New restaurant opens in Creemore
Mardi O’Shea has infused her Irish heritage into her new restaurant.
Several menu items on the pub-style restaurant’s menu are inspired by her home country.
O’Shea’s is located in a completely renovated space at Creemore Country Shell gas station at the corner of Mill Street and County Rd. 9.
There’s the full Irish breakfast with eggs, thick cut bacon, sausage, baked beans, grilled tomato and homemade Irish brown bread (a whole wheat soda bread), the Dubliner burger and Limerick omelet. The Irish influence is in the caramelized onions, bacon and the Dubliner cheese, a sharp cheddar imported from Ireland.
There’s also the Irish poutine, among five internationally inspired poutine selections, with the Dubliner cheese and curry sauce.
O’Shea said curry chips, or fries with curry sauce, is a popular food in Ireland. By adding the cheese, she has given a Canadian twist.
The menu offers a number of all-day breakfast items, sandwiches, burgers and main courses including fish and chips and liver and onions.
“I wanted the atmosphere to appeal to the broad stroke of people who live in and around Creemore,” said O’Shea.
With its flagstone floor, lead glass windows, a church pew and wooden tables, O’Shea said the restaurant is aesthetically reminiscent of the pubs in Ireland but it’s not a pub. It is open daily from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. and O’Shea said she has no plans to get a liquor licence.
Born in Ireland, she moved with her family to Winnipeg when she was 12 because her father, a clothier, was recruited to work for a company there. Ten years later the family moved to Toronto and formed an industrial embroidery company.
She has lived in Creemore for four years, commuting to Toronto to work as a supply teacher.
O’Shea said she is a certified teacher but was unable to find a permanent post in the County of Simcoe so she decided to go with her entrepreneurial side.
She has worked as a server in restaurants since she was a teenager and got to know the business. A couple of years ago she helped a friend develop an all-day breakfast restaurant in Thornbury.
She said she had done all the research and knew the business model so when it came time for her to establish her own restaurant, she repeated the model.
Being a morning person, she enjoys the early hours and has decided to be front-of-house.
“I have hired a team I believe in,” said O’Shea of those who are doing most of the cooking: Sabrina Stamp-Dupuis, Marlene Thalen and Heather Payment.
The menu includes gluten-free, vegan and healthy options in addition to milkshakes, smoothies and goodies. Almost everything is made from scratch, with the exception of a few baked goods.
