Domini Kemp.

Domini Kemp was born in the Bahamas, to an Irish mother and Scottish father, but moved to Ireland in 1983 because the weather is so much better over here. After a bumpy and unsuccessful career in show-jumping, she trained as a chef at Leith’s in London before co-writing New Irish Cooking and working in the Michelin-starred Peacock Alley. In 1999, she opened the “itsa” chain of gourmet bagel shops with her sister Peaches. Together, they run five branches of “itsa”, the high-end outdoor catering company, Feast and the gastro-neighborhood restaurant itsa4 in Sandymount as well as Table Restaurant, in Brown Thomas, Cork.

Domini is also food writer for the Irish Times and regularly contributes to TV and radio shows, as long as it has to do with good grub. She has been hailed by The Sunday Times as ‘easily the best food writer in Ireland’ and is the author of the bestselling itsa Cookbook and Domini at Home. Her eleven year old daughter, Lauren, is working hard to convince her that cheese strings should be sold in the farmer’s markets, and that chocolate is the breakfast of champions.