The team at Mount Congreve Gardens are delighted to announce that they have welcomed CLIFF as the new culinary operator at the stunning Mount Congreve Gardens Stables Café. Cliff will also provide catering support for private events hosted in the beautiful, recently renovated Mount Congreve House.
CLIFF group is comprised of well-known Irish hospitality brands including; Cliff House Hotel, MICHELIN-starred House Restaurant, Cliff Beach House and Urchin in Ardmore along with the enchanting Cliff at Lyons estate in Kildare.
Sara Dolan, Commercial Director at Mount Congreve Gardens said, “We are delighted to welcome the team from CLIFF to Mount Congreve Gardens. We officially opened at Mount Congreve Gardens on March 1st and we are thrilled that despite the inclement weather, visitors have come to explore our new experience in their droves. We aim to continue to build on attracting visitors from the region, across the country and internationally and we know that our CLIFF hospitality partner match us in their vision, ambition and high standards of quality.”
The new menu and operations have been recently launched by The Pantry at CLIFF team who already hold vast experience in this area having operated their own Café on the grounds of the 19th century village of the Cliff at Lyons for the last 5 years. Visitors can expect a warm welcome from The Pantry at CLIFF brand to enjoy the finest quality breakfast and lunch dishes, Afternoon Tea and grab-and-go options with the menu heavily influenced by Waterford’s best food, drinks and ingredient producers. The chefs are also working with the new Mount Congreve School of Horticulture who are lovingly restoring the walled gardens and helping to produce as much fruit and vegetables as possible for the café.
The sumptuous café offering has been designed by CLIFF Executive Chef Sean Smith who is no stranger to period surroundings and sprawling estates of this type having spearheaded the award-winning Mill Restaurant located in the picturesque demesne of the Cliff at Lyons in Kildare. Head Chef Bruno Caveirina who now lives locally to Mount Congreve Gardens and who has previously worked for Cliff Townhouse in Dublin and most recently the award-winning 360 Cookhouse in Dungarvan leads an exceptional kitchen team in producing a host of seasonal dishes. The kitchen team is complimented by Nelson Saraiva as the new Café Manager. Nelson is known to many in hospitality, originally a native of Portugal, Nelson has worked for CLIFF for over 10 years.
Speaking of the new partnership Tristan Jacob, Joint Managing Director from CLIFF said, “We are thrilled to be partnering with Mount Congreve Gardens at The Stables Café. For all of us at CLIFF, Waterford is a place that is closest to our hearts and Mount Congreve is a destination that we have always loved and admired. We are delighted to work with the Mount Congreve team in driving the destination as a global tourist destination and we will relish the opportunity to bring a flavour of CLIFF to the beautiful new visitor centre and gardens.”
The Stables Café at Mount Congreve Gardens is also delighted to announce that it is now a dog-friendly space and it is open daily for the summer months and will open Thursday – Sunday in the autumn. In addition, a brand-new Afternoon Tea menu will commence from September 2nd, this will be served in the beautiful Tack Room overlooking the gardens at €35 per person.
The spectacular Mount Congreve House and Gardens recently underwent a €7 million-euro redevelopment with a brand new visitor centre and The Stables Café having being purpose-built for the new experience.
Visitors can now arrive through the main front doors of the house into the foyer to enjoy an immersive audio-visual exhibition of the garden and family history. Mount Congreve has been lauded as a ‘great garden of the world’ and the title is certainly fitting to an incredible 70 acres of woodland gardens and 4 acres of walled gardens within a 140-acre estate located 10 minutes outside of the Ireland’s oldest City of Waterford.
At Mount Congreve, the house, gardens and cafe are open year-round 7 days a week (4 days a week in low season). Full details can be found at www.mountcongreve.com
