BALLINA, Co. Mayo – The Mount Falcon Estate, run by proprietor Alan Maloney, used the off season during the first two months of 2024 to bolster its ranks on its food and beverage team. The new faces of Mount Falcon consist of Maxence “Max” Gaudillot, a sommelier who hails from the classic French wine producing region of Burgundy, Roisin Henry, an up-and-coming finance auditor who took a leap of faith into the food and beverage industry, and Ryan Friesen, a 10-year veteran of the whiskey industry in the US and Ireland. With these placements Maloney is eyeing a burgeoning segment of the market; that of a clientele who has grown tired of the stuffy white tablecloth three course dinner and is instead seeking an authentic and professionally curated food and beverage experience in the comfort of an elegant Irish country manor.
The appointments of the new trio mirror changes made in Chef Tom Doyle’s eponymous The Kitchen Restaurant, Mount Falcon’s dining establishment located in the original manor house kitchen. In mid-March Maloney announced it would be eschewing expectation with the launch of a new dining concept featuring an á la carte menu of in-house dry aged beef. With an ingredients-first mentality nothing is sacrificed on the journey from produce to plate, according to Maloney who added, “This year we hope to bring you the best steak & seafood dining experience on the west coast of Ireland.”
Playing an integral role in making The Kitchen Restaurant the “best in the west” is sommelier Gaudillot who hails from Burgundy, France. Gaudillot has selected wines which can be paired, by the glass or bottle, with Chef Tom’s new lineup of protein focused dishes. As a resident sommelier, he actually lives on the estate, Gaudillot is uniquely placed to re-imagine the Mount Falcon wine cellar. With a 70/20/10 split of offerings from France, the US, and international wines respectively, Gaudillot says striking a balance, or as he puts it in his native vernacular, “équilibre,” is key when pairing wines to an á la carte menu.
“To know the wine, you need to know the gastronomy,” Gaudillot says.
Much of the 70% of the restaurant’s full wine selection which comes from France is being sourced from producers Gaudillot knows and whose appellations he has visited and studied. Gaudillot was reared in Burgundy and grew up in his parents’ boulangerie learning about wine through the producers who frequented the shop.
On the other side of the beverage spectrum Maloney found Ryan Friesen, former Master Distiller with experience making whiskey outside Chicago, in California, and most recently locally in Ballina. Friesen brings his spirits tenure to bear not only on the offering in the Boathole Bar, Mount Falcon’s watering hole, but what he’s learned from the rapid growth witnessed in the whiskey sector over the past decade. The career shift comes for Friesen after he and his wife, Melissa Medich, found themselves at the end of an employment contract and not quite ready to leave Co. Mayo and the West of Ireland. With a career spanning operational and strategic team building, broad international experience, a love of the service industry, and time as a local journalist, Friesen joins Mount Falcon as their Business Development Manager with an agenda.
"I've known and worked with Alan [Maloney] and the team here at Mount Falcon for the past two years in my role as a whiskey maker, so joining them felt like a natural fit," Friesen said. "There is so much about the estate that I have been singing the praises of since I arrived here from California back in early 2022. I'm now simply taking that pride of place from a personal message to one that I hope will resonate in the industry and reflect the values and mission of the very special place that is Mount Falcon."
Not to be outdone, Roisin Henry took perhaps an even greater leap of career-faith when she joined Mount Falcon early this year. As a Senior Associate at PwC Ireland, Henry had been watching over audits at large investment or hedge fund firms. Though she still plans to finish her accounting accreditations the work was not giving back what it took. Hospitality had been a side gig for Henry who also worked in bars, restaurants, and even housekeeping, jobs she went home from feeling better about.
“This is what I really want to be doing,” Henry said upon reflecting on her hospitality work.
In her new role Henry is watching over all aspects of the gastronomical guest experience as the Food & Beverage Manager. Enthusiasm and “a proper love for what I do” are what Henry puts into her work and what she gets out of it today, she says.
“My job is to get it (the new restaurant concept) where they want it to be, the best steak and fish restaurant on the western seaboard,” Henry said echoing Maloney who himself left the world of high finance for a life dedicated to hospitality.
"Having Max and Ryan join Roisin allows us to leverage the already excellent service our guests have come to expect," Maloney said.
Under the direction of Chef Tom, The Kitchen Restaurant at the Mount Falcon Estate is open 7-days a week with a Special Lunch Cut option selected by the chef. The new restaurant concept was conceived of by Maloney and Doyle after questioning what “fine dining” in Ireland means. This new direction for the restaurant is, according to Maloney, a re-focusing on his vision for the Irish country kitchen. “With an á la carte menu of in-house dry aged beef we are taking a stand for Irish beef,” he said. Choosing the best available ingredients is at the core of the new restaurant concept. “Let’s treat [ingredients] with care,” Doyle said, adding, “I’m giving them really what beef should taste like.” Maloney acknowledges the protein focused menu is taking a position on what diners will find on the menu, but added, “We want to celebrate what makes Irish ingredients coveted the world over.”
