Ómós Digest #219: A Morning at Ómós
Our vision for the perfect breakfast experience.
We hope this article finds you well, either tucking into your breakfast or enjoying some light post-breakfast reading on this Sunday morning. Whether it’s a full fry or something a bit more measured, we trust it’s a good spread and accompanied by a cup of something warm. We all learn from a young age that a good breakfast is the best way to start the day, but over time, it becomes less about the ritual and more about habit as you fuel up for the day ahead. When we were considering what to put on our breakfast menu, we had to check and second-guess ourselves in order to really get back to basics. That said, what does it look like when your day starts after a stay at Ómós?
Breakfast is a considered affair for us, one we can’t wait for our guests to experience. We’re excited for our guests to wake up and wander downstairs in the guesthouse, the smell of freshly ground and brewed coffee wafting up through the building, acting as a de facto alarm clock. The ground floor of the guesthouse is where we will be serving up your start to the day. Tucked into the right as you enter through the main door is our downstairs kitchen. Its east-facing windows really catch the best of the morning light, filling the room with warmth and a gentle glow. It’s here where breakfast will be enjoyed. The space is not far from completion and is built around the centrepiece of a dresser, one that, if you weren’t in the know, you’d think had always belonged to the property.
Given our numerous sourcing trips to France, we are excited to finally find a more permanent home for all those bespoke pieces we have been collecting over the past years, from serving dishes and side plates to charming jam pots. We can’t wait to see the beautiful synergy between the vintage crockery, fabrics and trinkets we’ll introduce, all thoughtfully woven into the character of our newly renovated guesthouse.
Our ethos when it comes to breakfast is one that mirrors the restaurant. We want it to be considered. Breakfast is to be produce-driven without feeling alienating, and ultimately delicious. All guests will be offered the option of a hot breakfast - I mean, how could we not? As we mentioned at the start of this article, breakfast is partly about nostalgia. While Coco Pops probably won’t find their way onto our menu, we have been toying with ideas like egg and soldiers, among other classics. As we aim to make the most of what’s in season, we imagine we’ll be more meat-centric in the winter and fresh come summer.
We will also offer a daily vegetarian option, thoughtfully created to sit alongside the menu year-round, regardless of season. Some ideas we have been testing for opening include peas on rye with a soft-poached egg, garnished with freshly picked herbs from the garden. We have also been thinking about asparagus, courgettes, beans - the list is endless. There will be cold breakfast options aplenty as well.
When thinking about our rotating hot dishes, we couldn’t escape the idea of sausages. After a successful stint in Frank’s earlier this year with our hot dog pop-up, our minds have been transfixed ever since. Be it pork, lamb or venison, we’ve probably workshopped it. We will be making our sausages in-house from the meat of gorgeous Oxford Sandy pigs from our friends at Wine Tavern. As a cold breakfast offering, there will be slices of ham and some country-style cuts too.
And how could we forget the bread and butter of it all? The actual bread and butter. Ryan, our head baker, has been experimenting with heritage grains from Manna in Monaghan, trying to perfect the perfect sourdough loaf. We also have Irish soda bread, as well as a selection of pastries. These will be rotating so that guests who stay two nights will always be treated to something different, new and delicious. No need to go double-dipping in the bread basket back to back, but we do hope the flavours keep you returning for more!
Between brioches, rye breads and BMOs (sourdough buns with butter and cheese, which make us nostalgic about our time in Copenhagen), we have been kept busy in the test kitchen. Our biggest challenge at the moment might not be getting the perfect proof, but trying to keep our hands off the produce and avoid piling on the pounds. Easier said than done!
Some winners so far have been heritage grain scones with cheese and fruit. We’ll let you, the reader, tell us if it’s pronounced scone or scon - it’s a hotly contested topic in our kitchen at the moment! Beyond the scones, we have also been thoroughly enjoying a new ritual: dipping our freshly baked breads into ÍON cold-pressed oils. There is something wonderfully simple and deeply satisfying about tearing into a warm loaf and dipping it straight into a pool of golden, fragrant oil. These cold-pressed oils have left us feeling very continental all of a sudden!
And what about our butter? Well, we are going to be keeping that one close to our chest for the time being. We’ll make you one guarantee, though: it won’t be 10g foil packets of spreadable butter. You know the ones. A cold, almost reluctant butter. Whatever we land on, it will be worthy of everything sitting beside it on the plate.
We will be keeping things as local as possible. The dairy for our house-made yoghurt will use raw cow’s milk from just up the road. Our eggs will come from Granstown, a family-run free-range egg business that has been in operation for the past 21 years. Our oats and granola are sourced from The Merry Mill, and who knows, we might even have to look into adding a dram of whiskey to our porridge. That’s whiskey with an ‘e’, not just a ‘y’, sorry, Matt.
Back to that coffee that we mentioned earlier. Having tested our fair share of coffee, as well as our own caffeine tolerances, we have chosen to work with Farmhand Coffee Roasters. Pete and his team have been roasting some of the most delicious and interesting coffees in the country, and we couldn’t be prouder to serve two distinct and bespoke styles each morning. Our coffee programme is one that we have been fine-tuning for months, with the end goal being a delicious mug served up for you in the morning.
A booking with us is an invitation into our home, a warm welcome to a convivial guesthouse experience. We look forward to you grabbing a newspaper, settling into a quiet nook and enjoying the surroundings at your own pace, all fuelled by our breakfast, naturally.
Breakfast is included with every stay and your booking also guarantees a restaurant reservation. Tempted? See here for more information.
Written by Eoghan Conway