Amy Austin, the long-awaited wine bar from John Farrell, finally opens on Drury Street this Thursday, with lots of small plates, a single dessert and 16 wines on tap. It's next door to ill-fated Luna which closed last year, and where tiny café Sasha House Petite used to be.
Essa Fakhry, from Farrell's other restaurant 777, ended up devising the food menu with new arrival to the island Matt Raynor, most recently at Kudu in London. The food spans cold plates like Carlingford Oysters with kimchi bloody mary and Andarl organic ham hock terrine, foie gras and soy pickled Ard Mhacha shiitake, to hot plates including suckling pig belly, pickled hispi cabbage, and bacon crème fraîche, and beef cheek ragu with fried polenta and parmesan cream. The single dessert for opening is a poached pear & frangipane tart with chantilly, but this will change with the seasons. Cheese and charcuterie will also be available, including lardo on toast.
The entire wine list is from Winelab, with white, red and orange wines on tap (priced €6 - €13 a glass), as well as a bottle list featuring some big hitters from the US and Burgundy, and there's 25% off the whole wine list on Monday and Tuesday. There's also a good range of non-alcoholic options, with five non-alcoholic wines from German winemaker Leitz, Heineken zero and a Seedlip G+T. Rose O'Toole (formerly at Aimsir) has come on board as manager, and is hoping to add to their cocktails on tap range with some of her own creations.
Amy Austin seats less than 30 people, with much of the seating facing the windows for prime people watching, and there's a central table that seats eight. Bookings will only be taken for four or more people, and in keeping with the relaxed environment they're trying to create, dogs are welcome.
Amy Austin opens this Thursday, and will open Monday - Saturday from 5pm - late, with lunch starting in March. From midday till 18:00 two plates will be priced at €23, or €28 with dessert. And if you're wondering where the name Amy Austin came from, as well as the inspiration for the "I love you so much" graffiti outside Farrell's restaurants of late, get the full story here.
Amy Austin
Unit 1, Drury Street Car Park, Dublin 2
Mon - Sat 12:00 - Late (from March)
Ph: 01 5486255
