Actor Stanley Tucci visits four city hotspots on first day in Dublin

Actor Stanley Tucci launched the new Tanqueray No. TEN signature serve, the Tiny Ten, in Dublin

Saoirse Hanley

If there’s one thing Dublin and Stanley Tucci have in common, it’s an appreciation for good food and delicious drinks.

It’s unsurprising, then, that the actor found himself visiting four Dublin hotspots on his first day in the city.

Tucci, who has starred in the likes of The Devil Wears Prada, The Hunger Games and Spotlight,started creating mixology videos during pandemic lockdowns.

These quickly went viral and, in 2021, he became a global ambassador for Tanqueray gin.

“It’s so nice to be back in Dublin,” Tucci said. “It’s been a few years since I was last here, and I have just loved the famed Irish hospitality, enjoying the very best in cocktails and food.”

To sample some of that hospitality, he visited four favoured restaurants and bars in the city.

Stanley Tucci and chef Mark Moriarty. Photo: Andres Poveda

He started off at Pichet on Trinity Street for a sit down lunch with Diageo chef-in-residence, Mark Moriarty, who prepared a bespoke seasonal menu featuring Irish lamb.

The meal was washed down with a martini dubbed the ‘Tucci Tini’, created by Pichet’s head mixologist, Marian.

Moriarty said he relished the opportunity to cook for Tucci, as someone familiar with both his cookbooks and television series (Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy).

“It was great to sit down for an hour over lunch where we chatted about food, ingredients, chefs and the behind the scenes of the show,” he said.

Next on the list was Capel Street’s BAR 1661, which took home the top prize at the 2022 Bar of the Year Awards.

There, general manager Will Lynch served a signature cocktail featuring locally sourced mead, vermouth and marmalade.

Stanley Tucci pictured with Will Lynch at BAR 1661. Pic: Andres Poveda

Speaking about what he called a “career highlight” Lynch said: “You could tell that he [Tucci] is so invested in people and their stories... it was like hanging out with a friend.”

That wasn’t the end of Tucci’s bar crawl though, as he moved on to Lennon’s Yard on Dawson Street, before rounding things off with a cocktail party at House on Leeson Street, officially launching a new summer drink.

At House, Tucci told Independent.ie that his wife, Felicity Blunt, would be joining him for part of his trip, with more restaurants booked in the coming days. He also confirmed that he had, indeed, already had a Guinness.

The actor is spending the rest of the weekend in Dublin, appearing at the International Literature Festival in Merrion Square Park tomorrow, as the author of his memoir, Taste: My Life Through Food as well as two cookbooks.