A brew-tiful morning that stretched well into the afternoon, brunching with local favourites
When I was 16 years old, I watched the film adaptation of Joanne Harris' Chocolat. Though I'd been devouring cooking shows like The Naked Chef; Nigella Bites and Ready, Steady, Cook for years, it was in watching Juliette Binoche poured over a pot of piping hot chilli and chocolate chicken curry that I appreciated how creative one could be in the kitchen.
Good food is daring. The courage a cook assumes when defying the flavour profiles his diners have become accustomed to is always evident from the very first bite. It came as no surprise, then, that a coffee brand as bold as Nescafe would collaborate with Ayabonga Gope, a chef who colours outside culinary lines, to curate the menu for their International Coffee Day brunch.
Walking from the car park towards Leinster Hall, in Gardens, the evergreen vegetation is drawn back to reveal the opulent setting. The Stack's facade is understated - plain white and Victorian-inspired.
What lies inside is anything but.
Before I allow myself to explore the venue, I grad a drink. While I ordinarily avoid caffeine, the invite I received a few days earlier was my white rabbit of sorts, so I figure I might as well follow the coffee beans and see where they lead.
Technicolored prints, sculptures and installations adorn every wall. A comically large Checkers board has been constructed in front of the fireplace and on the balcony, a life-sized Jenga tower stands erect. In the corner, a grand wicker throne flanked by a flourish of flowers commands my attention.
The entire atmosphere is a kind of African Mad Hatters Tea Party, and I am living the fairy tale.
I'm three iced coffee's in when Cece begins to herd myself and the other guest in attendance towards the dining table. En route, I pass Simon, who offers a concise education of the coffee picking, sorting and roasting process. Without thinking, I begin to launch a raw bean into my mouth, but the Kenyan aficionado manages to stop me.
Caffeine is coursing through my veins at a pace that threatens to rip through me, so I decide to take my seat and try steady my heart rate.
When everyone has settled, Chef Aya explains his culinary curation. Because Nescafe is such a household name, we all indulge in his nostalgia. "This sauce will taste like sex in your mouth, I promise you," the eccentric exclaims and we are all jerked out of our reminiscing.
The first course arrives. Those curious about the mentioned sauce opt for the comfort bowl, which includes seasonal veggies served with coffee rubbed beef, Bearnaise sauce and a soft poached egg.
Others - like me - interested in trying the sweet corn fritters Chef Aya describes as, "amagwinya that have gone to university and graduated summa cum laude," order the chicken roulade with basil hollandaise sauce and coffee coated bacon.
The coffee is subtle, I suspect because the mocktails are were Nescafe's products are truly championed. The flavours are all incredibly delicate because there are numerous components that make up one dish. I appreciate that the sweetness of the basil, bacon and sweet corn are balanced by the salty earthiness of the spinach that lays as a foundation to my entrée.
I manage to bargain a few bites of the beefy comfort bowl from a fellow diner. The meat is perfectly cooked. Succulent. The gooey egg yolk offers each forkful an inescapable richness that rogue tomatoes cut through every so often. Chats around the table are titillating, and goblets of iced coffee have been substituted for flutes of mimosas.
This is now a classic brunch as we all know and love them.
After letting the main meal settle, we tuck into dessert. There is a coffee and chocolate galette option,
or a coconut and coffee panacotta that is decorated with a vanilla tuile.
What a pleasant finish. Both puddings are sweet enough to please those who enjoy dessert without offending diners who aren't the biggest fans of sugar.
The panna cotta was smooth enough to use the tuile as a feeding apparatus. It melts away effortlessly in my mouth. While the galette is made of thicket batter than what I'm accustomed to, the berries and simple ice cream ensure the plate isn't too stoggy.
Cece, Aya and the Nescafe team have pulled off a faultless event. While some guests have excused themselves to attend to other commitments, a fair amount of us cannot bear to rip ourselves from this caffeinated phantasm. Eventually, when the vibrato of loud laughter begins to agitate diners scattered within the rest of the brasserie, we decide to call it a day - leaving the fond memories of a fantastical day in a enchanted location.
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Photos taken by Sarah Keogh