The Fumbally is a café, a shop, an event space, a kitchen, a community of people who come and go and help us evolve along the way.
Luca and Aisling took over a vacant building on the corner of Fumbally lane in 2012 after years of working together in festivals and travelling the world to bring back ideas. Dinners with friends and visits to small farms and producers in various different countries is where it all began. The Fumbally family has been made up of many different iterations of chefs, artists and all round passionate people over the years and together we have been feeding the neighbourhood of Dublin 8 since the café first opened its doors – music gigs, exhibitions, markets, workshops and collaborations in tow.
The Fumbally Stables was created in 2015, an old stables building next door to the café that allowed us to explore more of the cultural and education based work that we are interested in. From yoga and meditation classes to talks, film screenings, food event series and fermentation workshops, The Stables has become the supporting right hand of The Fumbally and allows us to continue to be more than just a café.
In 2020 as the world flipped, so did we
We had to reinvent ourselves, like everyone else. So we switched over to The Fumbally Shop which kept us going through the pandemic selling fresh produce and dishes from a take-away kitchen. The shop is now here to stay and the new Fumbally is both a café and somewhere you can do your weekly shopping. Thanks to the expansion of our wine shelves our dinners have also gotten a little bit more interesting and our love and support of natural wines will play a central role in any future evening endeavours.
A bit about our ethos
We place a huge amount of emphasis on our relationships with suppliers. These can be local or further afield, but it is the human connections that make our supplier relations strong – local, sustainable and organic are not just buzz words – they are a real and tangible way of engaging in the world. We align with them in any way we can. Having said that, we are not exclusively organic nor local with our produce. Because choices in these areas can be complex and we are ok with making compromises sometimes.
We believe in sharing our success with our staff. This is why we have a profit share scheme that all staff members are entitled to partake in once they have worked in the company for one year or more.
We run a circular kitchen. This means there is no head chef, rather our chefs work alongside each other sharing responsibility and creative input and move around different roles in the kitchen.
Our food is honest and no frills. Sometimes we like to get all fancy. But mostly its simple and thoughtful and what happens before it comes to us is just as important as what happens after.