This was one of the turning points for me, in seeing how that affected food and energy prices.
Japanese restaurant plans
“It made us decide to halt our plans for a new Japanese restaurant we had in the pipeline. It was a substantial project, and if I’m struggling to staff my existing restaurants at the moment, what hope have I staffing a new one? I feel like the best thing to do is to try and ride out the storm and focus on my existing businesses,” Mr McMahon said.
The issue of staff is not an easy one to solve, as it is not just about having bodies - He mentions how crucial it is to have a highly trained and talented team to bring the restaurants to the next level.
“We had such a high quality team of people across all three restaurants over a number of years, and we lost a lot of them around Covid. We are still trying to find and train people to be at that same level.” Thankfully, he was able to keep Tartare staff and provide them with work across his other businesses.
Mr McMahon’s annual two-day symposium, Food On The Edge, was held in Airfield Estate on October 17 and 18. The not-for-profit conference, which brings top international chefs together with the purpose of making good food accessible for everyone, went very well, this year.
“The themes dominating this year’s Food On The Edge were disruption and regeneration. A lot of the speakers spoke quite emotionally about the impact of Covid on their businesses, and about having to question themselves on what they could continue to realistically do going forward,” Mr McMahon says. “There were also plenty of talks on the likes of sustainability and education.”
Are there any restaurants McMahon admires currently for what they are doing?
“Alchemist in Denmark. There are many aspects to their interesting business model. It’s more than a restaurant, it’s an entire experience. This interests me because I think going forward, a restaurant may not always be enough. I think young restauranteurs might need to try and think outside the box and consider how they can do more with the space.”
Alchemist, which offers ‘holistic cuisine’, gives a snapshot of the experience on their website - and advice for who it may or may not suit... ‘
During the evening, you will be guided on a parallel journey through Alchemist’s unique physical spaces, as well as through your own senses. Please arrive with your mind open, and ready to expand your idea of culinary art together with us. Please be aware that Alchemist might not be the right choice for an evening of business discussions or that first nervous date.’
Tartare regularly held late night events like Wine + Design (talks and tastings of of carefully-selected organic, natural, and biodynamic wines ) and Tartare Talks Theatre (talks from local theatre practitioners on their work and personal views on why theatre is relevant in our society ). These kinds of local events help to bring a community closer together while also championing a kaleidoscope of cultural experiences.
The cost of running individual spaces for art, theatre and music is high so if restauranteurs can think about other ways to facilitate experiences and events within their space, it is probably a good thing for the community and the local businesses involved too.
“Restaurants will need to work hard over the winter. They may need to keep reinventing to keep people engaged. It’s an interesting but challenging time for the industry,” he said.
Tartare was also co-owned by Drigin Gaffey, who said in an Instagram statement, “Tartare was a passion project and we are proud of what we achieved in five years,” adding that she will particularly miss the cultural events they ran there.
