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In Southeast Ireland, a Culinary and Coastal Destination

An artful presentation of organic salmon and pickled vegetables at Cliff House Hotel in Ardmore.Credit...Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times

The West Waterford region on Ireland’s southeast coast is a favorite among the Irish for its idyllic beaches, picturesque villages and sprawling green fields blanketed with sheep. Now the area, an hour’s drive east from Cork, is fast becoming known for its epicurean culture, which includes new high-quality restaurants and food purveyors.

Although most of the action is concentrated in the town of Dungarvan, the spurt began 20 minutes away in Ardmore, when the luxury 39-room Cliff House Hotel and its upscale dining option, the House, opened in 2008. The chef Martijn Kajuiter, 40, moved from the Netherlands to helm the contemporary seaside spot with an Irish menu based on local seasonal items.

His artfully presented dishes, such as grilled Black Angus beef dashed with a brand of Irish whiskey called Kilbeggan, and organic salmon from nearby Bantry Bay with pickled vegetables and horseradish, are the reason for the boite’s 2010 Michelin star, an honor it has held onto since.

Equally well respected but decidedly more casual is the Tannery, a restaurant, wine bar and cooking school just off Dungarvan’s main square. Paul Flynn runs the business with his wife, Maire, and spent more than a decade cooking at London and Dublin restaurants before the pair returned to their native region.

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Dungarvan, on Ireland's southeast coast, is attracting food connoisseurs to West Waterford.Credit...Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times

“I had been working in cities and wanted a change and also wanted to move away from haute cuisine,” said Mr. Flynn, 48. “Coming back home seemed like the way to do it.”

They transformed an old leather warehouse into a hip two-level bistro. A wine bar with tapas-style bites and burgers is at the entryway of the main space, and upstairs is the 70-seat dining room where Mr. Flynn serves his version of modern Irish food. The renditions like grilled hake with barley and turnips accented with paprika butter, and glazed beef short ribs slow cooked in onion sauce, are simple yet pop with flavor.

Just around the corner in a separate building is an airy room where he teaches cooking classes, and the outdoor garden where he grows lettuces, herbs and vegetables that figure heavily in the menu.

Mr. Flynn relies on his produce as much as possible, but when it comes to composing his beer list, he turns to the Dungarvan Brewing Company, a short walk away. The craft microbrewery offers six varieties, such as the Coffee and Oatmeal Stout and Rye Pale Ale, which aren’t filtered or pasteurized. As one founder, Claire Dalton, 37, put it, “We all enjoyed drinking artisanal beer but didn’t have a lot of choice of small labels so we decided to start our own.”

A few minutes outside the heart of downtown Dungarvan is another visible name behind the gastronomic surge, Eunice Power, a caterer and chef who lives on a dairy farm. Ms. Power, 45, hosts pop-up dinners at least four times a year around town. For her last one at the Tannery, she cooked 16 dishes inspired by her recent trip to Lebanon, such as lamb roasted in onion juice, locally caught cod with lemon-saffron rice and the ancient grain freekeh tossed with currants and cumin-seasoned cauliflower.

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Eunice Power, a caterer and chef, hosts pop-up dinners in Dungarvan.Credit...Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times

Travelers who aren’t visiting during one of the events can always buy Ms. Power’s easily packable specialties in her charming home. Walking into her bustling kitchen might mean seeing jars of freshly made strawberry jam, loaves of lemon-frosted poundcake or tubs of savory tomato chutney.

An equally personable and authentic experience is in store for visitors a half-hour away in a small farm near Portlaw where Anna LeVeque, 32, makes goat cheese under the label Triskel Goat Cheese. Ms. LeVeque moved from her native France to Ireland to study cheesemaking with farmers before venturing off on her own in 2013. She produces seven kinds, and welcomes guests to see the 30 goats she milks, learn about the process and taste her work.

But perhaps the best way to see a showcase of the culinary arts movement here is at the annual West Waterford Festival of Food. The four-day event started in 2008 with just a few thousand attendees but has since grown to more than 18,000. Some of the activities planned for April 9 to 12 include foraging for oysters with fishermen and excursions into the countryside and mountains to see dairy and sheep farms and one to a large market in Dungarvan’s main square where chefs, farmers and other producers set up tasting stalls.

The event’s founder, Eimhin Ni Chonchuir, said such a level of interest in food did not exist a decade ago.

“Now, we can’t stop talking about it and celebrating it,” she said.

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A version of this article appears in print on  , Section TR, Page 7 of the New York edition with the headline: The Scenery’s Great but What’s for Dinner?. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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