He is a classicist, David Fitzgibbon. This explains two things. Firstly, why he is so well respected as a fish cook. And, secondly, why Aherne's, the iconioc Youghal destination where Mr Fitzgibbon heads up the kitchen, is so long-lived and successful, for they opened their doors here as long ago as 1969.
The influences of Jane Grigson and Rick Stein figure largely in his thinking about fish cookery, two straight-ahead classicists themselves, and as good a pair of mentors as one could have. But two other mentors have shaped Mr Fitzgibbon's work: Kelly's Hotel in Rosslare and Cork's famed Arbutus Lodge. Once again, Mr Fitzgibbon has chosen just the sort of influences that allow one to be creative, but also allow – and indeed almost force – a chef to think outside of the conventional clammyness of fashion, allowing one to see the long-term proposition, allowing one to understand that businesses built around family endure where others come and go. For four decades Aherne's has steered its own, authoritative, family-focused course, always classy, always classic.