By: Erin Doyle
Posted In: Entertainment
Photo credit: Erin Doyle
Martin “Che Joe” Geraghty works in the kitchen of his restaurant “The Kitchen” located on Thames Street.
Martin “Chef Joe” Geraghty has brought his talent in the kitchen and a taste of Ireland to Newport.
After growing up in a small town in Ireland, Joe decided to make cooking his career. He attended hotel and catering college there and crossed the pond to continue his career in New York City. After having fifteen years of experience at various trendy and large scale restaurants, including The Playwright and The Oyster Bar and Plaza Hotel, he decided to take his talents to Newport. It was then that he opened The Kitchen, a family-style restaurant on Thames Street. As the only chef, Joe creates a variety of dishes but is best known around town for his excellent soups. As I watched him work expertly with the aroma of simmering potato leek soup in the air, I quickly understood why they say that, when it comes to cooking, he is not your average Joe. Back in Ireland: “I grew up in Mayo, Ireland. It’s a beautiful part of Ireland. I basically lived on the side of a mountain. My nearest neighbor was about two miles away. There was nothing but barren land for miles around us.” A Love for Cooking? “Yeah, I suppose I have always loved to cook. I figured, why not make a living of it?” Learning His Craft: “I attended a hotel and catering college called Killybegs back in Ireland. It was a boarding school, something like St. George’s. We lived there and worked in the restaurant. It was very strict though and we worked non-stop. We still had our fun though.” New York, New York: “After graduating from Killybegs, I went to the city [New York] to work. I started off at Harbor Lights Restaurant and there, I was responsible for all the soups and sauces. That’s all I did; make soups and sauces the whole day and night. It was very busy, you know, but it was like home away from home. It was all Paddys, some that I went to college with.” Your Favorite? “It’s hard to say my favorite; I worked at quite a few restaurants while I was there. I would say The Playwright was probably my favorite because I had the most power there. I was in charge of everything. Or maybe Maxwell’s [Restaurant] as well because of the fun we had there.” Move to Newport: “I’ll never forget the first time I visited Newport. I loved it. I just remember walking down to Thames [Street] and all of a sudden it was just like a wall of people. Just people everywhere. The town itself reminded me of home.” The Kitchen: “Well, eventually I got sick of sitting in the Holland Tunnel every morning for an hour and a half, so I decided to move from The City and open my own restaurant. I loved Newport so much.” “The air was cleaner and also it was very similar setup-wise to what you would see in Europe. So my wife, daughter, and I moved up here and opened up The Kitchen. We’ve been here for almost two years now and we’re very happy.”
