Interview with Aonghus O’Reilly: Chef at the Phoenix Restaurant

Today we have been talking to experienced Head Chef at the Phoenix Restaurant, Aonghus O’Reilly who has kindly agreed to meet us and answer our questions.

Aonghus joined Phoenix Restaurant in August 2012 and he is delighted to be working with a like-minded team and Phoenix’s management. His position also involves more sociable hours than Aonghus’ previous jobs therefore he is enjoying having stability and has more time for his family.

The positive aspects about working with Compass Group that appeal to Aonghus are corporate structure, regulation and straightforward ideas.

The company’s policies provide great guidance and add to professionalism and future prospects. There is a contracted food supplier for the Phoenix. At this stage Aonghus has become familiar with customer preferences and how these preferences dictate their purchases.

Interesting things to know about Aonghus:  

The most essential item in the kitchen: knife -” can’t do anything without it” admits Aonghus.

Favourite ingredient: Celeriac

“It is a root vegetable with a creamy texture and firm flavour. It is beautiful in soups and roastings…” – how Aonghus describes it would make it sound appealing to anyone although it may sound, on first hearing, as being just another insignificant root. Aonghus makes one to imagine the dish and want to try it. It is apparent how much passion he has for his profession.

Chef inspired by: Ed Cooney Executive chef in Merrion Hotel is a great mentor that Aonghus keeps in touch with because of the confidence that Ed showed in him from his early years as a chef. He still keeps in touch with Ed who is an excellent contact.

Cook Books: Aonghus has more than 120 cook books! He could buy a book just because of one recipe but he does not like getting cook books as presents. 

Having eaten at the Phoenix Restaurant for the past half year every day we could highly recommend it to anyone to enjoy its rich nutrition and fresh ingredients prepared by Aonghus.

The picture in this post is used with the kind permission of Aonghus O’Reilly.

Aonghus O’Reilly – Head Chef at The Phoenix Restaurant

Aonghus O’Reilly – Head Chef at The Phoenix Restaurant

Aonghus O’Reilly has always cooked from when he was quite young. His mother was a great baker and did a lot of baking for family and friends, especially around Christmas time. That’s where Aonghus got his first interest for cooking.

Aonghus always experimented with food; instead of just throwing up what young men would normally eat when they move away from home. For example, trying vanilla essence in pancakes.

In terms of becoming involved in cooking as a profession, Aonghus was cooking dinner for some friends when he was about 19 and one of the guests happened to be a chef. He offered Aonghus a job as a commis chef after being impressed with his cooking skills.

He started off working in a pub called Oil Can Harry’s in Mount Street, Dublin about 17 or 18 years ago. From there Aonghus progressed to the Merrion Hotel and most of his formal training was undertaken there. It first opened in 1996 or 1997 and what Aonghus learned there from the point of view of standards and professionalism would still be something that he would continue with today as much as possible.

At that time Aonghus also travelled to France to complete some Stages (Internships), working in hotels and restaurants gaining great experience. To this day, Aonghus travels to France every second year at least with his family to holiday and enjoy the French culture and cuisine.

Before working at the Phoenix, a big dislike would have been the unsociable working hours involved. However this is something that has to be accepted when working in high-tempo restaurants or chasing awards. This would involve a lot of late nights, absences from family occasions such as birthday parties or Christmas. Now that Aonghus has children, he requires more social hours and stability in his home life which is enabled by his job at Phoenix Restaurant.

Apart from the locations already mentioned, places that Aonghus has worked include a restaurant called Mange Tout (now closed), the Poitin Still pub, Kingswood House, the Buenos Aires Grill and others. He also spent three years free-lancing for himself, working at racecourses and corporate firms, providing catering services in-house for executives and their clients who preferred to dine in a private environment. Aonghus would be provided with an on-site kitchen and his role would be to provide and prepare the food, wine and waiting staff as required.

At the end of 2008, beginning of 2009, when the economic downturn intensified, companies requiring these services reined in their budgets and the first thing to go was the expensive food. Therefore, Aonghus had to look for a job again but thankfully, due to his professional ability and the fact that people have to eat no matter where in the world they live, he was confident of finding new employment.

Aonghus’ ambitions for the future would be to progress through the Compass Group, to develop himself within the catering sector but also any other aspect of the company that he might be able to get involved in. As much as Aonghus loves cooking, over time he has started to look at the bigger picture and at some stage he realises that he will have to step away from the ovens.

