Passing a meticulously prepared dish to the wait staff at Mount Falcon’s restaurant is the end of the line for the work that comes from the hotel’s kitchen team. But the path the story takes for some of those team members to get to that point is a long and winding road often starting in unlikely places. Such is the case for Agnieszka Kanty (who just goes by Aga) and Yevheniia Zaporozhan, two members of a team of cooks working under Head Chef Tom Doyle at the Kitchen Restaurant in the heart of the Mount Falcon country house hotel.
While Aga and Yevheniia came to Ireland for different reasons and at different times, they have stayed at Mount Falcon because each says this is where they want to be. “I like my job,” Aga says with a genuine smile after being asked why she has stayed in her role for nearly two decades. “This place is so beautiful,” she says of the estate and surrounds of Ballina and the Moy River Valley. For Yevheniia, it’s straight forward, saying, “I think I’m in the right place.”
Aga and Yevheniia make up the full-time cohort of staff in the kitchen working with Chef Tom, while seasonal help arrives every year to manage the increased business from April through September. The diversity in the kitchen is something both cooks appreciate noting that a kitchen functions best when all members of the team are on the same page. “I love to help the kitchen work,” Yevheniia said. Aga added that having staff come to Mount Falcon from all over Europe is part of the enjoyment. “I learn lots from all the chefs,” Aga said of the various styles and techniques she has seen come through the kitchen over the years. Members of the Kitchen and Food & Beverage team currently hail from Ireland, France, Portugal, Poland and Ukraine.
Aga moved to Ireland from Poland in 2007 with her husband and three children under 10-years-old just as the bubble was beginning to burst on the Celtic Tiger. Like many of her countrymen and women she came for the opportunity the then booming Irish economy promised. Despite, having, as she says, “no English at all”, Aga was able to secure a position working in Mount Falcon’s kitchen through a friend who worked on the estate. Aga started working nights but quickly showed her skills in the kitchen and was moved to covering breakfast where she has been ever since.
Yevheniia’s story follows a similar path, though the reasons for her immigration to Ireland stem not from a promise of opportunity but from the search for a safe place to call home. Four years ago, after the war in Ukraine began to escalate, Yevheniia joined millions of other Ukrainians who have left their homes for friendlier shores. Like Aga, Yevheniia brought her skills with her having attended baking school back home and worked as a sous chef.
The menu at the Kitchen Restaurant comes from Chef Tom, but it is up to everyone to help make it a reality. While the staff works to a shared standard to reproduce the chef’s vision, a kitchen can also be a creative space, and for Yevheniia baking is one of the ways she can express herself. The pastry section is all hers, she says, adding, “I’m grateful because (Chef) supports me with that.” Whether it’s homemade mini panettone, holiday cupcakes and cookies for guests at reception, or plating up the desserts for dinner service, the pastry section is where Yevheniia can shine.
For Aga, who has done it all in Mount Falcon’s kitchen, it’s about the total effect. Getting the details right are what matters, and Aga said she finds joy in putting together a well-crafted tapas plate, cold buffet, or salads. “I love presentation,” she said.
Ultimately, a hotel restaurant serves a simple purpose, to feed its guests. But for this team there’s more to it than putting food on the plate, there’s a sense of responsibility to represent the Kitchen Restaurant and the Mount Falcon hotel.
“Everything that we do we do for the hotel,” Aga said. Having been with Mount Falcon nearly since it opened to guests as a new hotel under the Maloney family’s care 20 years ago this summer, Aga’s sentiment has proven to be a recipe for success.
