51 Cornmarket's Duck and Waffle dish.

Eggs-tremely good fare at 51 Cornmarket

51 Cornmarket opened its doors only weeks before the first lockdown. What a start for a couple opening their first restaurant!

Anne Zagar and David Devereaux had already established themselves as rising stars when they first opened 51 Cornmarket, which has a focus on local produce and brunch-type food.

Despite the pandemic, 51 Cornmarket has thrived and become a real gem in Cork city.

“51 is meant to have a lazy city feel weekday to weekend, where you can come eat great food, bounce along to great music, have a boozy spritzer and amazing coffee. We want it to be people's everyday habit or hangover craving or the place they bring their out of town friends. It's the whole occasion for us, service has to be friendly and approachable, atmosphere comfortable but fresh and then the food just caps it off by being spot on,” they say.

Anne is originally from New Orleans in the US via West Cork while David is closer to home - he’s a northside native. They’ve both spent time in London as well as heading up restaurants in Cork and have loads of experience.

David says his ambition was “always to have a small place where I would want to go as a customer with a heavy emphasis on Cork’s seasonal produce”.

Anne loves creating moments for people and she has so many happy memories to do with food. “There's so much joy that can be evoked from eating and experiencing good food and I love doing that for people,” she adds.

Their business developed as “the perfect brainchild of both of our dreams. Brunch is our favourite meal!”

Their Duck & Waffle dish features a confit duck leg, buckwheat waffle, tomato and orange salsa, poached egg and hollandaise and it looks delicious! Their Crab Crumpet features a soft egg, pickle and brown crab mayonnaise - delicious! Their Eggs Royale features Goatbridge trout which they cure in-house and looks a treat.

Since re-opening, the couple report that business has been great, they are delighted to have diners back.

“The excitement is palpable, food on plates is definitely better! Again, our product is about the service too and we missed that with takeaway. We like having fun with our customers and getting to know them and their lives, so welcoming everyone back has been equally exciting for us!”

At the moment they operate from 10am-4pm, but that may change in the autumn when they hope to branch into evening dining.

“It's something that, as chefs, we can push the boat out a bit and have fun creating a different vibe at night. Also, there may be happenings of a 52 - we’ve got a lot of ideas in our heads and we're buzzing to turn them into a reality!”

Check them out at facebook.com/51cornmarket.