Tommy Butler became the new executive chef at the Johnstown Estate – in Enfield, Co. Meath – last August. Originally from Cork, he has more than 25 years’ experience in the hospitality industry.
Before joining the Johnstown Estate, Butler was executive chef at Portmarnock Resort & Jameson Golf Links – a role that he also previously held at Farnham Estate, in Cavan.
His prior experience in Ireland also includes the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Dublin, the Talbot Hotel Stillorgan and the Clarion Hotel Cork. Butler also honed his skills internationally in France – where he worked in Michelin-starred restaurants, including Le Relais De Sèvres, in Paris – and in Australia, where he discovered his love for fusion food.
The executive chef regularly showcases his favourite recipes on Virgin Media’s Ireland AM, for viewers to recreate at home. Outside of the kitchen, he has a passion for training and teaching karate, a discipline that he has practised for over three decades.
Tommy, how are you settling into your role at the Johnstown Estate?
I am really enjoying it. It’s busy. I am responsible for all culinary operations across the hotel, including the two restaurants, Fire & Salt and the Coach House Brasserie, as well as our garden terrace bar, Parterre, and the Spa Café, plus conference and banqueting at our newly renovated conference centre, the Forde Suites.
It takes time to get your head around all the different outlets and style of guests within each outlet. We are slightly outside of Dublin, so food patterns change and vary. Understanding the guest’s palate and what has previously worked is very important, as regards menu delivery and conceptualisation.
The goal for this year is to settle the kitchen team in general and drive food standards throughout the property. I am also in the primary stages of developing a new pastry kitchen. The aim is to have a nice pantry by this time next year, where we can sell some of our own home-baked products, like scones, breads, etc.
We have also commenced our work on the polytunnel and hope to plant in the next few weeks, for the season ahead. Also, our beehives have just arrived, and our beekeepers are being trained up over the next few months. Exciting times ahead!
What is the ethos of the Johnstown Estate?
Our ethos is to highlight the very best of modern Irish cooking and produce across all our outlets.
We’re committed to using the freshest locally sourced ingredients for all our menus, from an intimate private dining experience to huge gala dinners.
Please tell us about your background – where you grew up, studied, etc.
I am originally from Cork and grew up close to the Viaduct, near the Bandon Road, with my parents and two sisters. I was an active child and loved cross-country, martial arts, lifesaving – you name it – all bar hurling and football. I just never took to those sports, despite GAA being such a focus of local schools.
I think it’s what drove me to try and be the best at whatever I did partake in, particularly karate. I did the then CERT culinary year in CIT, after which I moved to DIT, where I finished with a bachelor’s degree in culinary arts in 2005.
After this, I went travelling for a number of years, starting in Australia.
Did you always have the desire to be a chef?
I did once I got a taste of the hospitality life.
That was down to a steak-and-broccoli experience. One day, I was working in a bar, and I had just finished my shift. They were short in the kitchen, so they asked me would I go in and give a hand, and I said, “Sure, yeah, no problem.”
I went in and did a couple of hours of work. It was busy, but I got through it all. The chef said, “Listen, thanks so much. You’re very good. Do you want something to eat? I’ll cook you a steak because you did a good job.”
At that time, any steak I had was cooked to an inch of its life – it meant nothing to me.
He said, “How do you want your steak cooked?”
I was like, “I don’t know – cooked. You’re the chef.”
I literally didn’t understand the question. I was about 16, 17, at the time. He kind of laughed and said, “You Irish, I’ll cook it for you.”
He cooked it medium rare with some lovely broccoli and sauté potatoes, a bit of peppercorn sauce. It was like I had never eaten a meal before that. There was something magical about how all the ingredients came together. It sort of woke me up, in a sense. I knew it was something to be explored further.
I was drafted in as a kitchen porter and started helping out with the sides, veg, that kind of thing. That is when it really piqued my interest, and I started looking into it properly.
I had planned to be an architect, but after two weeks sitting in an office on work experience in Transition Year, I knew that I had far too much energy for that!
So, a part-time job working in a local pub proved to steer me in a direction that I never had even contemplated. Here I am, 25 years later, managing an amazing property like the Johnstown Estate. It is surreal sometimes.
Please tell us about your time in Paris.
Paris was an experience. I worked in a large Sofitel property – Accor Hotels – where I worked in the Michelin-star restaurant, Le Relais De Sèvres. I loved it at that point in my life because it was all so new. I loved their restaurant philosophy also, as it was about great ingredients and very simple cooking processes, but done with the strictest of processes and absolute precision, to create visually stunning dishes.
The language was challenging, but you adapt once you get over the fear of communicating back and forth. It has taught me a real respect for people working and trying to communicate in different languages.
You regularly showcase recipes on Virgin Media’s Ireland AM. How did this come about?
I was approached about doing a trial almost seven years now, where I had to make an omelette for Anna Daly Live. I was nervous, but I am no stranger to omelettes!
It was funny. The pan they presented to make the omelette was huge! I had a giggle and joke about it with her during the trial, and the rest is history.
I tend to feature every couple of weeks, based on work commitments, but really enjoy it, and the crew are so welcoming every time I visit.
What are the main challenges in hospitality at the moment?
Acquiring and maintaining staff. It is a challenging industry. I cannot lie and sugar-coat this, but there is far too much red tape around non-nationals being able to work, as regards visa requirements and working times.
We have thousands of people ready, willing and able to work, but who are hindered by 20-hour working weeks and months and months of documentation for allowing people to work. The processes are outdated and arduous and need to be addressed.
Our island has so much to offer, but it is harrowing when reading the news and seeing friends and colleagues going out of business due to staffing and obscene operational costs and overheads.
Evolving consumer expectations and workforce constraints are some of the major issues threatening this industry.
What are your plans for the future?
To keep improving and developing myself as a chef and culinary manager. There are so many constant learnings daily. I must think like a chef, inspire as a leader should, support staff through personal issues, manage the culinary operations like an accountant, be creative in new approaches in the estate outlet options, and much, much more.
The industry is always changing and sometimes requires adaptation overnight – Covid, for example. I also want to help bring up the next generation of chefs and inspire more people into this industry.
I firmly believe it is a window to the world. Working and dealing with people is a real-life experience.
How has karate contributed to your life and world view?
It has helped me maintain calm and focus, despite the sometimes chaotic nature of our business.
It is the foundation of who I am, as it has been the one constant part of my life for the last 33 years of training. It keeps me mentally fit, as well as physically active, but also acts as a compass for when I am struggling personally and professionally.
It has brought me all over the world to train and compete, and, alongside my culinary journey, it’s a passport to the world, where I have a universal language that I can speak and train with.
What do you like to do when you are not working?
I like to spend time with friends and family. I have two lovely nephews and a beautiful niece, and I can’t get enough of them!
Also, it is nice to just go for some sushi and relax and over a glass of wine or sake, depending on the mood!
I will not reveal my favourite Japanese restaurant, as it is tiny and I don’t want it to get too busy, as it will take me ages to get a table! It brings me right back to my times travelling in Japan, as the food is just great there – clean, Japanese, and delicious!
