eileen dunne crescenzi

I was born in Dublin and went to Rome in 1975 to study painting at l'Accademia delle Belle Arti. I worked in Human Resources at IFAD, a UN organisation in Rome for 20 years . My four children were born in Rome. IN 1995 myself and my husband, Stefano decided to embark on an adventure, to throw our good pensionable jobs to the wind and explore the unknown, open an Italian restaurant in Ireland. The past 16 years certainly turned out to be more than we aspired to , our dream of a little restaurant turned into 15 restaurants and coffee shops along with an import business of fine Italian foods and wines. In 2010 I spent a year at Gambero Rosso in Rome and completed the masters in journalism and communications. I thoroughly enjoyed writing our Dunne & Crescenzi cook book, The Menu, which was published last autumn. It provided time to dwell on our family journey from Italy to Ireland. I am now working on our next book and as I write our son Ghinlon is working on plans to renovate our Kildare restaurant and I am looking forward to opening our new deli on South Frederick St before xmas.