Damien Grey and Andrew Heron, owners of the tiny Michelin-starred restaurant Heron & Grey in Blackrock, have announced that they are going their separate ways, with Damian reopening the restaurant early next year under a new name, 'Liath', which means Grey in Irish. The restaurant is fully booked until January 26th, after which they will close for a month, and reopen in a slightly new format.
It's a surprisingly turn for the duo behind one of Dublin's most successful restaurants, which first opened in 2016 and gained a Michelin star in under a year. Heron and wife Jessica had their first child earlier this year, and he says he hopes to do something that allows him to spend more time with his family.
Heron & Grey have been changing their menu every two weeks, never repeating a dish, and Grey says he plans to bring back the best from the past three years, after going through his 8 A4 folders containing every dish from the past three years. The menu will continue to change with the seasons.
Choosing to reopen as 'Liath' means giving up the Michelin-star that's been awarded to the team every year since 2016, but Damien says their main priority is getting Liath off the ground and making sure all guests are looked after when they visit in its new guise. They hope to gain a star again, but for now, he says, it's heads down and getting to work on Liath. We have a feeling this will have precisely zero impact on the enormous demand for seats. We'll update you on bookings for Liath once we hear more.