Outside of working Aonghus has a number of interests particularly those that are related to his two daughters who play camogie at Lucan Sarsfields GAA club. He has recently become involved with the club and took a foundation course for coaching younger children and is looking forward to continuing with this in January 2013. Aonghus played hurling himself as a boy. He also supports his older daughter with her interest in boxing. Apart from sport, Aonghus does some writing and likes to collect wild foods such as mushrooms, blackberries, sloes, hazelnuts and whatever he can find depending on the time of year. He wrote a blog about his wild food knowledge a couple of years ago until work commitments interjected but he hopes to resume writing in the near future. He also did radio work in a similar context at that time.

Phoenix Balances Your Options

The Phoenix Restaurant on NUI Maynooth’s North Campus is part of the Compass Group global food service company and, as such, has  the advantage of being able to avail of the services of Compass’ very own dieticians. These dieticians make a  positive contribution at the Phoenix with their most significant impact being the role they play in promoting health, wellness and nutrition.

Nutritional labelling plays a big part in the Phoenix’s strategy as it continues to roll out their healthy eating framework ‘Balanced Choices’, providing healthy food choices across the various menu offerings. This gives their consumers the nutritional information that they need to make informed choices.

This year, Compass also launched a new healthy eating programme, ‘Whole+Sum’. This innovative programme enables consumers to select a healthy and balanced meal by adding together calorie controlled food options to the value of 600 calories or less per meal. ‘Whole+Sum’ reflects consumer trends by combining popular world cuisine flavour profiles and comfort foods, with enough variety that adds to people’s enjoyment on their visit to the ‘Whole+Sum’ station every day.

As a demonstration of their commitment to the initiative, Phoenix constantly strive to improve the nutritional labelling at their Restaurant, including the introduction of calorie counts and improving knowledge and awareness of the benefits of a balanced nutritional diet. The Phoenix will also strive to reduce the levels of salt and artificial trans fats in the food they serve each day.

So all of the above is good news for those who may feel that they have over indulged during the Christmas break, as a carefully planned out daily calorie intake combined with the right balance of foods should get them back on track and NO it does not mean you don’t have to exercise as well!

Filtering out Naughty Words from your Facebook Business Page

While the Phoenix Restaurant Facebook Business Page offers a convenient way for the restaurant’s management (General Manager Linda Brophy and Assistant Manager Anna Szyszkowska) to advertise the latest menus and in-store promotions, it also provides a forum where customers can post feedback on their experiences at the restaurant.

This functionality has allowed the business to receive first-hand feedback from the customers. However, the management at Phoenix have been careful to ensure that any potential criticism on the Facebook Wall remains civil and that the use of offensive language is avoided.

By allowing customers to sound off, you give your company a unique opportunity to take corrective action, but if you run a Facebook Page for a family-friendly brand, you have the absolute right to keep out foul-mouthed contributors who cloak their criticisms in profanity-laden remarks.

Fortunately in early 2011 Facebook released a moderation blocklist; a functionality that allows page administrators to set parameters around certain keywords – automatically marking posts containing these words as spam and placing them in the hidden posts filter where only administrators can view the content.

Administrators can tailor the list of banned words according to their own specifications from the Manage Permissions tab of the Page admin interface. While many may view the use of this tool as a form of customer censorship, it is important to note that Team Social Media has only chosen to filter a select number of highly inappropriate words that we believe should never form a part of any legitimate criticism.

To avoid the accusation that your company is running away from negative criticism it is probably best practice to include the warning “the use of inappropriate language will not be tolerated” somewhere on the landing page of your Facebook site.

Breakfast at the Phoenix

5 A Day @ The Phoenix.

Almost all fruit and vegetables count towards your 5 A DAY, making it easier than you may think to have a balanced diet each day. Here are some examples of what is advised from the NHS.

• Fresh fruit and vegetables.
• Frozen fruit and vegetables.
• Tinned or canned fruit and vegetables.
• Dried fruit, such as currants, dates, sultanas and figs.
• Fruit and vegetables cooked in dishes such as soups, stews or pasta dishes.
• A glass of 100% fruit or vegetable juice counts as one portion a day.
• Smoothies made from fruit and/or vegetable may count as more than one portion but this depends on how they are prepared.
• Beans only count as one portion a day, no matter how many you eat.
• Fruit and vegetables in convenience foods, such as ready meals, pasta sauces, soups and puddings.

However a word of caution in regard to ready-made foods: they can be high in salt, sugar and fat, so you should only consume them them occasionally or in small amounts. You can find the salt, sugar and fat content of ready-made foods on the label.

Remember 80 grams of fresh fruit and vegetables constitutes a single portion, so 400 grams (nearly a pound) is required each day. It is best that these are a mixture of fruit and vegetables and that we also have a variety of different colours of different fruit and vegetables each day as it is the various pigments that make up the colours that act as powerful antioxidants.

