Michelle Howley from Pink Clover -Dedication to a vocation
Opening with an intent
Pink Clover opened its doors in September 2022 in the most fantastic location, just beside Drumcliffe Church and the grave of the famous poet William Butler Yeats. Naming the former Drumcliff Tea House after the poets favourite cocktail was a somewhat bold move showing intent. We met up recently with Michelle to find out how her first year went and find out a little more about the café and herself.
Pink Clover is a dream come true
Asked how she ended up in Drumcliffe to take over the former tea house, a smiling Michelle says : “Opening a cafe was a dream of mine since I was about seventeen or eighteen and because Sligo is home landing in Drumcliffe after many years of teaching away is just a bonus! It is a very beautiful monastic setting and I often think about how our home baking ethos pays homage to the monastic community of old who would have been entirely self-sufficient”.
Her philosophy is quite simple: Fresh Artisan Food. “We absolutely pride ourselves on freshness, quality and always delivering our best”, says Michelle. “People are often amazed that almost all of our offerings are home baked on site every single day.” Pink Clover has developed a solid fan base for their scones and bread especially.
In-house bakery
People, who knew the Tea House, will have noticed, that one of the main differences is the new in-house bakery kitchen and we want to find out what is produced in there. “I am baking two types of bread every day. First is our Guinness and Treacle brown soda bread, the second bread is the sea salt and rosemary focaccia. Both have become the permanent fixture on our menu.” The soda bread feels authentically Irish for the many tourists who pass through Drumcliffe every year. And the focaccia is so light and fluffy that the Cloud Nine sandwich (recently featured on Nationwide as part of our cloudspotting feature) was named after the bread!
But that’s not all as there are four different flavoured scones every day (blueberry and lemon, mixed fruit, plain sweet and a scone for the season)and jams and marmalade are all homemade and the perfect accompaniment to the scones. All of the sweet treats are baked on site and savoury favourites too including spelt pastry Quiche Lorraine (a favourite of Gaby) and incredibly moreish sausage and black pudding rolls.
Michelle says many creations are inspired by the season. “I create what I love to eat myself and seasonality is definitely important in the selection of weekly bakes, for example the Bakewell might change from raspberry to rhubarb to apple or to blackberry to reflect the season I am baking in.” No wonder there have been calls for a recipe book.
Local Suppliers are important
Like most of the newly established food premises in Sligo, Michelle makes full use of the plentiful local producers and suppliers. “All of the eggs come from two local farms, Benbulben farm and Drumkilty farm. Our salad leaves and seasonal vegetables come from Good Guys Organic in Cliffoney and Carrowgarry organic farm in Beltra. Tony Quinn supplies us with the best quality Irish chicken and turkey. Brendan Feeney supplies us with beautiful Irish horseshoe gammons which are also homebaked on site and finished with a pineapple glaze. We are also a stockist of Philip Sheridans Wildwood honey which we literally cannot keep on the shelves once he arrives with it.” The coffee is supplied by the local Carrow coffee roasters. “Having visited their roastery in Beltra I knew instantly that they would be the right fit for Pink Clover. “ emphasises Michelle.
Change of career and training at Ballymaloe
A teacher of music and religious education for 12 years in a number of schools Michelle always nurtured her love of all types of food and always jumped at any opportunity to sign up to a cookery class or course that was being run locally. Michelle remembers getting a summer job in Bella Vista in Strandhill. “I fell in love with the hospitality industry and kitchen work. I absolutely loved the pace of a busy kitchen and I thrived from the excitement of it all.” So when she decided to park the teaching chapter of her life she knew the next stage had got to be all about food. “I thought long and hard about my next move and eventually decided to sign up to the renowned 12 week certificate course at Ballymaloe Cookery School.” . There she would often be helping with breads from 4 in the morning. “They were long exhausting days but I would say one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. “
Dedication to a vocation
Although her days are busy and the hours long Michelle stresses “I’ve never felt a bigger sense of community in anything I’ve done before and it is very rewarding. One of my favourite things in this job is meeting my customers and developing friendships with them.” What are the challenges for a small baker run café? “The one thing I struggle the most with is not ever having enough time. I am so focussed on maintaining such high food quality standards that I might not always be on top of other areas of the job.”she says, but she is also very grateful to her husband Wesley, “who continues to go above and beyond in making my dream a reality every single day. He definitely keeps Pink Clover ticking behind the scenes.”
Here is Michelle uncovered
What is your favourite food? My favourite food has got to be Italian, I just love it all, pizza, pasta, the creamy cheesy sauces, the tomatoes, the breads, the panna cotta. In one word, delicious!
Finish the sentence: A chef is an artist. When I told an old principal of mine that my intention was to leave teaching music to pursue my food dream he replied “I get it”. You are a performer, you’re just changing the angle. Now you’re going to be performing on a plate.
The country you travel for food: If I had a whole summer the list would be long! I have travelled to plenty of countries and sampling the food scene has always been a big highlight. I’d probably say Spain, because I love tapas. It is a very social style of eating and you are getting to try lots of different flavour combinations. The risk is that I usually order too many things!!
Three things you always have in your larder/fridge? Butter, eggs, milk!
What is your most used gadget? My hand blender. Absolutely could not work without it and I’m constantly telling myself I need to get a backup should the day come when it lets me down!
Do you read cookbooks and which one do you come back to? Cookbooks are my night-time reading. I’m usually reading baking cookbooks to get new ideas for bakes. Rachel Allen, Yotam Ottolenghi and Una Leonard would be my go-to inspiration reads.
Who is your inspiration (not necessarily from the food world)? I was recently at a women in business event and one of the keynote speakers was Grainne Mullins of Grá Chocolates. She was profoundly inspirational to listen to. I’d be so proud if I could achieve a fraction of the success that she has achieved.
What are you currently listening to? John Mayer, in the cafe every day!! I love him and will never tire of listening to him.
Something people don’t know about you? I have a masters degree in Theology. I studied in Belgium for a year and carried out quite specific research in the area of Medieval Women Mystics. I often think about how life has brought me to this monastic site at Drumcliffe. I really think it was written in the stars.
What will be hot in 2024? Water kefir! We’re slowly building on our Raspberry and Lemon flavoured water kefir fan base and I think by summer of 2024 it’ll be flying out the door!