Lorraine Heskin has just opened three new outlets in Arnotts
Very little seems to phase Lorraine Heskin, who talks about expansion, cost analysis and the daunting series of challenges facing the hospitality industry like she is talking about the weather over a leisurely brunch.
Since then, Gourmet Food Parlour has scrambled to recover lost ground and even expanded the business. For her efforts, Heskin has been nominated as a finalist in the established category of this year’s It was a no-brainer, she says, sipping an artisan coffee in the plush surroundings of her new brasserie. Brand collaborations, particularly with other Irish companies, are an important part of the Gourmet Food Parlour model.
The spaces were already fitted out and just waiting for Heskin’s company to put its own stamp on them. “There was a minimal investment from my own perspective to bring the decor up to standard and to bring my own brand. It was fairly straightforward. I think the most complex part was getting the menus right.”
Then there is the Corner Cafe, a new departure for Heskin’s business and a tie-up with another Dublin-based business. “It’s a patisserie,” says Heskin. “We’ve aligned with Bread 41 and we’re serving all their pastries downstairs and we have our own artisan coffee that we serve in all our restaurants as well. We work with a couple of different private businesses and then we make our own desserts, very high-end desserts for sitting in or takeaway.
Abridged accounts filed 12 months ago for the Gourmet Food Market Company, the trading entity behind the brand, reveal accumulated profits of close to €1.4 million in 2021, up about €1 million from the previous year. With the company set to file its 2022 accounts over the coming weeks, what does Heskin expect them to look like?
It started in 2010 when she rented a kitchen at Bill Cullen’s Europa Academy Conference Centre in Swords and has “grown significantly” since, she says. Gourmet Food Parlour is now a big player in the sports catering industry, making meals for the Dublin football team, the IRFU, the FAI, Connacht Rugby and Ireland’s next batch of Olympians in advance of Paris 2024.
I love food. I love dining out and entertaining and I just kind of always knew I wanted to set up my own business, I just didn’t know what In 2006, Heskin found a 25-seat cafe on Cumberland Street in Dún Laoghaire. Straight away, she realised the potential in the business, leaving a good job and salary behind her at the Jacob Fruitfield food group. This being 2006, conspicuous consumption was the order of the day and the first Gourmet Food Parlour cafe satisfied growing demand for a bit of luxury. Think artisan sandwiches, antipasti boards, hand-selected wines and food imported from the US.
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