Couple marry their interests to produce a winning recipe

City Lives – Margaret and Joe Bohan talk to Denise McNamara about their new dining venture

They say husbands and wives should never work together but in Margaret and Joe Bohan’s case, a marriage of varying interests appears to be the recipe for a dynamic partnership.

They have brought these together in the latest dining experience in Galway’s dining quarter on Dominick Street, Dela.

In Joe’s case his current obsession is craft brewing while in Margaret’s corner it’s gardening for the table, both of which they have been able to put to good use in the restaurant trade.

When you walk into Dela, the first thing that strikes you is the clean, Scandinavian feel of the place. It’s no surprise then to learn that the concept comes from a last minute trip to the capital of Norway.

“Margaret bought me tickets for the Electric Picnic for my birthday. I thought I’m not going to spend a weekend in an uncomfortable tent listening to music I don’t know. I sold the tickets and booked a weekend in Oslo and for the price of those tickets I got flights and a hotel,” recalls Joe.

The dining experience was very different.

“There was a lot of sharing food at the tables, the food was very simple, not very saucy, it was all about getting together and sharing the meal and the experience. Over there a bottle of wine is €50 so they’re not going to be drinking two or three of them.”

One of their favourite finds was a rustic cafe off the beaten track with a large blackboard which had a list of pates, a list of cold meats, a list of cold fish and large chunks of bread.

“It was so simple, they took the bullshit out of it. It was all good produce on your plate. There was none of this talk of going to educate you.”

Margaret agrees: “If you want the regular type of meal you can have it here, we have the steak and the fish and the lamb but our menu lends itself to a group of people who want to come in and take their time, have a craft beer or boutique wine and share lots of different things.”

Dela, which is the Swedish word for share, the brainchild of Joe’s sister, artist Maura Bohan, boasts a number of sharing and tasting plates.

The chef is Jorde Guerra, who used to work in Bar 8. Margaret is front of house every day when the restaurant is open for lunch and she also takes care of all the accounts. A manager takes over in the evenings.

At their home in Moycullen, Margaret is cultivating a large garden on the family land and so far the fruits of her labour are turning up on Dela’s tables. The lettuce, edible flowers, herbs, tomatoes and other vegetables.

Her ideal scenario would be Harry’s on the Inishowen peninsula which boasts a walled garden producing all the kitchen’s veg and a cold room where they hang their own meat.

The week before we meet, Joe did a week-long course in the Franciscan Well Brewery in Cork.

With 1,400 breweries in the UK, which means there is one brewery for 60,000 people, he sees great scope for the craft beer industry here, where there are around 20 microbreweries, or one for every 200,000 people.

He has been brewing for the last three years himself, focusing mainly on porter, and one day dreams of opening his own microbrewery.

“What boy wouldn’t like their own brewery,” he laughs.

He also walks the walk in the business, selling 12 bottled craft beers and one on draught, White Gypsy from Templemore, in Dela.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.