Richie Castillo shares his life in food, from his earliest memories to his favourite flavours and culinary inspirations.
Having just been added to The Michelin Guide, marking a landmark moment for Ireland’s first Irish Filipino restaurant, Kaldero’s modern, culturally rooted approach to Filipino cuisine is getting the recognition it deserves.
The brainchild of chef Richie Castillo and creative and IMAGE food contributor Alex O’Neill—the duo behind Bahay and the hugely popular cookbook, Masarap—Kaldero is a cohesive, creatively led space defined by responsible sourcing, seasonality and strong creative identity.
In 2025, Richie Castillo was named Young Chef of the Year Runner Up Highly Commended at the Food and Wine Awards, received a Best Newcomer 2025 nomination, a Top Newcomer in The Irish Times Best 100 Restaurants, and inclusion in Hot Press Best 150 Restaurants 2025. Here, he shares his life in food.
What are your earliest memories of food?
I have many fond memories of eating lunch after school in my grandparents’ house. Beef stew with carrots and mash was always a firm favourite. I always relate these memories to what I consider to be “Irish”, as it’s the only reference point.
At home, my memories are filled with pork adobo, lumpia, and whole steamed sea bass with ginger and scallion. My father would have taken me with him on his shopping expedition to Moore Street, where he would have come home with whole brown crabs and different fish. He would then scale and gut them in the kitchen sink, boiling the crabs and picking down all the meat, sometimes eaten right away or frozen down for another time.
How would you describe your relationship with food?
Food for me is a tool of communication. It communicates love and fosters connection amongst people. Growing up, every celebration was marked with a meal and I can safely say we ate 99% of our dinners all sitting together at the kitchen table.
Food for me is also a source of comfort and emotional regulation. It’s something I explored in depth while completing my Masters in Psychotherapy and my training. Food and our relationship to it is rooted in our earliest relational experiences to primary caregivers.
What was the first meal you learned to cook?
The first thing I learned to cook was stir-fried corned beef with diced potatoes and garlic. If you’re Filipino, you know what I’m talking about! Canned corned beef, crisped up in a pan with potato and garlic, served with steamed rice.
How did working with food become your career?
I grew up being exposed to so much amazing food and watching my dad cook, cupboards stacked with South East Asian and Chinese ingredients, so I was always interested in it. But it became my career when I was studying my undergraduate degree in social science and got my first kitchen job. That was in my local golf club, nothing hectic or fancy.
After graduating, I moved to New Zealand for a year and continued working in kitchens. That’s when I began to take it more seriously. When I returned home, I decided I was really going to give it a proper shot.
From my time in New Zealand, I had a philosophy instilled in me around local produce and seasonality. I then took a job at Fia Café in Rathgar, where Keith Coleman was the head chef at the time. Keith was on his way out when I joined, but he further reinforced that sense of seasonality and provenance in my cooking.
After a few months, the head chef role became available. I stepped into it, and that was my first real test of giving it a go. It was a sink-or-swim moment. I definitely sank for a bit, but I stuck with it because I loved it.
Eventually, I reached a point where I felt I’d taught myself everything I could and needed to go out and learn more. I wanted to work in a good restaurant and really challenge myself.
At the time, Bastible were hiring, and I joined just as Cuan Greene had taken over the kitchen. That period was a really formative part of my career. I learned a lot working under Cuan, and it’s definitely stayed with me. It was probably the best career decision I made and still stands with me today.
What’s your go-to breakfast?
For me, Filipino breakfast, obviously. Again, this is something that I grew up eating. You know, there are many different variations, but it always includes garlic fried rice or garlic rice; basically, kind of steamed rice that’s been tossed in garlic oil and it’s got these crispy bits of fried garlic. And then there’s always fried eggs. I’d go for garlic fried rice, two fried eggs, and longganisa, which is a Filipino sausage. There are variations depending on which region you’re in, but it’s basically a very sweet, garlicky, savoury sausage. That’d be my go-to breakfast.
If you’re impressing friends and family at a dinner party, what are you serving up?
To be honest, I always go for a big, beautiful steak — usually a côte de boeuf. I mean, who doesn’t love a great steak or a big côte de boeuf? There’s definitely technique involved. It can be a bit tricky, but the more you cook it, the more confident you get. That’s always my go-to.
I’ll serve a big côte de boeuf with crispy spuds, boiled potatoes, stir-fried vegetables, and a big leafy salad. Add a couple of nice bottles of wine, and everyone’s happy — myself included.
Who is your culinary inspiration?
My culinary inspiration comes from many places. Of course, there are a lot of chefs I look up to, admire, and draw inspiration from. But when I’m being creative, I’m most inspired by my own experiences and the travels I’ve been on around the world.
I’m also inspired by simply watching people — wandering through markets, seeing street food in the Philippines, and observing passionate people doing their own thing. I love seeing someone who’s truly passionate, whether it’s about food or anything at all.
Some of my most memorable meals have been very simple. One of my favourites was a bowl of noodles on the side of the road in Malaysia. Another that really stands out is going to a local roadside barbecue in the Philippines with my uncle — seeing all the meat being grilled, feeling the energy, and soaking up the buzz of the place. I was quite young at the time, but it’s something that has really stayed with me.
What would your last meal on earth be?
That’s a tough question. A few things come to mind, to be honest, but if I’m being real, food is so much more than just eating for me. My relationship with it is deeply rooted in communication, love, and care. So I think my last meal would be something cooked by someone close to me — my father, my mother, or my grandparents. Maybe my grandmother’s adobo or a simple beef stew.
