Trail-blazing chef set to spell out recipes for success in local food

Entrepreneurial chef Niall McKenna at Waterman House in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter.Entrepreneurial chef Niall McKenna at Waterman House in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter.
Entrepreneurial chef Niall McKenna at Waterman House in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter.
NIALL McKenna, one of Northern Ireland’s most respected and successful chef/restaurateurs, is launching his first cookery book this month.

The publication, ‘What’s It All About’, draws on the chef’s experience and many of the innovative recipes he’s created over more than 20 trail-blazing years in business.

Promising around 140 delicious recipes from his vast collection of dishes in his five restaurants in the city, the debut cookbook is also a culinary history of the city he loves.

Niall and wife Joanne have developed quality restaurants since opening James Street South in Belfast in 2003, now one of the city’s most popular and widely acclaimed eateries. It was also the base for the city’s first cookery school.

The talented chef has been a driving force in the emergence of Belfast as a great food hub since 2000 and his return to London from working alongside celebrity chefs such as Gary Rhodes and Marco Pierre White in London.

Wife Joanne has also been an active supporter of Food NI, the region’s main food and drink promotion body and the organisation behind the remarkable Year of Food and Drink 2016. Passionate about local food and drink, Niall is widely respected for outstanding food, creative menus, excellent service and for the establishment’s distinctive style. It’s a commitment which has aided dozens of local food and drink producers.

Waterman House, his most recent restaurant, was chosen as a Favourite New Restaurant by the influential Michelin Guide. Waterman continues Niall’s longstanding dedication to cooking with the best local produce.

The stylish restaurant, which is located in the city’s vibrant Cathedral Quarter and helped to regenerate this historic part of the city, was chosen by the Michelin inspectors who described it as “big, bold and buzzy”. It continues to prosper and is especially popular with gourmet food lovers from Belfast and beyond.

Opened in 2022, Waterman House now also includes the successful cookery school from James Street South.

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