Meet the Woman Behind Galway’s Award-Winning Creative Bakes
After almost 20 years as a restaurant pastry chef, Arlene Dooley set out on her own with The Lán Kitchen, supplying award-winning creative bakes to some of Galway’s best cafes.
My day starts with a walk in the woods with tea and the dogs (non-negotiable).
I come back with tons of half ideas, and then it’s lots of driving around gathering stuff, writing lists, speaking to chefs and my customers, answering messages and emails and then, finally, baking. Baking is the easy bit.
I know the exact day I fell in love with baking.
It was my birthday, March 8th, 2009, at a campsite in Auckland, New Zealand. I was horribly homesick and I made soda bread. Lots of other homesick Europeans came over to chat and talk about how much it reminded them of bread from wherever they were from.
Music and being in the kitchen go hand in hand.
Lately, I’ve been listening to lots of Mister Pets, Harrison and Devil, Bill Callahan, Brian Jonestown and Karen Dalton. Jazz if it’s getting stressy in the kitchen and something with a lot of bass if it’s a bit more chill.
My fridge and pantry essentials include different types of salt, good quality chocolate and one or two vanilla pods for special occasions.
Oh! And vanilla ice cream, the nicest one I can find.
The kitchen gadget that’s worth the hype is an ice cream machine.
Or a trolley – I love a good trolley. I’ll hype up a trolley all day long.
I was looking for the creative freedom to do my own thing and I had space in my life to take on something big.
The idea for The Lán Kitchen came when I realised there are probably a lot of places that don’t want to buy mass-produced desserts, but don’t have the budget or space to have their own pastry chef.
I was surprised at how generous and supportive everyone was.
Maybe it’s a Galway thing – I get the feeling that the majority of people want to see you do well and are willing to help if they can, which blew my mind.
We are so spoiled for places to eat in Galway, it’s amazing.
If I’m out and about, the food in Bierhaus is tip-top. Rúibín is gorgeous through and through, Kai is a no-brainer stun hun (the cakes are insanely beautiful, such a talented team in Hapi Bakery) and how can you not go to Ard Bia, darling? Tony Carelli’s (@pastaacasabytony) pasta is phenomenal if you’re entertaining at home too, you won’t find anything remotely close to it.
Photography by Ciaran Mac Choncarriage
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