Andy Gibson
Owners of West Cork’s Camus Farm Deborah Ní Chaoimhe and Vic Sprake share their lives in food
Husband and wife duo Vic Sprake and Deborah Ní Chaoimhe share their lives in food, from their earliest memories to their favourite flavours and culinary inspirations.
Vic Sprake and Deborah Ní Chaoimhe are the phenomenal husband and wife duo behind The Field Kitchen, a family-run, award-winning restaurant set on 30 acres of organic holding at West Cork’s Camus Farm.
Vic and Deb bought Camus Farm nearly 20 years ago in 2006, beautifully renovating three derelict stone barns from 1850 where they raised their children, and continue to live at the Clonakilty farm to this day. Having spent years planting thousands of trees and nurturing the fields, the couple opened The Field Kitchen, sharing their passion for biodiversity, delicious high-quality seasonal food and panoramic views of Clonakilty to diners and visitors from Easter to Christmas annually.
What are your earliest memories of food?
My mum making delicious crepes, I could never get enough of them. —D
Offal featured heavily in our home: liver and onion is a favourite. —V
How would you describe your relationship with food?
Complicated. —D
Similar to our golden retriever, we both eat anything and everything and don’t know when to stop.—V
What was the first meal you learned to cook?
I learned to make scrambled eggs on toast for my cooking badge in Brownies when I was six. —D
Vegetarian chilli — as a student in Liverpool I’d make a batch which would feed me for a week.—V
How did food become a part of your career?
When my husband and I converted our farm to organic and built up our Dexter herd of cattle.—D
We bought Camus Farm in 2006 and needed to manage the land, which we had re-seeded with a heritage mix of grasses, so we joined the Organic Farming Scheme and assembled a pedigree suckler herd of Dexter Cattle. We then began selling Dexter Beef in Clonakilty Farmers Market a few years later, which led to supplying several local restaurants. In parallel our direct sales business developed, which was increasingly bringing customers to the Farm, a recurring suggestion was that we should open a farmshop and tearooms. This idea became The Field Kitchen Restaurant. In response to increasing demand for vegetarian and vegan dinners, we are progressively converting our grassland to horticulture. Sustainability, biodiversity and animal welfare have always been at the heart of everything we do at Camus Farm. We continue to enjoy bringing people into the West Cork landscape through weddings, theatre and music events.—V
What’s your go-to breakfast?
I start my day with a cup of boiling water. I don’t normally eat breakfast.—D
Orange juice and a banana.—V
If you’re impressing friends and family at a dinner party, what are you serving up?
I am vegetarian so it is usually something like a load of roast vegetables with a tahini dressing followed by profiteroles from my mum’s Hamlyn cookbook.—D
28-day aged Dexter fillet steak from our own organic grass-fed cattle on the barbecue, boiled potatoes and purple-sprouting broccoli.—V
Who is your culinary inspiration?
My mum and my daughter Féadha. They both could conjure up the most delicious meals from the simplest of ingredients.—D
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstalls’s River Cottage TV series and associated books.—V
What would your last meal on earth be?
Our chef Bob’s sourdough flatbread with beetroot boranis, dauphinois potatoes with roasted veg, followed by crepes with chocolate and strawberries.—D
Chicken tikka masala, pilau rice and naan bread.—V
What’s your go-to comfort food?
A dish my family calls “Stewp”. It’s a cross between stew and soup with loads of vegetables.—D
Crusty bread, mature cheese, pickle.—V
What’s the go-to quick meal you cook when you’re tired and hungry?
Pasta Arrabiata.—D
Sausage sandwich.—V
What is one food or flavour you cannot stand?
Mushrooms.—D
I’ve never felt the need to eat an oyster, there are always better options on the menu.—V
Hangover cure?
Jam sandwich or chips.—D
A full Irish.—V
Sweet or savoury?
Both.—D
Sweet.—V
Fine dining or pub grub?
Pub grub.—D
Pub grub. —V
Favourite restaurant in Ireland?
Obviously The Field Kitchen, followed by Monks Lane in Timoleague.—D
First place has to be Camus Farm Field Kitchen, as we’ve created our perfect place for dining, with second place going to Monk’s Lane, Timoleague.—V
Best coffee in Ireland?
Revel in Clonakilty.—D
West Cork Coffee.—V
What are your thoughts on the Irish food scene?
In a word… notions! I love food that uses really simple, in-season ingredients that speak for themselves.—D
I prefer large plates of simple food… refer to The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen.—V
What’s your favourite thing about cooking?
When I can make the time to make something really wholesome to eat that I know will nourish my family.—D
I don’t enjoy cooking, I would sooner be out working on the land. —V
What does food — sitting down to a meal with friends, mindfully preparing a meal, nourishment, etc — mean to you?
I love when we do our food share/potluck meals on our farm. We invite friends to bring a dish of their choice and we share a meal. None of us know in advance what the other is bringing, so it’s always an interesting combination of tastes, colours and textures.—D
I love inviting friends over for outdoor ‘food-to-share’ evenings, everyone brings a dish of something and we assemble a feast. It’s a great way to make time for people.—V
Food for thought — Is there room for improvement within the Irish food/restaurant/hospitality scene?
Definitely!—D
There is always room for improvement. Homemade or readymade ought to be discussed. If you travel to Ireland and sit down to enjoy the delights of Irish cuisine you may be served ‘industrial food’, that is, ready-to-eat meals or ultra-processed food. Restaurants serving homemade dinners, prepared by chefs from raw ingredients are different and there ought to be a way of distinguishing between the two types before committing to dine. —V
Chef’s kiss — Tell us about one standout foodie experience you’ve had recently.
I am still dreaming about a dessert we had in The Field Kitchen recently. It was chocolate mousse and buckwheat ice-cream with buckwheat tuile… absolutely sublime!—D
Pizza from Wanderly Wagon at Fisher’s Cross Bar, Clonakilty.—V
Compliments to the chef — Now’s your chance to sing the praises of a talented chef, beloved restaurant or particularly talented foodie family member.
Our chef Bob Cairns is as humble as he is gifted. The fact that his vegetarian and vegan food is every bit as delicious as his carne meals is a big deal to me. It can be so hard to get really vegetarian food in Cork. Our daughter Féadha is also exceptional with food, but alas we cannot tempt her to stay in the family business as she is pursuing a career in acting.—D
Bob Cairns directs a superb team of chefs in The Field Kitchen Restaurant, using produce grown on the Farm. Jason Linton, Head Grower, is key to this field-to-fork approach, ensuring a steady supply of fresh organic produce is available throughout the year.—V
Secret ingredient — What, in your estimation, makes the perfect dining experience?
Seasonal and simple delicious food, comfortable surroundings, and good friends/family… Heaven!—D
Location: I always prefer to dine outside in fresh air, natural surroundings, with birds singing.—V
Photography by Andy Gibson.
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