Chef-proprietor Barry Sun Jian (ex-Etto) brings his assured and highly acclaimed cooking to this stylishly understated suburban newcomer. Building upon his fine reputation, Jian also brings with him an exemplary front-of-house team lead by Darren Darcy (ex-l’Ecrivain) and a platoon of ready-made regulars who are long-standing fans of his subtle twists on Mediterranean-inspired fare.
Located on a quiet suburban road halfway between the equally well-heeled Blackrock and Foxrock, Volpe Nera (which translates as ‘Black Fox’) comprises two small, clean-lined dining rooms in which a short seasonal menu is paired with a lovingly curated wine selection. A few bar-side dining stools help to set a relaxed tone, but the emphasis is reassuringly focused on a discerning excellence, beginning with the house champagne (Pol Roger Brut Reserve) which you might sip as you nibble on something from the house ‘bites’ selection: sweet and fragrant slivers of pancetta coppata, perhaps, or bright-tasting croquettes of salt cod and preserved lemon.
Whether you go for dinner, lunch or the excellent value Sunday afternoon menu late-lunch/early-dinner (served from 2pm to 6pm), don’t miss the bread and butter: superb house-baked sourdough bread, served with top-notch olive oil and two of a dozen or so signature butters with unusual flavourings such as cep, pimento d’esplette or hazelnut, burnt lemon and white pepper.
Jian has a flair for balancing flavours, allowing each ingredient to breathe in dishes like a starter of clean tasting salt-baked celeriac with creamy stracciatella, toasted hazelnuts and just a delicate touch of truffle. His distinctively light touch extends to more robust pairings too, such as cep mushroom dumplings in a sensational aged soya consommé with chanterelles and chives – a dish that gives nod to Jian’s background as a Chinese student who came to Ireland to learn English and worked his way up through distinguished restaurant kitchens from kitchen porter to celebrated chef.
That on-the-job training has armed Jian with confident culinary skills that enable him to elevate a dish like roast pheasant with braised endive, pickled quince and polenta from very good to truly great, featuring perfectly handled breast meat alongside a boudin made from the rich pickings of a whole bird. And while the menu might be short, with just four starters and four main courses, the choice feels deceptively broad, with impeccable pasta dishes such as spinach and ricotta malfatti with sage butter on one end of the spectrum and a Cote de Boeuf for two on the other. Several excellent side dishes (cool slices of raw kohlrabi in a winter leaf salad, perhaps, or charred wedges of seasonal cabbage dressed in a punchy mustard sauce) and those afore-mentioned bites extend the focused offer further.
Dessert is no mere after-thought, but an integrated extension of this talented kitchen’s well-honed sensibility and confident delivery. Simply charming dishes like a spot-on malt panna cotta with clementine and pistachio or warm chocolate mousse with buttermilk ice-cream remind you why Volpe Nera so quickly took its place as one of Dublin’s great restaurants after opening late in 2019: this is food that looks smart and tastes sensational – and doesn’t break the bank to do so. They hit the ground running with a supremely welcoming, professional front-of-house team steering the experience in those most comfortable dining rooms in what soon became established as one of the city’s most exciting dining destinations.
