“I can’t wait to get that door bloody open,” says Mark Moriarty as he surveys the interior of Studio, his new restaurant and private dining venture in Dublin 2. Like the classic entrepreneur, he claims to have no fear about the endeavour, his biggest to date, and he’s convincing. He’s human too, however.“Am I scared? No, I’m not scared of anything ... Am I up at night? Yes. Is there a 100 million things that can go wrong? Yes,” he says. “But I don’t think anyone going into opening a start-up, and particularly an ambitious one like this, should feel comfortable. So am I uncomfortable? Yes, I am.”Now in his early 30s, Moriarty’s career trajectory means he knows well the difference between healthy stress and unhealthy burnout, with the new business at Wilton Park, on the banks of the Grand Canal, informed by this. Unlike most fine-dining businesses, it will open from Monday to Friday only, leaving weekends for family.Moriarty was inspired to get into professional cooking during school transition-year placements. He recalls finding himself burned out at age 20, when he was hospitalised for exhaustion. At the time, he was studying at culinary college, working at the Michelin-starred Greenhouse restaurant in Dublin, and practising his dish for the 2012 Euro Toques Irish Young Chef of the Year competition. It all came in on him and he collapsed on a night out. It was a seminal moment in his life, one that saw him refocus on working smarter, not harder. “I loved the job, but sometimes it was what you missed out on as a result of the hours – that was what hurt. It wasn’t the job.”Influenced by his parents, who are both mental health professionals, and his experiences of working too much early in his career, he now places a bigger emphasis on “monetary value versus personal value and time”.[ Mark Moriarty: ‘I loved the whole kitchen atmosphere. I loved the weird people, all these introverts’Opens in new window ]But is this compatible with working as a chef, a career known for its long working hours and sometimes toxic working environments? Perhaps – which is why Moriarty is taking such a novel approach at Studio. “It’s not completely different, but it is something pretty new for Ireland,” he says, explaining that the restaurant will open only on Friday nights, offering a set tasting menu, with private dining on offer Monday to Thursday. Mark Moriarty at Wilton Park Studios. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw While all of this is happening, Moriarty will keep his extensive portfolio career going. A former San Pellegrino world young chef of the year, he was on the Forbes 30 under 30 list back in 2017; he worked at Dublin’s Greenhouse restaurant under head chef Mickael Viljanen (now of Chapter One), which had two Michelin stars; he’s on our screens on RTÉ’s Mark Moriarty: Cook like a Chef; he has a number of corporate gigs such as a role with Marks & Spencer, he’s chef in residence for Diageo, he hosts a podcast, Roasted, and he flies to New York four or five times a year to work at The Dead Rabbit. He has also written two cook books, Flavour and Season. And, of course, he has been The Irish Times food writer since 2023.The restaurant part is obviously something he has left out of his portfolio, so far – “People have been asking me for 15 years when am I opening a restaurant”.So why didn’t he?“Should I have done it earlier? I had lots of opportunity to do something like this over the last 10 years, but I was very, very young. I made sure to not fall into the trap of thinking I knew everything and could do everything.”He says he “waited for when the time was right”, adding that “early to mid 30s is a mature time to do something like this”.As Moriarty tells it, he had reached a point where he needed to put some “bricks and mortar” around his business and its myriad different aspects. Studio will be the place where he can film the TV shows, photograph the cook books, host the branded and private dining events, create content for his consultancy work – and will be somewhere people can go and “spend their money to eat my food”.‘I want to prove the model works, because it’s very different’— Mark MoriartyHe will admit, however, that there is a tiny bit more than numbers behind the move. Having worked in top kitchens, trained as a chef and won prizes as a chef, he acknowledges sometimes being a little bit peeved when described as a TV chef alone – a diminution, perhaps, of his skills and experience.“I didn’t work in all these top restaurants to only be on TV – as much as I love that,” he says, adding that while he recognises it’s a privileged position to be a TV chef, “it’s kind of annoying” to have that as his shorthand description. And when people he worked with, or went to college with, are opening their own places and getting great reviews, “it makes you think”.“I’m still a chef. So there is an element of that on Friday nights in this Studio, proving that. When I’m old and withered, this is always something that I had to do. I’m very, very excited.”Indeed, despite working in the business since he was 15, he has been reviewed only once, during a residency at Selfridges in London when he was 23.Wilton Park Studios, where Mark Moriarty is opening his new venture. