Jack and Theo Kirwan are the brothers behind Sprout & Co Kitchen on Dublin’s Dawson St. Jack launched their pressed juice company Sprout Food Company in 2013 when he opened a juice bar in Avoca Handweavers, where Jack had been a chef for three years.
Theo joined the company when they moved into cold-pressed juicing in 2014.
“We set up Sprout & Co Kitchen in November 2015,” says Jack. “We stocked the previous cafe with our juices and they pitched the idea of us taking over from them and we jumped at it.”
The menu offers a variety of healthy combinations, served in bowls or generously stuffed into large wraps. The Super Guacabowle (€7.50) of Irish greens, roasted Squash, avocado, feta, quinoa, toasted seeds and apple with a French dressing is enticing, as does the Falafel wrap with pickled beetroots, hummus, carrot, tzatziki and greens (€6.50). You can also build your own protein-and-grain bowl (€7.50).
A generous bowl of turkey, satay sauce, rice and greens (€7.95) is delivered to my bench. It’s one of the few times I’ve enjoyed eating turkey (sorry, christmas dinner), thanks to the sweet and nutty satay sauce it’s doused in. The turkey itself is moist and satisfyingly filling. The rice is light and the salad isn’t just a thoughtless handful of dressed greens; it’s fresh and vibrant.
There are also some slices of delicately pickled cucumber mixed among the salad that are truly lovely. The quality of the ingredients takes this bowl from being dull canteen fodder to a lively lunch that keeps me fuelled right up until dinnertime.
I knock back The Sweetgreen juice (€5.50), which is gloriously packed with kale, spinach, mint, apple, pear and lemon. It is indeed sweet, and easy to drink. It feels more like a treat than a detox punishment, a distinction that sums up Sprout & Co Kitchen well.
The breakfast menu looks promising, too, with chia porridge and poached egg pots staying along the theme of healthy, sensible eating. The coffee beans are by 3FE, and though the texture of my flat white (€2.80) is spot on, it could have done with a stronger kick so that the exemplary flavours of the 3FE blend could shine through even more.
During my visit, Jack and Theo are busy working alongside their team behind the service counter. They have the fresh-faced look of people who eat their greens, and are probably only a handful of years older than the students who descend on the space at lunchtime.
Their food suppliers are clearly important to the brothers, evident by the shout-outs to their Smithfield market veg guy Ciaran Butler. The menu name-checks other suppliers, including Gubeen for bacon and chorizo, Glenisk’s organic milk, Butler’s organic eggs, Hartfrd’s Farm in Rush for their juicing vegetables, and free-range turkey from James Whelan, when available. Sweet treats are supplied by Limerick’s NutShed, a raw treat company by Evie Ward, with a dedicated space for their delicious date-based raw balls and vegan friendly carrot cake with cashew frosting. My lunch, juice and coffee comes to €16.25.
