A recent kitchen accident was unlikely to slow down Neven Maguire, who will be DJing at this year's Electric Picnic before filming a new TV series and working on his next book. Donal O’Donoghue visits him in Blacklion, Co Cavan, for a whirlwind tour of his life, his work and his vinyl collection.
"I’m thinking of calling it Mixin’ in the Kitchen!"
Three weeks before Electric Picnic and Neven Maguire is toying with a name for his DJ set at the festival. "I will do a cookery demo and then play my favourite tracks on my decks," says the chef, restaurateur, TV host, author and occasional DJ. "It will be a bit of fun."
The Cavan man likes a bit of fun, something he manages to squeeze in among the zillion other plates that he’s spinning. Right now, that includes an imminent TV series (Neven’s Ulster Food Tour), prepping a new book (Wham Bam One Pan, to be published next year) and yet another TV series, which starts filming in the UK in September.
Neven, I suggest, Eureka light-bulb popping, what about a book that combines your love of music and food? He chuckles. "We’ll have to get Marty Whelan in on that one," he says. For now, though, there’s the day (and night) job.
It’s Thursday morning in the breakfast room of MacNean House & Restaurant, Blacklion, Co Cavan. Conversations eddy between tables. "Fair play to him," says one diner to another, before giving a potted history of the restaurant’s dark days during the Troubles. "It’s an experience, isn’t it?" says another of their night at Neven’s before tucking into Eggs Benedict.
Business is booming for an establishment which earlier this year won on the double at the Irish Restaurant Awards: Best in Ulster and an Outstanding Achievement Award for Maguire. "Everyone must have the porridge at least once" says Amelda, who runs the front of house, while Andrea recalls her boss’s recent accident when he slipped and fractured his left shoulder. "It was a bit of a shock," she says, "because we believe Neven to be invincible."
In a way, he is. My first sighting of the chef and he’s hefting a box of fresh vegetables up a flight of steps to the gardens at the rear of the restaurant. "Jeez, Neven, what are you at?" He says it’s OK. Truth is the man can’t stand still. Two minutes later, he’s making a short social video of his gardener Kevin and posting onto Instagram. Then he’s waxing lyrical about microgreens and salads and the rest.
"In all of my years of cooking, I’ve never had a major accident," he says. "I’ve got burns and knife cuts and scratches but nothing major. I meet guests without the arm-sling, try to do a little bit in the kitchen but it’s just frustrating. I slipped in the kitchen, tried to stop the fall and fractured my shoulder in three places. However, I didn’t have to cancel anything, I was able to still post on TikTok and Instagram and now I’m off to Portugal this Sunday with my wife Amelda, and our twins Connor and Lucia."
We chat in Maguire’s cookery school next door to MacNean House. Somewhere behind us, Neven’s son, Connor (13) is cooking up a big pot of chutney ("Is he on his phone?" asks Neven) under the expert tutelage of chef Claire. "Connor wants to make a few bob because Lucia is selling her bracelets in the restaurant," says his father, whose entrepreneurial streak was always there alongside his talent in the kitchen.
In 2001, Maguire took over as head chef and owner of MacNean House after working in such starry establishments as Restaurant Arzak (San Sebastian) and Restaurant Léa Linster (Luxembourg). One of the nicest gentlemen in the business, Maguire is also an astute businessman – cookware and bakeware collection with Dunne Stores, 19 books and counting, umpteen TV series. "I’m a Cavan man after all," he jokes, but a Cavan man who is generous to a fault.
"It will be my first time doing a TV show in the North of Ireland," he says of his new RTÉ series, Neven’s Ulster Food Trail, which opens in neighbouring Fermanagh. As ever, the formula is the same: Neven meets food producers, restaurateurs, chefs and hoteliers. He also gets to do some touristy things like stop by the local Marble Arch Caves, walk the Carrickrede rope bridge ("That was scary!") and travel in a hovercraft. Seriously?
"Let me show you," he says, whipping out his phone and playing a video of himself trying to get airborne in a single-seater craft. As a life-long Manchester United fan, he was especially chuffed to visit the George Best Museum. Is the Belfast legend his favourite United player of all time? "Not really. Roy Keane would be one. Ronaldo as well." As for Ulster, it also had some surprises despite being on his doorstep and where he first learned his trade.
Maguire, one of eight siblings (he has a twin brother, David), grew up in the hospitality business: his mother, Vera, and father, Joe, having bought MacNean House in 1969. Today, to the rear of the restaurant, just above the vegetable garden, is a wooden bench dedicated to his late parents.
"I still think of my parents a lot. Last week, a couple in the restaurant said to me 'Your parents would be so proud of you’ and that filled my heart with happiness because when they started, we really struggled (the restaurant was bombed twice by Loyalist paramilitaries and was closed from 1973 to 1989)." A devout Catholic, Maguire goes to Mass two or three times a week. "My faith has always been strong, something I got from mum and dad, and I do believe that I’ll meet them again one day."
Behind us, a pot is bubbling. Is Connor a natural in the kitchen like Neven? "Connor, are you good at cooking do you think?" asks his father. "I don’t know," says Connor. "Come on now. Can you cook yourself a meal at home? He makes the most amazing scrambled eggs and pancakes and French toast. So you like cooking Connor?" Yeah. "And you want to be a chef?" Yeah. "We have it on tape now: it’s official!"
Twin sister Lucia is more into baking and making "wee" bracelets. "You should see them, they are class," says Maguire. "Claire, can you get a few to show Donal? And make sure he pays for it hahaha! Later this August, when Connor goes back to school, he will work in the kitchen on Fridays. Won’t you Connor? He will be in with Carmel (McGirr, head chef) and the team. It’s great for him to get into it."
I tell him that Andrea was worried for him following his accident. "Aw! Andrea is like my guardian angel," he says. "But I’m a very positive person and this injury will heal, and I’ll be back in the thick of it again shortly."
Has he bought any new vinyl? He smiles. "Claire, have I bought any records recently?" She laughs. "Not at all!" Again, Neven whips out his phone to show me the damage. "Claire had to catalogue the collection because it was getting so large, with well over 3,000 records and I’m still adding to it. See this one? Bought on eBay."
He shows me his room at home, crammed with vinyl. Does he listen to them all? "Omigod yeah! I play them all the time and make videos." I watch a video of DJ Jenny Greene, who stopped by recently to spin some discs. What music is Connor into? "Ask him," says Neven. "Same as dad," says Connor, who will often play music with his father at home. "The decks I have I got from my mum and dad for my 21st birthday," says Neven, "but I’m not a DJ and I have no desire to be a DJ." It’s only then I notice the punky blonde highlights in his hair. Is that new? "Donal, I’ve had those for years!"
Neven says one of his wife Amelda’s many admirable traits is her consistency: no highs or lows, even keel, steady hand. I suspect when your own world is a constant whirlwind such things matter a lot. Following his Electric Picnic gig ("I’m on last so I can DJ as long as I want") he travels to northeast England to film his first TV series in Britain and after that his annual RTÉ Christmas show, which will shoot in Kenmare this year. He tastes the chutney. Needs to be sweeter.
On a long table is a stack of Maguire’s most recent cookbook, Eat Out at Home, waiting to be signed. No easy thing when you’re left-handed and with a fractured left shoulder. Not for today but before he heads to Portugal with the family. Two weeks in the sun. Two weeks of fun. "Two weeks of doing nothing," he adds. Somehow, I doubt that very much.
