PRISONER art will be on the menu at a new restaurant/art gallery that was granted its licence at Cork Circuit Court yesterday.
Old Brennan’s Wine House is set to open in a matter of days once the last remaining technical issues are sorted out.
Frank Schiltkamp, who is very well known in the restaurant trade having previously managed Greene’s on MacCurtain St for several years and before that Hayfield Manor on College Rd, will run the business.
Mr Schiltkamp and co-director Benny McCabe, who owns several of Cork city’s best-known landmark pubs, including Bodega, The Oval, and Crane Lane, are hoping to have the new restaurant open by St Patrick’s Day or by Easter at the latest.
Seating for up to 60 diners will be available on the ground floor and first floor of the premises on 7 Oliver Plunkett St, Cork, with a commercial art gallery also on the first floor.
When the Irish Prison Service heard of the new gallery it contacted the owners about the possibility of exhibiting prisoner art.
Mr Schiltkamp and Mr McCabe agreed and decided that the exhibition of art by prisoners would be the first to be shown at the new gallery.
Judge Helen Boyle asked what kind of menu would be provided at the new restaurant and a menu was handed up to the bench within seconds showing a variety of local produce, not least from the nearby English Market.
As news of restaurant closures in Cork has become commonplace in the past few months, Mr McCabe said the trade was cyclical and added that he was aware of several other exciting developments in the field from other entrepreneurs.
Judge Boyle said as she granted barrister Tim Bracken’s application for a restaurant licence subject to the last elements being put in place: “It is great to see food and art in the city centre of Cork and I wish them the very best with it.”
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