The Lep Inn is back: Behind the scenes of the refurbished Leopardstown Inn

Southside bar, synonymous with race day crowds from nearby Leopardstown Racecourse, reopens with a new focus on restaurant fare The Leopardstown Inn: Head chef Lukasz Maslowski and executive chef Mark Ahessy. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill / The Irish Times “It’s pub classics done really well,” says chef Mark Ahessy, of the Loyola’s Group’s The Old Spot in Beggar’s Bush, who along with fellow Old Spot chef Lukasz Maslowski has led the menu makeover at The Leopardstown Inn. While the landmark south Dublin pub was up for sale last year with a €7.25 million price tag, the Loyola Group have decided to reopen the premises rather than sell it. The interiors have had a refresh with deep-green panelling, red leather chairs with button tufting and dark woods all part of the revamp. “The idea was to create a neighbourhood restaurant. You know, where families will come, and where it’s not going to be alienating anyone. We’ve got a massive grill, so we’re cooking everything on fire. Our oven is fire, our grill is fire, so it’s going to be a challenge for the kitchen,” says Ahessy. READ MOREThis focus of this relaunch of the venue is more gastro than pub, with the website describing the venture as a “neighbourhood kitchen and pub”, and the pricing of menu items reflects that too. At the higher end of the menu is 12-hour slow braised beef cheek with creamy mash and bourguignon sauce for €38, while pork loin cooked over fire is €36. Traditional fare such as half a roast chicken with all the trimmings is €26; a burger and chips is €24. “We’re making everything ourselves,” says Ahssey. “All our burger buns have been made. We’re making batch bread for our roast chicken and stuffing sandwiches for lunch. Just doing all the kind of homely stuff that you want when you go into a pub or a neighbourhood restaurant, everything done properly using sustainable, good ingredients.”Food producers include pork from Winetavern Farm in Wicklow and McLaughlin’s beef for the dry-aged smash burger, but it’s not only food where there has been care in provenance. Annmarie O’Neill, who managed Charlotte Quay for six years with the Bereen Brothers Group, is head of hospitality and is fronting the wine list’s expansion from 15 wines to 62. The Leopardstown Inn on Brewery Road, Stillorgan, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill / The Irish Times Roasted salters rare breed pork loin, charred hispi cabbage, buttery mash and bramley apple cider jus at The Leopardstown Inn. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill / The Irish Times The Leopardstown Inn menu. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill / The Irish Times The newly extended wine menu – supplied by Wine Labs – has bottles starting at €38 and rounds out at €150, while glasses start at €8.50. “Every supplier we use focuses on small family-run vineyards. There are no conglomerate wines. Nothing like a big brand name. Everything is niche,” O’Neill says.The attached off-licence, Grape and Grain, is also getting a makeover – the premises is now leased to Dublin 3’s Sweeney’s off-licence, who The Leopardstown Inn will work alongside.Sweeney’s – known for their wine selection, craft beers and daily toasties in Fairview – will offer charcuterie boards in the Leopardstown location as well as barista coffee.“The relationship between us is going to be very close. You can get a bottle of wine for corkage on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and bring it into us,” says O’Neill. Some things will remain the same however, and Leopardstown Inn staple Gerry Murphy, who has been pulling pints for more than 30 years, will still be on hand. Reflecting on the relaunch, O’Neill says the venture will be a definite shift from the traditional pub environment. “The Lep Inn is transitioning from a really lovely pub that serves food to a really nice restaurant that also has a bar.”Open seven days a week from noon, the kitchen will close at 9.30pm Monday to Saturday, and 8pm on Sunday. Lunch will run from 12pm to 3pm, and dinner service from 5pm onwards.The Leopardstown Inn on Brewery Road, Stillorgan, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill / The Irish Times The Leopardstown Inn on Brewery Road, Stillorgan, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill / The Irish Times The Leopardstown Inn on Brewery Road, Stillorgan, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill / The Irish Times IN THIS SECTION