Nutrition at Phoenix Restaurant

Nutrition is the study of food at work in our bodies, our source for energy, and the medium through which our nutrients can function. There are six main categories of nutrients: carbohydrates, fats, minerals, protein, vitamins and water. Independently and cooperatively nutrients play a key role in the creating a stable and healthy environment for our bodies.

The Phoenix Restaurant at The National University of Maynooth, owned by Compass Group Ireland has incorporated more promotions and schemes to help consumers and staff alike become more aware of their calorie intake and the elements of the meals on offer. The restaurant offers a fantastic menu that supports all of your dietary needs. Catering for all, Phoenix has delicious pastas, succulent meats (chicken, beef, ham, pork), and fresh fruit and veg. Along with the healthy salad bar the restaurant offers students some tasty treats such as daily pizzas, burgers, chips, baguettes.

“The Phoenix is a nice place to chill and to get some great food. The Phoenix has a great selection and the food is always freshly cooked and well-priced. As a student it’s hard to cook to the same high standard as Phoenix. Our trainer recommends us to eat there to get the necessary nutrients for maximum potential in training” says Gary Hurley (Paddy Harrington Golf Scholar & Irish International).

Food Safety / Hygiene at Phoenix Restaurant

One major concern of those operating a busy restaurant environment is to ensure that none of their customers fall ill after consuming one of their food offerings. Such news is likely to negatively impact a restaurant’s overall trade and in many cases lead to long-term reputational damage.

With this in mind, safeguarding the highest of hygiene standards is undoubtedly the number one operational priority at Phoenix Restaurant  Taking all reasonable preventative steps to ensure that food prepared and distributed by the Phoenix meets the highest safety standards is a wholly collaborative process, with each staff member adhering to a strict code of hygienic practice in their day-to-day operations.

Like all food businesses operating in the Republic of Ireland,  Compass Group (operators of Phoenix Restaurant) is required by law to have a food safety management system based on the principles of HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point). This simple system enables the Phoenix to comprehensively assess each step in the food manufacture process (also known as Critical Control Points CCPs) for potential food safety

From the moment deliveries arrive at the back door, the Phoenix engages in a number of practical steps to ensure their food is stored and prepared to the highest of standards. These mandatory measures include:hazards and introduce practices and procedures that eliminate or reduce the risk of these hazards becoming dangerous.

1. Checking the delivery vehicle for cleanliness and temperature control.
2. Probing all delivered food to ensure it has been stored at the correct temperature.
3. Labelling all delivered food before putting it in the appropriate fridge, freezer or store room.
4. Checking cooking food to ensure that it has reached the required cooking temperature.
5. Storing prepared food in accordance with HACCP guidelines and ensuring the temperature is checked throughout the delivery service. If something is found to have gone above or below the legal temperature it is immediately discarded to prevent contamination.
6. Taking samples of all the food cooked on site and freezing it so it can best tested following a suspected food poisoning incident.

All the aforementioned information is carefully catalogued and kept on record for a minimum of six months. This provides the Phoenix with full accountability for everything that has been cooked on site.

By complying with the latest food safety regulations, Phoenix Restaurant has demonstrated its commitment to earning an enhanced reputation as an establishment where food is produced in a hygienic environment and is safe for consumption.

In August 2012, Compass Group Ireland (the parent company of The Phoenix) was awarded the prestigious HSE Silver Standard award – an honour given to companies that have demonstrated a high level of performance underpinned by management systems that deliver consistent improvement in standards of excellence.

Passing the required internal and ISOQAR audits needed to attain this coveted accreditation serves as a concrete reminder of the company’s longstanding commitment to the health and welfare of its loyal customers.

Joyville at Phoenix – Free Chocolate!

Joyville, the hugely popular Cadburys promotion is arriving at the Phoenix Restaurant tomorrow Friday 12^th October – on board their  Fleet of quirky, retro Joyville vehicles!

A team of 8 Joyvillians will disembark from the fleet, including:

Brand Ambassadors, Actors, Stilt Walkers, Uni-Cyclists, Jugglers & Musicians playing brass instruments (tuba & trumpet), handing out Cadbury’s Dairy Milk and encouraging consumers to share a square and multiply the joy!

So why not come along and visit Linda and her staff at the Phoenix Restaurant, have some fun and did I mention Free chocolate????  Shhhhhh….. 

More information on Joyville promotions is available at this video link: 

Phoenix Restaurant : E-Marketing / Social Media Audit & Plan