Mar 29, 20192 min read

Circa in Terenure Opens Tonight

Terenure has a new neighbourhood restaurant, as Circa opens tonight. Heading up the kitchen is chef Gareth Naughton (formerly Drury Buildings, Suesey Street and L'Ecrivain), who says he wanted to created "a great neighbourhood restaurant, like the type you find in Melbourne or New York", one that people will want to travel to.

Circa is a collaboration between four industry friends - Gareth, Ross Duffy (formerly Drury Buildings, 3fe, Ombra in New Zealand), Robin Murphy (formerly Drury Buildings, The Redhead New York) and Emmet Murphy (Celtic Whiskey Shop, formerly L. Mulligan Grocer). They were looking for a site for two years before the former Eaton Square café premises came up for rent on Terenure Road North. There are no money men behind the venture, which has been funded solely by the four friends, so they've done everything from graphic design to painting the walls themselves.

Gareth describes the food at Circa as "culturally Irish but not culinarily Irish", and the focus is on the best produce he can source that week from suppliers like Sean Hussey (vegetables), SSI Wholesale (fish) and JJ Young (meat). They expect the menu to change daily depending on what's available, and will be open for dinner from Wednesday - Sunday, and brunch at the weekend, featuring "funky" dishes and hiphop playlists.

Gareth says they wanted to create an "open space", where people can drop in for a snack and a glass of wine at the bar, have three courses, or create their own tasting menu from smaller plates. Two of the team come from a strong bar/cocktail background, so we're expecting the cocktail menu to be as interesting as the food, using bases like Móinéir strawberry wine, vermouth and Cocchi Americano, as well as having low abv options.