Offaly man says restaurant name is a statement of intent

Offaly man Brendan Cleary said this week the name of his new Athlone restaurant 'Da Mad Hoor' is a statement of intent as he plans to have an Irish company with an Irish agenda and will serve Irish produce and 'Da Mad Hoor' is of course a very Irish saying. He said his contemporary Irish burger restaurant will represent modern Ireland and will be focused on good customer service and good quality food at competitive prices. Of the 'Glenisk' family business in Tullamore, Brendan said he was involved with the family business since the year dot. "I was there at the birth of Glenisk when it was set up by my father, it was very cutting edge at the time," he said, adding that his own venture is somewhat the same now. Describing the restaurant as a 'modern, casual burger house', Brendan said the trademark for the restaurant will be that it will be serving Hereford beef burgers, something he said is not done very often in Ireland. He added that he plans to link-up with a fisherman's co-op in Cork and will be using local suppliers where possible. "We'll be using fresh ingredients where possible, while taking into account people's spending habits post the Celtic Tiger," said Brendan. And on the subject of post-Celtic Tiger, the Tullamore man said he is not worried about opening a business during the current economic climate, saying there are always opportunities out there. He said, for him, one of the negatives of the Celtic Tiger was that in many cases bad food and bad service became the norm and he now wants his restaurant to bring back the basics of good quality produce at reasonable prices with good service. Brendan is very much focused on the customers' needs, so much so that he hasn't actually decided what his opening hours will be, saying he will cater for the needs of Athlone and will gauge what opening hours best suit his business, which will initially employ 13 people.