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw And reviews “absolutely matter”, he says.For many chefs of Moriarty’s calibre, chasing a Michelin star is an obvious next step. But could he get one if only opening as a restaurant one night a week?“I don’t think I can. I don’t know has it been done anywhere. But I think I potentially left those sorts of ambitions behind me after Covid, when I really focused on the TV and media side, got married, got a little bit older, had children. It gives you a lot of perspective ... you start to grow up and think, how do we produce a sustainable business?”Studio is on the ground floor of a building in Iput’s Wilton Park development, home to Stripe, LinkedIn and EY. The restaurant is being positioned as one element of a new food hub – Greystones cafe and bakery Scéal is due to open soon, while in addition to Studio, there are plans for a casual dining offering, plus a wine bar, as well as a 80-100 seat restaurant.While Moriarty has put a “large amount” of his own funding into the Studio venture – “you’ve got to put your money where your mouth is” – it is a partnership with Iput.“To open a space like this, in this location, as a small independent, it wouldn’t happen, you just wouldn’t have the funding for it.”Mark Moriarty at Wilton Park Studios. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw He has also agreed a partnership with Miele, to supply the kitchen appliances, and Bragard, for the staff uniforms. “I want to prove the model works, because it’s very different, and a lot of people will just say ‘you can’t close a place at the weekend in this industry’,” he says, preferring to reframe his plans as inviting guests to “a dinner party every Friday night”.[ Chef Mark Moriarty: ‘I’ve had incredible opportunities, that some people would say have led me astray’Opens in new window ]Despite all of Moriarty’s natural positivity, it’s undeniable that opening a new hospitality business in 2026 is not for the faint-hearted. He has been working seven days a week for the last year or so. In the week of our interview alone, he has worked on smoke ventilation routing, licensing, sourcing crockery from seven different suppliers – “if you’re putting the best food on the plates it needs to be good” – glassware, developing the wine list with the general manager, signing off on a brochure for group private dining, designing a booking form, meeting people about a point of sale system, doing a walk through with the Miele team regarding specification, and talking to SevenRooms about online reservations.“I don’t like doing nothing,” he says.Studio will run with a staff of six: the general manager is Virginia Anton, who joins from Haddington House in Dún Laoghaire, and has previously worked in L’Ecrivain and Chapter One; and head chef is Odhrán Devine, who, although a youthful 29, has years of experience in restaurants such as the Michelin-starred River Café in London and Deane’s Eipic in Belfast, as well as Links Restaurant at Narin and Portnoo golf course in Donegal, and more recently, Wine & Brine in Moira, Co Down.Moriarty sees his role as being “the figurehead in the middle”, to empower the team. “If the place can’t operate when you’re not there, that’s a reflection on you as a leader,” he says.It’s a tricky time to launch a new venue, with a number of top chefs such as Dylan McGrath and Gareth Smith of Big Mike’s closing their Irish operations of late. Just this week, “It’s the cost of everything,” says Moriarty, pointing to a “trifecta” of staffing, ingredients and energy costs. “The margins are getting trimmed and trimmed and trimmed.”Food favouritesMark Moriarty at Wilton Park. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Biggest chef inspirationFrom a business perspective, Jamie Oliver. And I really respect Graham Neville of Dax, in terms of how he’s managed everything. From a cooking perspective, Mickael Viljanen (of Chapter One and formerly Greenhouse) has been my mentor through the years. He’s a good friend, and has taught me a lot about food. If I could have 20 per cent of his cooking ability on show here, I’d be doing pretty well. Best meal in IrelandChapter One for the best food ... but one of the best meals I’ve ever had was in the Olde Glen Bar in Carrigart, Donegal. It has a brilliant atmosphere; it’s a great restaurant. Best meal abroadUmi, a two-Michelin-star sushi restaurant in Tokyo. “It’s the only time I was blown away by food.” Favourite Irish ingredientCrab.Dish you would ban from Irish restaurant menusStupid, lazy, over-cooked risottos.What did you have for dinner last night?Pasta. I made spaghetti carbonara, with wedges in the air fryer, and cheap garlic bread, and no salad. Three types of carbohydrates and it was delicious. Favourite Irish Times recipe The most popular was my Yug Sung, stir-fry mince with ginger and garlic served in lettuce cups. But one of my favourites was my first ever column, a really nice chilli con carne.Best kitchen toolNutribullet. I blend everything.Favourite takeawayIt’s pizza at the moment, from Forge in Dundrum, Dublin. Top