“We haven’t slept at all,” says a tired but honest Angelo Vagiotis the morning after winning a first Michelin star for The Pullman restaurant at Glenlo Abbey in Galway.
Any fatigue stemming from late-night celebrations in Dublin 2 bar 4 Dame Lane does not mask the “super happy” Greek chef’s delight at his achievement. It also doesn’t overshadow the discipline and serious nature required to reach this point – this star for a restaurant based in two former Orient Express railway carriages has been on his agenda for decades.
“Love what you do and people will notice,” he says.
Vagiotis, who was born in New York and brought up in Greece, has had Michelin star ambitions since he caught the bug at cookery school. The moment his education in Greece was completed, he decamped for kitchens in France, moving from there on to starred establishments including Noma in Copenhagen and Manresa in California.
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He arrived in Ireland just after the pandemic, coming at the invitation of French chef Vincent Crepel, with whom he had worked in Paris. Crepel wanted him to be his number two at Terre, a restaurant which opened in 2022 at Castlemartyr in Cork under new Singaporean owners.
“It was the beginning of a journey,” says Vagiotis, who was instrumental in Terre winning its first star within months of opening, and its second a year later. His ambition grew along with the accolades.
“I wanted my name above the door. I was head chef of Terre but it was Vincent’s vision, not mine,” he says.
Crepel, who has since departed Terre and been replaced by Lewis Barker, was supportive when The Pullman came calling for Vagiotis, and remains an ally. His was the first text on Vagiotis’s phone when the star was confirmed on Monday evening.
Vagiotis says opening Terre from scratch was “hard” but overseeing the 2025 reopening of a renovated The Pullman, which had been in existence since 1998, was “even harder”. He conceived the restaurant’s transformation from casual to the finest of farm-to-table dining over five months with “huge support” from owners John Malone, Paul Higgins and John Lally.
“In the end, it’s a business. It has to be viable,” he says.
The Pullman serves a seven-course tasting menu to 60 diners from Wednesday to Sunday, which Vagiotis sums up as “a lot of plates, a lot of food”. This all comes from the hands of six staff, whom Vagiotis believes in paying well. He applies the same philosophy to his suppliers, influenced by the hard work and respect for food production instilled by his grandparents on their farm outside Athens.
Vagiotis says he runs a “very clean” and “very organised” kitchen, with music chosen by staff always playing. There is “no chatting”, but plenty of tasting and sharing ideas.
“I am strict, You can’t not be strict and reach the level of a Michelin restaurant,” Vagiotis says, adding that staff appreciate this approach, which allows them to reach their potential.
“Without my team, I am nothing. I’m doing cheese on toast.”
With his star less than a day old, Vagiotis is keen to let it “settle” before “rushing” towards further ambition.
“We have to take care of the business aspect first,” he says, acknowledging too that a second star might be nice.
“I wouldn’t say no. First, we have to settle as a one star, to mature. Down the line, we might go for two.”
For now, he is focusing on “the honour” and welcome clarity it brings to the kitchen and for customers, who can look at the star and know for sure what to expect at The Pullman.
After 3½ years in Ireland, Vagiotis himself is also happy to settle.
“Ireland is home. I feel very much connected to the place,” he says, adding that “cooking with Irish produce feels like cheating – it’s so good.”
He also claims to love the weather and the “clean, pure” air.
“Maybe there isn’t sunshine every day, but the people are sunny,” he says. “I don’t see myself moving anywhere else.”
The Pullman’s acknowledgment was the first of two new Irish stars announced at the Michelin Guide ceremony on Monday, the other went to John and Sandy Wyer’s Forest Avenue in Dublin 4.
