For someone who has been cooking in a variety of kitchens for fourteen years, Shane Nolan is still a total enthusiast who is committed to providing quality, down-to-earth, home-cooked food at fair prices to his band of loyal customers in Marshes Street, Thomastown. According to Shane, "the restaurant specialises in steak, fish and meat with an amount of organic fare included on the menu.” Shane, a multiple award-winning chef, who originally hails from Carlow, has been plying his trade in Marshes Steakhouse since the summer, and prior to that, introduced a successful food menu for the first time, in the local pub, the Coach House, during his time there.
Shane’s customers inform much of what he does, and working from his open kitchen, Shane takes the opportunity to establish both how his food is being received, and also where his customers are travelling from. While Marshes’ set lunches are served up primarily to the local businesses in the village, a la carte dinner caters to locals as well as to those who are coming from further afield and so far, according to Shane, "driving to Thomastown certainly hasn't been an issue as we are getting customers coming from both the Kilkenny direction and from Mount Juliet." Shane and his team of 12 staff cater to 80 to 100 covers in the large and bright premises. The generous proportions of Marshes also allows for large groups to be catered for "we are doing more and more in terms of seasonal parties and are also catering to all kinds of corporate and family celebrations throughout the year." With its child-friendly environment, families can relax and enjoy the best of the seasonal produce that Shane sources. Menus in Marshes Steakhouse change frequently "I vary what is on the menu every month and that's all to do with availability and what fish, game maybe, or meat, is best and is in season, for example at the moment, I'm featuring rabbit on the menu." Shane trained locally, in both Castlecomer, where he completed a culinary course and snatched a 'student of the year' award, and subsequently in WIT where he was also similarly recognised for his achievements. A scholarship also saw Shane immerse himself in the culinary traditions of the Black Forest in Germany, a region where hearty, rustic fare predominates.
Shane thrives on the creativity and the buzz that comes from running a busy kitchen, " I still get a kick out of cooking, and I love the atmosphere in the kitchen but I'm no tyrant, I'm actually very laid-back, so there's no shouting or screaming in my kitchen. We just come in and get the work done and that's all you'd want or expect from any member of your team." According to Shane, cooking is only one element of the work involved in running a successful restaurant "you absolutely have to be organised, eighty per cent of this business is about getting things ready. Preparation is everything. I'm in every morning prepping from 9.30 am for my lunchtime customers. Another chef comes in at 1pm to do an hour over lunchtime and then they subsequently spend the rest of the afternoon prepping for our a la carte dinner menu."
Shane is constantly re-inventing his menus and has recently designed a three-course ‘value menu’ “ with a starter, main course and dessert for just €25 along with a healthy options menu. We’ve a really nice Australian house wine that sells for €19 and in fact, our wine list has no bottle on it that costs more than €30. My focus is really on providing good food and wine for reasonable prices and I’m happy to say that customers seem to appreciate that, as they come back to us time and time again.”
