2022 Award Winners RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR 2022

Lignum, Loughrea Co Galway

At a time when new restaurants are stealing the limelight every month it’s reassuring to know that some of the long-established gems are as delightful, and (at least) as relevant, as the day they first opened. 

Very much a place with its star in the ascendancy, food lovers have blazed a trail to this unusual restaurant since the day it opened, in autumn 2019. Formerly Slatefort House restaurant, run by chef Danny Africano’s Irish-Italian parents, and also the family home, the house and grounds were reborn as Lignum, which Danny runs with his partner Molly Keane and a talented, highly motivated team. Lignum is the Latin term for wood, which is central to the sophisticated yet rustic makeover and the unique character of the food, which is cooked over local ash, birch and oak. The result is creative, beautiful and seriously delicious fine dining - and the quality of the ingredients so meticulously sourced in Ireland and Italy is exceptional, as is the care lavished on every aspect of this restaurant and its customers. And it’s a work in progress, with new experiences constantly enriching the creative development in the kitchen, the restaurant service and the business as a whole - which includes reviving plans for accommodation, delayed by the pandemic. Although still new, it is already widely recognised and there is a sense of Lignum taking its place among the great restaurants of Ireland.