The extraordinary Airfield Estate is a unique oasis of food production and farming in the south Dublin suburb of Dundrum – as it has been since long before the two inspirational sisters Naomi and Letitia Overend established a charitable trust in 1974 to protect the educational and recreational role of their family’s 38-acre farm. In recent years however the results of a 2014 redesign have really come into their own, as the six acres of ornamental, greenhouse and kitchen gardens bed down and the programme of food, farming and growing-related events go from strength to strength.
Even a simple lunch here is a delight. Though it’s hard to pass by the signature salads – many of them produced from heritage vegetables and salads picked that day in the certified-organic kitchen gardens – the daily menu is always worth serious consideration. An excellent value set lunch for about €20 might feature the likes of pan-roast hake with Killary Fjord mussels, new season Casablanca potatoes, nori and spring onion, preceded by a soup of the day and followed by a panna cotta of cream from their own Jersey herd with estate-grown fruit. Lighter offerings include tempting treats from their in-house bakery, from savoury tarts and quiches to Airfield rhubarb custard brioche or an excellent orange polenta cake.
Provenance is exemplary: poultry, pork, beef and lamb are all produced on the working farm, and favoured suppliers include Higgins butchers for sausages, Gubbeen smokehouse for charcuterie, Velvet Cloud sheep’s yoghurt and Leinster honey. Some hero products such as Dunany grains are available to buy to take away as well as to sample in-house. Overends Kitchen’s head chef – or ‘culinary lead’ as Luke Matthews is described – works alongside the farm and garden team to deliver on the Estate’s food ethos of GLAS (Go with the seasons; local for produce; avoid food waste; sustainably produced).
The cafe is open daily, with a weekday breakfast until noon and a weekend menu emphasising all-day brunch options. Depending on the season, these might include garden-fresh broad beans crushed with lime zest and served with Macroom buffalo ricotta and poached organic Airfield eggs on sourdough, or brioche French toast perhaps, with Wexford strawberries, Airfield elderflower, lemon verbena and cultured Jersey cream. A weekly Sunday roast shifts with the seasons too: Airfield pork perhaps, with trimmings of rocket pesto, roasted spuds, gravy and crackling, or a lighter glazed ham with salads and pickles during warmer weather – accompanied perhaps by a glass of the wine of the week, a craft beer from Wicklow Wolf or simply a refreshing juice or lemonade from Wild Orchard in Limerick.
The space is a delight and designed to give tantalising glimpses into the walled grounds of Airfield Estate. Through one tall window wild meadow flowers sway in the orchard and bee garden; another frames the formal sunken gardens; a wall of glass showcases the dance of sunlight and clouds on a clean-lined water feature. Several side rooms help to soften the acoustics in what is a child-friendly space (with decent child-friendly menus) and a decked terrace offers greater immersion in the idyllic surrounds.
To fully appreciate this very special spot, however, it is well worth paying the entrance fee to visit the Estate, which includes a charming self-guided museum experience in the original house and a vintage car garage as well as the wonderful grounds themselves, with their intriguing mix of gardens, orchards, farm animals, picnic areas, native woodlands, 17th-century hedgerows and a mesmerising wild pond where families of ducks play out domestic dramas amongst the water lilies and reeds. All of this is curated with some perfectly pitched signage that manages to speak to both adult and child, providing neat educational glimpses into the wonders of this working farm.
The various play areas for children are particularly well-conceived – with everything from zip-lining through mature woods to toddler-friendly ‘farm-to-market’ play areas – while a daily schedule of heritage house tours farm activities (egg collection at 10am through to animal feeding at 3.30pm). Meanwhile various multi-purpose spaces like The Hive play host to educational events like the Airfield FOOD SERIES, gardening courses or bee-keeping workshops.
Add to all this an intriguing annual programme – including the Woolapalooza Farm Festival in May and Airfield Festival of Food in September, plus collaborative events like Playstival with The Happy Pear, pop-up dinners with guest chefs like Robin Gill and a summer afternoon tea series in the main house (also available as a picnic, weather-permitting) – and you can safely say that Airfield Estate is living up to the aspirations that those two pioneering sisters had for this unique suburban oasis.
