A tray of glazed cinnamon and cardamom buns sat in the test kitchen, and nearby a team cleaned young green pine cones for syrup. It is that kind of detail that tells you Ómós is nearly ready. The new restaurant and guest house outside Abbeyleix, Co Laois, is due to open on July 7, bringing chef Cúán Greene’s long-planned project to Millbrook House.
A close-up look at Ómós before opening day
Set in a restored late-Victorian house on 1.7 hectares, Ómós pairs a 40-seat fine-dining restaurant with guest accommodation and a carefully reworked estate. The project has drawn backing from investors including Stripe co-founder John Collison, but the story on the ground is about craft, teamwork and place.
Greene has built a strong kitchen around him, including head chef Matt Smith and sous chef Gareth O’Brien. In the bakery, heritage grains are being tested for brown bread. In the larder, preserves and ferments are stacking up. Across the rooms, Irish makers are everywhere in the details, from pottery and hand-carved spoons to Wicklow-made chairs.
The first menu at Ómós will lean into Irish produce with a sharp sense of season. Early dishes include:
- baked tomato tart in heritage grain pastry
- an iced broth to follow
- an “Irish salad” with rare-breed ham and fermented barley salad cream
- a potato dish inspired by a family recipe
The setting matters too. Guests will enter through a stone wall into a planted courtyard, then into a dining room with an open kitchen and wood-fired grill. Bedrooms in the guest house start at €395 a night, while dinner costs €175 per person, with wine pairings from €99.
Ómós will not be an everyday booking for most people. Greene knows that. His hope, he said, is that guests feel the value in “small, meaningful moments”. If the early signs are anything to go by, Ómós is opening with exactly that in mind.
Image Courtesy: Irish Times
