Banba set to open on Dublin's Harcourt Street Today
Tucked discreetly to the rear of The Dean Dublin Centre, Banba opens at 35 Harcourt Street on Friday 16th October. A new produce-led restaurant from Executive Chef Ross Bryans, set across a late Georgian townhouse and a new double-height dining room. A restaurant not built around a particular chef or a specific menu, but around the best produce and the farmers, growers and winemakers behind it.
Banba is rooted in the idea of home - the warmth of welcome and the memories made around a table. Over the past 12 months, Bryans has spent considerable time building strong relationships with local farmers and producers, from Reilly Mushrooms in Athlone, to Iona Fruit Farm in Dublin’s Oldtown, McCormack Family Farms, Archer Farm and Carrick Farms in Rush. Dishes are built around produce at its peak, tracked week by week through the year, and much of the cooking is done over open fire. Fermentation and pickling are used across both the kitchen and the bar. Irish produce leads throughout, alongside dishes inspired by other cuisines but made with Irish ingredients. Only part of Banba's full repertoire is on the menu at any one time. Dishes, served on a handcrafted range from Nicholas Mosse, rotate in and out as produce comes into season, so guests returning within a month will find new dishes waiting for them.
“The menu will change regularly,” explains Bryans. “In just the same way as going to a friend’s house for a dinner party, it’ll be something different each time. The philosophy is simple: a love of great cooking, exceptional local produce and the pleasure of eating and drinking together.”
The Irvine-born chef brings an impressive international pedigree to Banba, with previous senior positions as director of culinary at Corrigan’s Mayfair and in Michelin-starred kitchens including Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and Jason Atherton’s Pollen Street Social, where he retained its Michelin star in his first year as Head Chef. Bryans has also led Les 110 de Taillevent London and appeared on the BBC’s Great British Menu.
The drinks programme is led by Beverage Operations Manager Fergus O’Leary, extending Banba’s Irish story into the world of wine. The list highlights Irish winemakers working both at home and internationally, alongside producers with Irish family roots who have built careers across the world’s wine regions. Among those featured are Lusca Wine from Lusk’s David Llewellyn, Andrew Eakin and Naomi Murtagh’s Château Puynard, Arnault and Áine Clopin’s Fáda Wexford Wine and The Horgan Family of Leeuwin Estate, Simon Tyrrell, Charles Derain and Gerard Maguire of Les Deux Cols, and the storied Barton family. The result is a wine programme that reflects the same philosophy as the kitchen: firmly grounded in a sense of place, but adventurous and open to influences from the wider world.
For guests arriving at Banba, the experience begins with a drink at the bar, styled more like a kitchen island than a conventional restaurant bar. Moving through to the intimate lounge spaces in the original Georgian townhouse, rich velvets, vintage rugs and carpets, carefully chosen furniture and work by local artists create a warm, lived-in atmosphere. An open kitchen adds theatre but also underscores that sense of home once more, creating a connection between the kitchen and the dining room, while light oak panelling, sleek red marble, richly coloured leather and tactile finishes balance contemporary sophistication with a homely warmth. On the lower ground floor, an intimate private dining room awaits, offering a secluded setting for groups of up to 10 people.
Art is woven throughout Banba, curated by Jenn Ellis of Apsara Studio, showcasing work by Irish and emerging artists through a thoughtfully assembled collection. Its theme, Stories of Place, looks at how Harcourt Street has changed from a largely residential street, first developed in the 1700s, into one of Dublin's busiest dining and nightlife destinations. Artists in the collection include Cian Handschuh, Oisín Tozer, Sorcha McNamara, Lea Kampff, Tim Millen, Luca Cosentino, Angelika Stochla and Cillian Quearney. The art collection continues into the restaurant's courtyard, with a contemporary garden scape sculpture commission by Fionn Timmins in partnership with the RDS Visual Arts Award.
Banba is an expression of what it means to eat and drink Irish today: respecting tradition while embracing contemporary flavours, global influences, open-fire cooking and a new generation of Irish producers and winemakers. At its heart though, Banba is about something even simpler – the pleasure of gathering around a table, sharing good food and drink, and making people feel at home.
Banba will open to the public on Friday 16th October.
For more see www.banbadublin.com and @banbadublin on Instagram.
Banba, 35 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2, D02 WC81
Opens: Friday 16th October 2026
Hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 5pm to late. Sunday, 12pm to 8pm
Reservations: +353 1 476 7848 or banbadublin.com
Slán go fóill.
