Irish restaurants have forgotten the “whole idea of welcoming guests” and showing hospitality, chef JP McMahon has said.
He was speaking during a Lunchtime Live debate on whether Irish hospitality is still hospitable.
Mr McMahon said he recently had an unwelcome experience at a 'casual' Dublin restaurant.
"We forget that the guest is the centre of the experience," he said.
"I went into a place just after 9pm; I was kind of ignored initially and then the waiter looked at their watch and then came down to me.
"I knew that I wasn't very welcome and then they made me say, 'Are you still open?'
"The waiter said, 'Yes we are but we're closing soon' and finally I got to sit down."
'The lights came up'
Mr McMahon said the restaurant announced it was closing as he was still eating.
"I think, for me, the whole idea of welcoming the guest is forgotten about," he said.
"Also, then, halfway through the meal, I wanted to order another little plate and I was told that the kitchen was closed.
"Then I wanted to have another glass of wine and I was told they were closed and then the lights came up.
"There was still about 15 people in the restaurant".
'Made to feel unwelcome'
Mr McMahon said if places are open the staff should be welcoming.
"I know staff want to go home and they might be working all day but I think it's really important," he said.
"While the food was really good, I really felt like there was no need for me to be there in the sense that I wasn't being welcomed.
"If you go into a place at 9.30pm, and they say they're open and you go in, the last thing you want to be is made feel unwelcome.
"I would hate for it to happen in my own restaurant".
Mr McMahon said he posted about his experience on X to have a "healthy debate".
When you walk in a restaurant at 9.10 in Dublin and the waiter looks at their watch you feel really welcome. When they tell you they're about to close but you can sit, it makes you feel like they don't want your money. When they turn up the lights when you and others are sitting…
— Dr. Jp McMahon (@mistereatgalway) April 3, 2024
"I just felt sorry for the restaurant because it's hospitality let itself down," he said.
“It's about a holistic approach and I think that our dining culture is still so young in Ireland that anytime you bring up these things people get really incensed," he added.
Mr McMahon said he is simply pointing out "something I think we can do better" in the industry.
