Frances Kelly

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There is a Proustian quality to Frances Kelly's cooking, a lingering of detail in every aspect of a dish, a search for definition that goes far beyond what is normal in the food world, a search for detail that will unearth the Goddess in every bite. What John Coltrane did with his saxophone, Ms Kelly does with her work – leave no avenue unexplored, keep going as far as you can, as long as you can.

Like great novelists and musicians, every thing she cooks seems desperately personal, as if she is writing an autobiography with each plate of food served in Stella Maris. She isn't aiming just to feed you: she is aiming to etch the flavours into your memory. The funny thing is, despite this lavish attention to detail, her work arrives as the essence of simplicity. Several years back, we wrote this: “Every single dish we ate on a recent family visit to Stella Maris was perfect in every detail. Not fussy perfect, or pretentious perfect, or obsessive perfect.. Just perfect in and of itself...”. Like the best female cooks, Ms Kelly knows where perfection lies, and she knows that it's not in demonstrating ego, but rather in its opposite: lose yourself in your work, and perfection arrives with your vanishing.

Stella Maris, Ballycastle, County Mayo
096 43322
www.StellaMaris Ireland.com