Piero Melis is an outstanding chef, and his dishes offer definitive examples of thrilling Irish and Italian specialities.
Unique. Interesting. Memorable. That’s how people describe Piero Melis’s cooking in The Courthouse. Mr Melis is the kind of cook who makes certain that every dish is vibrant with flavour, and it makes for great eating. There are several signature dishes that are outstanding: Mullaghmore lobster pappardella with light korma and basil sauce; superb home-made duck ravioli with white ragu; beautiful john dory with mascarpone and crab sauce; the sublime veal saltimbocca with mozzarella, Parma ham and a white wine sauce. The food is gracious, subtle and sublime, and great value for money. To make the most of the evening, stay upstairs in the simple rooms, and enjoy the Iselis wines from Mr Melis’s Sardinia.
Winner of the Restaurant Association of Ireland’s ‘Leitrim’s Best Chef 2011’ Piero Melis is a serious cook, and if he worked away from the tiny hamlet of Kinlough he would be better known for his robust, rich Sardinian cuisine. But then, if he didn’t work in lovely little Kinlough, you wouldn’t have the pleasure of coming to this sweet place, staying overnight, enjoying some good wines imported by the man himself, and then enjoying the coup de grace which is this fine food: crab linguini with garlic and chilli; courgette, pepper and goat’s cheese penne; veal saltimbocca with mozzarella; fillet steak with rocket, parmesan shavings, rosemary and olive oil. Wine buffs should lookout in particular for the rare Sardinian wines that Piero imports, and which lend the final note of authenticity to a little slice of Sardinia in lovely Leitrim.
The Bridgestone Guides are authoritative, controversial, reliable and independent. Making it in to the Bridgestone Guide is very prestigious.
Chef Piero Melis, proprietor of The Courthouse Restaurant, Kinlough knows the importance of the publicity. He said he is “delighted” with the achievement and the “acknowledgement of his hard work.”
The restaurant has been noted in the guide for almost ten years of it’s 15 year business but the upgrade to one of the best 100 restaurants in Ireland is something he feels will boost business.
“Last year I won Best Chef in Leitrim and this really helped business, the media publicity boosted our numbers.” He now hopes his high inclusion in the Bridgestone Guide will further increase customers to The Courthouse.
The Courthouse’s Thornhill duck dish is listed as one of 10 great signature dishes and the restaurant also makes it on to the top 10 Him ‘n’ Her Places!
Piero told the Leitrim Observer he relies usually on the local custom of Leitrim, Sligo, Donegal and Fermanagh. He said his close proximity to the seaside town of Bundoran helps trade. In the past three years he said he has noticed more loyal customers returning, which he would not have seen in the years previous. But The Courthouse does attract foodies from further afield and Piero has been taking more frequent bookings from people in Dublin and Belfast who also want to stay locally on their trip.
Piero puts down his success to local products of good quality and excellent value.
He said acknowledgment by Bridgestone puts more pressure on him to perform to his best, which means being more creative. As one of the top 10 chefs in the country according to Bridgestone, Piero has become the “one to watch.”
Piero had only caught a glimpse of the guide before he spoke to the Leitrim Observer. He said he had been informed about the news by many people ringing to congratulate him. He said he feels he did not do anything special last year to get the recognition, he has just continued his hard work ethos.
With six part time staff along with himself, The Courthouse is currently open Thursday – Sunday but will be expanding their open hours around Valentine’s Day and again in late April/ May.
Fiona Heavey – www.leitrimobserver.ie
A Taste of Sardina down the road
The village of Kinlough on the Donegal/Leitrim border is preparing for an influx of food tourists following the publication of The Bridgestone Guide 2012. The ‘go to’ guide has placed local Chef Piero Melis as one of the “10 Hot Chefs” in the country while also honouring The Courthouse Restaurant as one of the Best 100 Restaurants in Ireland.The Bridgestone Guides are authoritative, controversial, reliable and independent and pull no punches – making it in to the Bridgestone Guide is very prestigious.
Chef Piero Melis, proprietor of The Courthouse Restaurant, Kinlough knows the importance of the publicity and is “delighted” with the achievement and the “acknowledgement of his hard work.”
The restaurant has been noted in the guide for almost ten years of it’s 15 year business but the upgrade to one of the best 100 restaurants in Ireland is something he feels will boost business.
“Last year I won Best Chef in Leitrim and this really helped business, the media publicity boosted our numbers.” He now hopes his high inclusion in the Bridgestone Guide will further increase customers to The Courthouse.
The prestigious guide speaks glowingly about Piero and his popular restauraunt saying, “ Piero seems ageless, and vitally youthful- he seems solitary, capable.
“He established The Courthouse, in quaint and quiet Kinlough village, in 1996, when County Leitrim was beginning to assert itself, and for fifteen years he has practised what he learnt from Richard Corrigan when Mr. Melis worked at Bentley’s in London as manager of the oyster bar – make it stylish, keep it simple.