Honestly, it wouldn’t even have to be anything fancy. It could be a slice of toast with butter and a cup of tea, or some soup and a toastie. It’s not so much about what the food is, but how it makes me feel at that moment.
When I’m sick, my father always cooks me tinola, a ginger and chicken broth. He just knows how to take care of me without having to say anything at all.
What’s your go-to comfort food?
My go-to comfort food would definitely be on a Sunday after a busy week, myself and Alex, we always normally go to Ka Shing, get ourselves a lot of dim sum and a pot of tea. That always sorts the head. It’s not too heavy, it’s nice and light, and it’s just everything you want. Especially the pot of tea, that always sorts the head. And of course, Alex and the company. The company is always important.
What’s the go-to quick meal you cook when you’re tired and hungry?
It’s a bit of a fridge raid, a fried rice fridge raid. There’s always rice in my gaff, and always, always eggs. We were in Chengdu in China recently and brought home about ten kilos of chilli oil and all these mad dried meats, so lately, it’s been fried rice with loads of scallions and this air-dried meat with a ridiculous amount of chilli and Sichuan peppercorns, and fried eggs.
What is one food or flavour you cannot stand?
There’s a traditional Filipino dish — or rather, a flavour profile — that’s quite bitter. I usually enjoy bitter dishes, especially with herbs and aromatics. A few years ago, around Christmas — I think it was St. Stephen’s Day — I went over to a friend of my cousin’s place nearby. It was dark, we were having a few drinks, and they offered me a taste of something. I said yes and took a big spoonful.
It turned out to be one of the most bitter, intense, and gamey things I’ve ever eaten. I asked what it was, and they told me it was a dish called papaitan. It’s traditionally made from innards — lungs, heart, and kidneys — and it’s seasoned with bile from the gallbladder. It’s a dark, greenish soup with a really strong, eggy, bitter, gamey flavour. Definitely not for me.
Hangover cure?
My hangover cure is pretty much always ridiculously spicy Asian food, spicy noodles, some sort of spicy soup. I had this Korean seafood soup recently that blew the head off me, but also just sorted me right out.
Sweet or savoury?
I’m definitely a savoury kind of guy. I’ll sit down and eat a family share size bag of crisps easily.
Fine dining or pub grub?
Ah, this one’s easy. Always pub grub for me. Any day.
Favourite restaurant in Ireland?
This is something that changes year to year, but right now, for the last two years, it has been Kopitiam on Capel Street. It’s a Malaysian spot. Host in Ranelagh is always consistently tasty, and the service is great, it’s a warm room. And also M&L Szechuan Chinese gets an honourable mention.
Best coffee in Ireland?
Southside of the Liffey, Indigo & Cloth. Northside of the Liffey, Vice Coffee.
What are your thoughts on the Irish foodie scene?
What are my thoughts on the Irish foodie scene? Yeah, I’m probably not gonna publish those thoughts in an interview.
What’s your favourite thing about cooking?
So my favourite thing about cooking is, I guess, cooking for people and with people, for friends. That’s always been something. I mean, that’s what’s kind of got me in love with it in the first place. You know, I’m sharing something that means so much to me with another person, and I think when you serve somebody a dish and you see someone’s reaction, you know, you can put a smile on people’s faces genuinely. You can change someone’s mood, whole mood, and turn a bad day into a really good day, and I think that’s very special.
Food for thought — What are some areas for improvement within the Irish food scene?
Being honest, it’s not a secret that these places are hostile, toxic environments. I mean, I’ve heard some absolutely outrageous sh*t going on, and these places are still supported, still given accolades, even though people know. It’s like people turn a blind eye to it, and to be honest, I don’t know why this stuff isn’t called out more publicly. It is a real shame, and you’re doing people a real disservice by not calling it out.
Chef’s kiss — Tell us about one standout foodie experience you’ve had recently.
I guess one standout food experience I had lately was in Chengdu. Alex and I were at this dam that was a UNESCO heritage site, and we were walking back through this ancient town, and there was this little shop full of aunties who made various chilli oils. We were there for almost an hour, tasting all these ridiculously spicy oils and ridiculously spicy fermented vegetables and stuff. They thought it was absolutely gas. That’s one real standout experience that I’ve had lately.
Compliments to the chef — Now’s your chance to sing the praises of a talented chef, beloved restaurant or particularly talented foodie family member.
Obviously, I’m a bit biased; he’s my sous chef, but Ben Lozada. He’s a young Filipino lad who is a very, very talented chef. We’ve been spending a lot of time together and getting to speak about what it’s like for us to finally be cooking food that means so much to us. It’s very special, and seeing someone so young and so passionate and so talented, I can’t speak more highly of him. He’s a very, very talented and skilled young chef.
Secret ingredient — What, in your estimation, makes the perfect dining experience?
I think what’s really underestimated in terms of what makes a private dining experience is music. Outside of food, music’s definitely one of my biggest passions. I’ve been collecting records for about ten years, so I’ve got quite a nice extensive record collection. It ranges from loads of Chicago and Detroit house to old school hip hop. I think music is so important in the restaurant, it really has the ability to capture the energy and the atmosphere of the space. I can’t stand being at an eatery or having a drink or a coffee somewhere where the music is just not good. It ruins the experience for me. It sets the energy of the space. Particularly on a Saturday, I like starting the night off with something a bit more mellow, and as the night and the service progress, picking it up a bit, really getting the buzz going on in the place. Everything’s in sync. It’s definitely underestimated.
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