Simply does it
By adhering to their maxim of offering affordable and tasty food, Roly Saul and his partner and executive chef Colin O'Daly have filled Roly's Bistro in Dublin every day since it opened four years ago.
The restaurant serves 400-500 covers on most days: "300 is a poor evening," says Saul.
Open seven days a week, this 160-seat restaurant is set over two floors and is very much a neighbourhood restaurant for the Ballsbridge district, which is among the most affluent in Dublin. With several embassies within walking distance and the city's buoyant commercial life in close proximity, there is no shortage of potential customers.
Roly's Bistro prides itself on sourcing and serving the best Irish meat, fish and dairy produce. The food is carefully prepared, unfussily presented and has international influences.
The lunch menu changes twice a week, and the dinner menu is revised every five weeks, with three or four specials served daily.
At lunch, diners can choose from two menus: the à la carte, or a IR£9.50 set-price, three-course menu.
At dinner there are nine or 10 starters to choose from, ranging in price from IR£2.95-4.95. Two favourites include a ballotine of salmon with whiskey and mustard seed sauce, or grilled mussels farcie, lemon and nut crust, both IR£3.95.
Main courses cost IR£7.50-12.95, and there is an extra charge for side orders of vegetables. Dishes such as stuffed fillet of pork soubise, broad bean and parsley cream (IR£9.45), and duck breast roasted and served with apple honey and grape relish (IR£9.95), are reported to be selling well.
Beef is still one of the most popular main courses on any menu, claim Saul and O'Daly. It is currently being served with wood mushrooms and crispy potatoes, priced at IR£12.95.
Following the BSE scare there was a downturn in interest, but Saul reports a move back to beef. He attributes the uptake to "full-blooded" Irish appetites, but he also acknowledges a slow, health-conscious move toward fish and white meat.
Desserts cost IR£3.50 and by far the best selling of these is an orange crème brûlée. The popular cheese board, at IR£3.95, always offers Stilton and two Irish cheeses such as Milleens and Gubeen. Average food spend is IR£16-17 at dinner.
Roly's Bistro broke the mould on wine-pricing in Dublin. The practice of importing direct from France and Italy has accommodated an adventurous pricing policy, explains Saul. Instead of the usual 100-120% mark-up, Roly's Bistro sets out to achieve margins of less than IR£2 per bottle on some of its house wines.
With duty in the Republic of Ireland at IR£1.60 a bottle, coupled with VAT at 21%, there is little room for excessive profits on wines such as Jacob's Creek Shiraz or Faustino VII Rioja when sold at IR£9.95 a bottle. On a list of 50 wines, Saul offers 13 house wines at less than IR£10 per bottle. These account for 60% of wine sales.
As if running a busy restaurant does not keep them fully occupied, Saul and O'Daly opened a bakery in adjacent premises as part of the restaurant's expansion last December. Every day, six different flavoured breads are baked, such as pesto, tomato and fennel, walnut, and fruit. Starting at 6am, up to 800 portions are baked. Saul hopes to extend the bakery business to supply other restaurants later this year.
And, as if that wasn't enough, Saul and O'Daly take time away from the restaurant to visit local schools and spread the word about simply prepared, quality food. They also invite schoolchildren to the restaurant to visit the kitchens and do work experience.
Roly's Bistro, 7 Ballsbridge Terrace, Dublin 4. Tel: 00 353 1 668 2611.