cookbookBake it Better by Matt Adlard. What I love about his recipes is he explains the why, as well as the how. I’ve ordered his new one too, The Science of Baking. Ideal dinner party guests My wife, Gráinne; and my hero growing up, Pádraig Harrington – he’d do a lot of talking. Definitely Jamie Oliver, so I can pick his brain and he also seems like a really nice guy. My favourite person to listen to on radio and podcast is Joe Molloy from Indo sport. He has a very good way of interviewing; it makes you feel like you’re listening in on a private conversation. That would be a really good dinner party.A tasting menu, which can be planned and stocked in advance, is a logical outcome of this. “It’s a safer route from a cost perspective,” he says. “With the amount of covers we do, we couldn’t serve a la carte as there would be too much waste.”“Control the controllables” is a mantra for Moriarty, and is another reason for the bespoke private dining route. “It means I know exactly how many staff I need, I know exactly how much stock, and I can keep the waste to an absolute minimum.”And it all leads back to family life. Moriarty and his wife, Gráinne, have an 18-month-old daughter, with another baby on the way in the summer. He likes to come home in the evenings, spend time with his family, watching programmes such as Friday Night Lights, then get back to work when they go to bed.It’s not fine dining chez Moriarty. He says his daughter will only eat Cheerios and milk for breakfast and loves fish fingers and waffles.“Anything I make she throws on the floor,” he says, laughing.But you won’t see his family on his social media channels or cookbooks.“I don’t put them anywhere. I don’t understand why people would,” he says. “Social media can be a very essential part of life in business, but it can also be a very dangerous thing.”‘The plan is to make this business successful, get 20 years out of it, then wrap it all up at 55’— Mark MoriartyThe only family member with a public profile is his dog, Ruby, who appears in every cookbook.“I try and keep my private life private, and work life public facing. I’ll keep a very strong wall between the two.”When he does have spare time, sport is a huge interest.“It’s sport, family and work essentially,” he says. “Golf is the only time during the week where I’ll switch my phone off completely.”A Leeds fan, he admits to being “always” disappointed, but concedes that they haven’t been doing badly of late, and thanks to his Kerry-born dad, he is a supporter of the green and gold.For now, however, making Studio a success is the key focus.If it works, Studio could be just one part of Moriarty’s plan. Inspired by Jamie Oliver, he has his sights set high – but it will require a longer time frame and more than a soupcon of luck.“There’s no reason why in the future it couldn’t be Mark Moriarty events, Mark Moriarty products,” he says, adding the idea could also “absolutely” lend itself to a franchise model. “Let’s prove our model for the next three years, and see what we can achieve ... but I still need to be at home at the weekends!”This focus on work versus life balance may see him make his exit before retirement age.“The plan is to make this business successful, get 20 years out of it, then wrap it all up at 55 and just go play golf for the rest of my life – and go for dinners with Gráinne.”Friday night lights: What to expect at Studio?Mark Moriarty's Studio at Wilton Park. Photograph Nick Bradshaw “A dinner party at someone’s house” is how Mark Moriarty describes his one-night-a-week restaurant. Guests will be greeted at the door, and brought downstairs to the restaurant through an art gallery, entering through a “secret door”.“You want to feel like you’re in a home, but everything that goes on the plate and in the glass is a fine-dining establishment,” he says. The restaurant is set to open on Friday, August 7th (bookings for dinner party/private dining open on July 1st). With two sittings, at 5.30pm and 8.30pm, there will be a seven-course tasting menu, priced at €150, with wine pairing a further €120.Only 20 guests will be accommodated at a time, sitting either at the counter, where you can watch and chat with the chefs, or at your own table. What food can diners expect? Some potential dishes are a wild sea trout tartlet, “good with Champagne”; a Big Mac à la Rossini, a fancy burger made with fillet of beef, brioche crouton, black truffle, cured duck liver and Madeira sauce; and mackerel tartare with a Kilbush tomato dressing.For dessert, you might get a chocolate fondant, made with 70 per cent chocolate from the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, served with vanilla ice cream that’s “almost grey” in colour, due to the amount of Madagascar vanilla in it.Collaborations will play a big part of keeping the offering fresh, and Moriarty will be looking to bring “the best talent in Ireland and from the world to Dublin”. The first collab will be in September, when the team from The Dead Rabbit in New York – where Moriarty is a chef partner – will do a takeover. Private dining and corporate events will start on August 4th, and will run from Monday to Thursday.