Yes. I know it’s been a while. Eventful times. Anyway, it’s good to be back.

Just over a week ago, Kitchen 101 opened in Terenure village, just beside Marios on Terenure Road East. There have been at least four, maybe five, restaurants on that site since Marios opened. It’s a bit of a restaurant graveyard to be honest. Based on yesterday’s brunch though, I’d love to think that Kitchen 101 will be around for a good while.

Kitchen 101 is run, according to its website, by Jaco Pretorius, a former head chef at La Maison in Castle Market in Dublin. I always liked that place, so that’s a good start. Then, as I was standing outside it the other day, looking at the menu display, a woman walked by me, and said ‘it’s yummy’. Well, how could I resist?

Kitchen 101 is open for dinner on Wednesday to Saturday from 5pm and for brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 11am. My OH offered to treat me to brunch and the auspices could not have been better.

We had booked, and we were greeted warmly from behind a face shield and offered a choice of tables. The Covid layout means that there is plenty of space between tables, a plus for the spouse.

The brunch menu is certainly varied and refreshingly original. We were offered water while we made our choices.

Christine chose the Sourdough top with wild mushrooms, wilted spinach, poached eggs and béchamel sauce while I opted for the Scotch egg, homemade baked beans and sourdough toast. For good measure and out of curiosity, we also ordered a side dish of grilled jalapeños with feta and pumpkin seeds. We both ordered fresh orange juice.

Kitchen 101 has chosen a minimal decorative style with walls bare of artefacts apart from one rather random colander. In fact, they’re using the same furniture that the previous proprietors used and I’m pretty sure that the previous proprietors inherited that furniture from the people who ran it before them. Anyway, the place is plain but not unattractive. Low volume music was relaxing and unobtrusive.

Our orange juice arrived …

… followed soon after by our brunch. Presentation was thoughtful and attractive. Christine’s …

Mine …

Ours …

Christine loved hers. Smartly presented, with cucumber, mushroom and pickled red onion in addition to the menu-described items, it was tasty and satisfying.

My previous experience of scotch eggs has been of the supermarket variety. I love them, to be honest: the crunchy exterior, the spicy sausage meat, the hard boiled egg. A guilty treat. Kitchen 101’s version couldn’t be more different. Underneath a familiar crunchy exterior lay delicately seasoned minced pork concealing an egg the yolk of which was perfectly runny. Lovely.

The baked beans were fresh tasting, a lovely accompaniment to the meaty egg, and there were some green leaves, so – healthy too.

We both loved the jalapeños. They were a deep green, and conveyed a satisfying but not uncomfortable heat. The feta provided a welcome sharpness and the pumpkin seeds texture.

Service was friendly, keen, responsive but not obtrusive. In other words, just right.

We completed our brunch with coffees – me a flat white, her a latte – and chat.

The brunch had been filling and, at €42 (thank you, Christine), not cheap but good value. Oh, and really tasty …

I’m really glad that this place has opened literally round the corner from our house. As a taster, this was a very good experience and I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do at dinner time.