Top awards for MacNean and St Kyrans

Two of the county's restaurants have scooped provincial awards, coming out top of all the nominees from Ulster at the All-Ireland Irish Restaurant Awards.

Over 900 restaurateurs and staff attended the sell-out, black-tie event at the Clayton Hotel in Dublin earlier this week.

Neven Maguire's 'MacNean House & Restaurant' in Blacklion and St Kyrans Country House Restaurant, owned by Patrick and Helena Keenan near Virginia, won titles for 'Best Restaurant' and 'Best Hotel Restaurant' in Ulster respectively.
'We're absolutely delighted,' Mr Keenan told The Anglo-Celt this week, of the restaurant, which is headed by rising culinary star and Northern Ireland Great British Menu competitor Eddie Atwell.
However, Mr Keenan was keen to stress that the success for the restaurant is very much 'a team effort'.
'Eddie works very hard to give us that certain standard coming from the kitchen, while Rebecca and Karen and the team of girls, are amazing front of house. It's is very much a team effort and we all work very hard to make it a success and the experience of being here as pleasurable for our guests as possible,' he said.
Mr Keenan added that both he and his wife Helena are hugely thankful to the Restaurants Association of Ireland for bestowing the accolade, saying: 'It's an honour. It's good for Cavan too. Cavan is a food county and, awards like this coming into the county, are acknowledgement for what is taking place - the quality and inventiveness - it adds to that growing reputation.' Chapter One restaurant in Dublin, meanwhile, was named as the 2017 All-Ireland Best Restauran; while Danni Barry of Deanes EPIC, Antrim, took home the 2017 All-Ireland Best Chef title - a category in which Gearoid Lynch of Cloverhill's Olde Post Inn was nominated.