The best spots for pub grub in Dublin
05 Sep 2024
05 Sep 2024
An exclusive interview with Simon McCance, Ginger Bistro
Successful local restaurateur Simon McCance sits down with Dish Cult for an exclusive chat about his restaurant Ginger Bistro and the culinary scene rapidly emerging in Belfast.
Dish Cult: When did you know you wanted to become a chef?
Simon McCance: Very young. 13 or 14. There was no money in our family growing up, but for birthdays we’d get taken out to the pub for a meal, and that environment always really stuck with me.
DC: Were there any chefs that you looked up to at the start of your career?
SM: Without doubt, Paul Rankin. He is one of the guys that I looked up to in Northern Ireland, for sure. I don’t know of another chef who has ever totally revolutionised the country.
DC: Which chefs do you admire at the moment?
SM: It’s got to be any chef that is able to make the transition from chef to owner. The people who can sustain their own businesses, hat’s off. That is the most difficult thing to do and having the courage to do it.
DC: What is your favourite restaurant in Belfast?
SM: There’s a place out in Holywood called Noble. It’s a wee tiny place that’s owned by a couple of guys that I know. They scraped all their money together to open it. It’s funky, the food’s great and the wine list is great, and they’re nice guys.
DC: What ingredients do you enjoy cooking with most?
SM: I do like fish, hake in particular. I love to cook fish and I’m known for cooking fish.
DC: Which kitchen utensil could you not live without?
SM: A knife. A nice, true solid oven is always handy, too.
DC: What are the current food trends in Belfast?
SM: We had this phenomenon during lockdown with cheese toasties, everyone was after cheese toasties. Fish is very popular, it always has been. We sell tonnes of it. We’ve had to put more and more fish on the menu, because the demand is there.
DC: What makes Belfast such a great city for foodies?
SM: Belfast was closed for years. It was a closed city so there was no outside influence. That means the restaurant scene is owned by chefs. It’s only recently, in the last 15 years or so, that you’ve seen these big businesses coming in. There’s five or six of us, all the same age, that have sort of taken control of the hospitality industry and restaurant scene, and that is why the food scene is so good here in Belfast.
DC: What’s the most exotic thing you’ve ever eaten?
SM: I had some mud crab in Australia, that was nice.