“There is no arrogance about his cooking, which is beautifully logical, and he navigates through the needs of a conservative local audience with aplomb. He understands food in a profound way, he is a servant to his ingredients and has the intuitive touch that characterises someone who reads his ingredients with natural ease and contemplation.
“He is hands-on and hard-working: he will bid you goodnight as you head upstairs to bed after a delicious dinner, and he will be there in the morning to make sure your breakfast is just as perfectly executed as dinner. His food is artfully, transcendently simple, and best matched with the striking wines he imports himself from Sardinia, vivid with ancient tastes
Piero said he relies usually on the local custom of Leitrim, Sligo, Donegal and Fermanagh and his close proximity to the seaside town of Bundoran helps trade.
In the past three years he said he has noticed more loyal customers returning, which he would not have seen in the years previous. But The Courthouse does attract foodies from further afield and Piero has been taking more frequent bookings from people in Dublin and Belfast who also want to stay locally on their trip.
Piero puts down his success to local products of good quality and excellent value.
He said acknowledgment by Bridgestone puts more pressure on him to perform to his best, which means being more creative. As one of the top 10 chefs in the country according to Bridgestone, Piero has become the “one to watch.”
Piero Melis is a great cook. ‘Went there with a friend and stayed overnight, and was really wowed! by Piero’s cooking’, reported a friend. ‘[There was] a nice twist on many ‘standard’ dishes that elevated them to something unique, interesting and memorable. You don’t have to re-invent the wheel to produce something stimulating!’.
We couldn’t agree more. Our last dinner here with two friends was one of the outstanding meals of 2011, as Mr Melis weaved his way carefully and colourfully around a series of beautiful creations – sea urchins with garlic, chilli and olive oil; a cracking aubergine parmigiana; king prawns with brandy sauce and pea purée; Thornhill duck with spinach and wild mushroom sauce; a fine seafood and chicken paella; penne with smoked salmon and vodka. The focus in the Courtyard is on making certain that every dish is vibrant with flavour, and it makes for great eating; eating that more and more people seem to be discovering as the room was really buzzing all around our table of four, with happy folk enjoying special food. Make sure to stay overnight, and enjoy the Iselis wines from Sardinia.
There is a legend that Sardinia was the last place God made – with some thin soil and rock that was left over he tossed the lot into the sea then stepped on it and, voila!, Sardegna was born.
The myth is only completely wrong: Sardinia was probably amongst the first place in its region to be created: it is older than Italy, older than Sicily. Piero Melis was born there, a day before 1960 became 1961, in the deep south west of the island, on an islet called Sant’Antioch.
The Sardinians are an ancient people. Almost forty centuries ago, their strange nuraghe – tall, beehive-shaped stone constructions that could reach more than 20 metres in height – were the most distinguished architecture of their time. “Sardinia has stayed older”, wrote Waverley Root. “Man reached the island in the Stone Age, and it is arguable that he has never emerged from it”. Sardinia was invaded time and again, but no one ever got under the skins of the Sardinians.
This, surely, explains why Mr Melis seems different: you feel you could take his blood line back, not just for centuries, but for millenia. He seems ageless, and vitally youthful. He seems solitary, capable.
He established The Courthouse, in quaint and quiet Kinlough village, in 1996, when County Leitrim was beginning to assert itself, and for fifteen years he has practised what he learnt from Richard Corrigan when Mr Melis worked at Bentley’s in London as manager of the oyster bar: make it stylish, keep it simple. There is no arrogance about his cooking, which is beautifully logical, and he navigates through the needs of a conservative local audience with aplomb. He understands food in a profound way, he is a servant to his ingredients and has the intuitive touch that characterises someone who reads his ingredients with natural ease and contemplation. He is hands-on and hardworking: he will bid you goodnight as you head upstairs to bed after a delicious dinner, and he will be there in the morning to make sure your breakfast is just as perfectly executed as dinner. His food is artfully, transcendently simple, and best matched with the striking wines he imports himself from Sardinia, vivid with ancient tastes.
In the old courthouse of the attractive village of Kinlough, Piero Melis’s little restaurant is a welcoming place and offers good contemporary cooking in the Mediterranean style, with some local influences.
A wide-ranging menu includes specialities like the perennially popular Linguini di Mare, flat spaghetti with clams and crab in a tomato sauce, and there are always daily specials; other favourites include starters like seafood risotto and there is a wide range of main course specialities including Thornhill duck.
Highlights of a recent visit included excellent garlic mushrooms; lovely fresh, light seed bread; and (although some are bought in) really delicious desserts: a properly wobbly panncotta with summer berries and – especially – a superb house tiramisu.
Good food and helpful, professional service all encourage return visits – and the main room has an open fire, making it especially appealing.
