My Vegan At The Merrion Hotel Collaboration Favourites
One of my proudest collaborations has to include working in Ireland’s 5 Star Merrion Hotel alongside head chef Ed Cooney to create a dedicated vegan menu throughout the hotel which was written up by Vogue.com and National Geographic as one of the best Vegan offerings in Dublin. It began as a trial back in 2019 and has continued to date across the whole hotel offering and I wanted to share some of my favourite creations and the journey.
One of my biggest passions has always been to elevate people’s perceptions of vegan food. Personally I’ve always known that it can be so delicious and so satisfying but what I was most excited about was collaborating with the Merrion Hotel and really showing people how truly special this way of eating can be.
I’ve always favoured items that are familiar so definitely at the top of the list was creating a really epic vegan burger. This took quite a lot of work but what was really exciting about it was we had a mushroom and miso based burger, then we made an aubergine bacon and we actually made a cashew mozzarella as well so a lot of work went in but it’s so satisfying and so delicious.
Another really popular classic is the vegan shepardless pie, filled with lentils for vegan protein and walnuts for a delicious chewy texture. This dish is such a warming and satisfying comfort meal. It’s been pretty consistently bought back to the menu as it really is a winning dish.
I feel there’s nothing better than a really nutritious salad bowl. What I loved about this was the prettiness and the detail of this Buddha bowl. We have beautiful quinoa, lots and lots of healthy seeds and the avocado rose on top which just adds a little bit of extra elegance and we serve this with some garlic bread for extra crunch and vegan pesto as well.
The Pastry chef at the Merrion Hotel, Paul Kelly, has been like a mentor to me. I spent so many mornings in his kitchen working away with him and he’s really a magician when it comes to presentation. This Lemon Meringue Tart was just so pretty and so beautiful and still to this day I look at it and think it’s one of the prettiest vegan desserts I’ve ever seen.
We’ve also done so many delicious cheesecakes, and this raspberry cheesecake was absolutely beautiful. We served it with a vegan ice cream and I always like a little bit of crunch on things so we added some flaked toasted almonds.
For Pancake Day we’ve even had gluten free pancake additions and in particular this was really really lovely. This was an oat, banana and coconut pancake with a chia jam and topped with some pistachios as well which gave it a lovely colour.
Working alongside Paul Kelly again we also created a dedicated vegan Afternoon Tea. Again here it’s the prettiness and the beauty but most importantly what I love is that I think afternoon tea is such a special occasion for people who might be celebrating a birthday or an engagement and I love having a vegan option that sits so beautifully alongside rather than apologetic. I never ever want people to feel that vegan food was the sad or the lesser option and I think here what we’ve created is so truly special.
When it comes to simple salads I’m always looking for ways of integrating more vegan protein into them. This vegan kale Caesar salad has my chickpea croutons which I absolutely love. This is one of those dishes that I think vegan or not people will always enjoy.
You can book into enjoy the vegan options at The Merrion hotel Here.
The current vegan option includes Miso Aubergine with Charred Broccoli and Hummus as a main course and a very special lemon cheesecake for dessert. I hope you enjoy them so much!
