Second lockdown opens new opportunity for club mates
By Maurice Garvey
THE first lockdown was bad enough but the second lockdown was much worse, especially for ‘non-essential’ businesses, who went above and beyond to adhere to the Covid guidelines and were forced to close once again.
At Killinarden House, the second lockdown was utilised as an opportunity by Fergus McNally and Bobby Gaynor to introduce a gourmet takeaway service – F&Burgers.
Fergus McNally and Bobby Gaynor
Billed as restaurant style burgers and chicken, with beef provided by F X Buckley, the venture has allowed some staff members at Killinarden House to continue working in some capacity, through deliveries a couple of days a week, and kept chefs in the kitchen doing what they do best.
McNally and Gaynor, who is the owner of Killinarden House, established a new food business F&B Catering last year, from the Tallaght public house.
“We talked about it for ages, I’ve been working in catering all my life, Bobby most of his,” said Fergus, who is also the kit man for the Republic of Ireland senior soccer team.
“I do a lot of sports anyway. Prior to lockdown we were feeding the Dublin camogie team, Irish hockey, the Irish U-21 team, St Jude’s and Faughs GAA, corporate and domestic. That all stopped in March.
“Then we worked with Feed the Heroes charity for 54 days in a row, feeding up to 200 frontline workers per day. It was tough going.”
Following news that there would be a second lockdown, the pair decided they would “have to do something.”
“We opened F&Burger at the end of October, and the feedback has been good. We are both involved in St Jude’s and there is a great sense of community.
We have a flame grill at Killinarden House. It is in a great location for deliveries.
We spent a lot of time on the packaging to ensure the food is kept as hot as possible.
“For the menu, we have gone for quality. That’s the feedback we have been getting. It’s not an ok burger, it is a good burger.”
For more details visit www.fburger.ie
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