Bridging Culinary Oceans With A Career's Passion

What is it that drives someone to excel in a chosen field?  Training, certainly, along with ambition and determination are necessary values to a successful career.  For some, what drives them is a hunger for perfection.

Referring to a map or internet browser, the distance between middle Tennessee and the west coast of Ireland is almost 3,800 miles as the crow flies. Yet, in many ways the distance is minimal. The original settlers to the Cumberland Plateau, men and women alike, largely consisted of immigrants from Ireland and Scotland.  A trek along the Avery Trace, which runs nearly the length of the state, bears mute witness to the fortitude, strength, and bravery of those early colonists.

So it is that Jackson County sees a new settler, not marking his trail on tree trunks but on a restaurant menu.

Chef Barry O'Connor was already well known and highly regarded by his peers and customers in cities like London and Cork, two centers of European cuisine that produce critics and palettes alike that are hard to satisfy. Good chefs, though, as Chef Barry will tell you, are not made, they're born.

In Chef O'Connor's case, this lineage includes his mother, a sous chef in Cork, his grandfather, and two of his uncles. A lifelong exposure to excellence in fresh cuisine, and the temptation of creating memorable feasts and one of a kind dining experiences moved Chef Barry at the age of fourteen into a career that he has pursued for over 30 years.

This quest – a search for absolute excellence in flavors, ingredients and preparation methods; a hunger if you will, – drove the young Mr. O'Connor from training at the prestigious Rockwell Hotel and Catering College to apprenticeships under other chefs, to positions across the European continent and England, either running a kitchen for someone else or for himself.

Yet it was more than his own satisfaction that moved and inspired O'Connor. He wanted to share what he had learned, so he began teaching classes in culinary arts. He was moved to help others less fortunate, so he created further opportunities in gastronomic education for individuals with autism thriving on helping those with aptitude and motivation to establish their own careers.

Still, O'Connor sought new horizons. So when a pair of entrepreneurs and successful business owners, Dr. Loui Silvestri and Diana Mandli, began their search for a chef with whom to team up for a new enterprise, Chef was intrigued. Their goal was to operate an authentic Celtic restaurant and pub in Gainesboro, TN. The investors and the master chef found their goals were in line with one another and a partnership was born.

Bringing his heritage and his palette to the table, Chef O'Connor worked with Dr. Silvestri and Ms. Mandli in developing a portion of the Gainesboro town square, which although a designated Historic Site was suffering from both the economic downturn of 2008-9 and the continued loss of manufacturing and production facilities that has plagued both urban and rural locations around the United States over the past two decades. While Chef O'Connor developed a menu that drew from the strengths of the local farming economy, focusing on the concept of "Field to Fork,", Dr. Silvestri and Ms. Mandli invested heavily to repair and reinforce a building that had seen better days, while at the same time meeting the requirements of the design guidelines for the Gainesboro Historic District and retaining the authenticity of the structures.  Finally, in March 2013, the Bull & Thistle Pub was opened, drawing accolades from the start from critics and customers alike for both the charms of the décor and the quality of the menu.

In August 2013, the efforts of Chef O'Connor and the Bull & Thistle staff were recognized with an Ovation Award for Best Restaurant by the readership and editors of the Upper Cumberland Business Journal.  Not satisfied with that honor, Chef O'Connor has continued his practice of sharing his expertise by teaching seminars in haute cuisine and by hiring as associate chefs individuals from the Jackson County area who bring their passion and talent to the kitchen. The Bull & Thistle Pub also provide employment opportunities to many other local residents, some with disabilities, who work in the kitchen and throughout the restaurant in many different capacities.  In addition, he and the owners are hoping to reach out to the local school system to give high school students opportunities in the restaurant trade.

A strapping man with the rust colored hair found in many of his countrymen and a hearty brogue, Chef O'Connor knows what he wants from his associates and trainees. As ready to share a healthy laugh as he is to correct mistakes in his kitchen, he has found that Tennessee residents, and Jackson County inhabitants in particular, have welcomed him with open arms. 'Chef Barry', as most regular diners at the Pub call him, found his initial series of cooking classes so popular that when a sign up list for an advanced class was passed around at the final introductory session in July, the class was filled to capacity by the time the list made its way around the classroom.   So well regarded were the classes that the local school system paid for their staff, committed to the students they serve, to enhance their skills in Chef Barry's class.

Chef O'Connor's commitment to his trade has not come without some cost, however. He has found himself in long separations from his wife of over twenty years, Ann, herself a master pastry chef in demand throughout Europe, and their daughter. Regular visits to Ireland and occasional visits by his family dull the pain of being apart, and his tasks in the pub keep him so occupied that he has had little time for some of his favorite pastimes, such as sailing and rugby. With his work visa extended until 2014, Chef Barry anticipates that between his extensive responsibilities coordinating a busy restaurant, training and teaching associates and would-be amateur chefs, his workload will be such that thoughts of Cork will be minimized to the reminders restaurant patrons post on the Bull & Thistle Facebook page, and his Skype calls to his family. As to his laurels, as he adds to his already impressive list of accomplishments, he will be on his feet way too often to even consider resting on them.

The Bull and Thistle Pub, at 102 S. Main Street, Gainesboro, open Tuesday through Thursdays from 11 am until 10 pm, Friday and Saturday from 11 am until midnight, and Sundays from 12 noon until 8 pm, Phone 931-268-7170 for reservations.