Part of our series with Euro-Toques Ireland

We chat with Anthony O’Toole, the founder of Fat Tomato – an edible garden and honesty farm shop nestled in the hills of North Wexford. A chef, writer, and international specialist in food culture and hospitality design, Anthony brings a flavour-first, curiosity-driven approach to growing and preserving food.

Fat Tomato is home to over 500 chemical-free grown varieties of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and edible flowers – many of which are transformed into small-batch condiments and drinks, available to buy at their unique honesty shop and online at www.fattomato.ie/shop.

Anthony shares with TheTaste the story behind Fat Tomato, his commitment to biodiversity and seed heritage, and his bold vision for the future of Irish food – rooted in flavour, integrity, and endless possibilities.

Can you tell us about your background in the food industry?

I’ve worked across many corners of the food and drink world – chef, hospitality and events management, business development, culinary innovation, marketing, food tourism, writing, research, and sustainability advocacy. My studies and career have taken me around the world, but the common threads are integrity, innovation, and flavour. I’ve always been curious about what we eat and drink, where it comes from, and how we can do it better. That curiosity still drives everything I do today, with a vision for the future of Irish food culture.

What inspired you to set up your business? Was there a gap in the market?

Absolutely. Each time I returned to Ireland after travelling, I craved the bold, diverse fruit, vegetables, and herbs I’d tasted abroad – flavours that were hard to find here. It made me wonder: why aren’t we growing these things ourselves? Historically, Irish gardens were renowned for their rare and beautiful varieties; however, for various reasons, much of that heritage has been lost.

Fat Tomato was born out of a desire to grow for flavour, not just yield, and to celebrate the thousands of varieties of fruits, herbs, and vegetables that can be preserved and enjoyed in countless ways. Ireland still imports a significant amount of food, yet we’re more than capable of producing much of it ourselves, often to a far higher standard. Fat Tomato is about biodiversity, curiosity, and flavour – but it’s also about inspiring chefs, producers, and eaters to think differently.

How did you set up the business, and how has it grown?

It all began in 2016 with a polytunnel from Highbank Orchards in Kilkenny, several packets of organic seeds, a lively compost heap, and some feathered friends. When I moved home from living in Dublin, I took over my parents’ small back garden on the side of Carrig Rua Hill in North Wexford – growing, making mistakes, and learning by doing. Over time, it evolved into a living pantry with more than 500 varieties: heirloom tomatoes, edible flowers, rare vegetables, forgotten herbs. It’s more than a garden – it’s a place of biodiversity, flavour, and community.

Where do you source the ingredients used in your products?

Most are grown right here in the edible garden. I grow as much as I can from seed, sourcing from brilliant Irish organic seed savers like Brown Envelope Seeds and Irish Seed Savers. We produce our own vinegars and grow some spices. Anything we buy in is held to the same standard – produced with integrity. That includes raw honey, sea salt, and butter from Wexford; organic citrus from trees we adopt via the CrowdFarming platform in Italy and Spain; and carefully sourced organic spices and oils. Every ingredient is carefully selected for its flavour, ethics, and quality.

What are the benefits of your products?

Integrity and flavour come first. These heritage varieties are grown organically – no chemicals, no F1 hybrids, just real plants. But beyond that, it’s about biodiversity, sustainability, and nutrition. The nutritional value of our ingredients is far superior to what you might find in a supermarket.

A diverse garden supports pollinators, nurtures healthy soil, and builds climate resilience. Our condiments and preserves contain no artificial additives or preservatives – just pure, honest ingredients. They are so pure; one might say they compare to what we used to produce years ago – jars of delicious things that last a long time. It’s food that’s good for people and the planet.

How important has social media been in spreading the word?

Vital. It allows me to share the garden’s story, celebrate the seasons, and connect with people who care about food, nature, and sustainability. Whether it’s a curious home cook, a grower looking for a seed variety, a chef hunting for new flavour, or a writer chasing a story, social media brings Fat Tomato to life far beyond the gate.

How has the Euro-Toques community helped you?

Euro-Toques is a brilliant community of chefs, cooks and producers who care deeply about provenance and craft. I’ve been involved for years as a chef member, former Head of the Food Council, and judge for their Young Chef competition.

It’s a space where passion, purpose, and support go hand in hand. It fosters chef-producer collaborations, protects Irish food heritage, and inspires the next generation of chefs and makers. I encourage any chef, cook or producer to join and make a difference – change happens within. 

What makes your product unique?

The sheer diversity. Fat Tomato is a living archive of edible plants – over 100 types of tomatoes, rare peas and beans, unusual herbs, heritage fruits, and edible flowers. Everything is grown for flavour, not uniformity.

Our preserves and condiments – such as blackcurrant butter, rhubarb and blood orange marmalade, Bloody Mary salt, wild strawberry rose cordial, and peach BBQ sauce – are one-of-a-kind. They’re designed as staples of the modern Irish pantry and as beautiful gifts, each with a story to tell.

Tell us about the chefs and restaurants using your products.

I’ve had the privilege of working with some incredible chefs and producers who are hungry for ingredients with meaning. People like Lily Ramirez-Foran at Picado Mexican and the team at Bean and Goose Chocolate who use heritage cocoa to tell the Irish food story through form, flavour and design. 

Through my consultancy work, I also design events and experiences in Ireland and beyond that tell the Irish food story, where Fat Tomato ingredients feature front and centre.

Are there other Irish food producers you admire?

Too many to list. Brown Envelope Seeds and Irish Seed Savers for their tireless seed sovereignty work. Highbank Orchards for their innovation and integrity. Woodcock Smokery for their lifelong dedication to wild fish. Salt Rock Dairy for bringing love back to cultured farmhouse butter. McNally’s Family Farm for redefining what seasonal vegetables can be.

In cheese: St. Tola, Velvet Cloud, Leitrim Hill Creamery, Durrus, Young Buck, Kylemore, and so many more. In drinks: St. Brigid’s Ale, Boann, Blackwater, and Tipperary Distillery – each leading with purpose and creativity. There’s a real sense of mission in this community. 

What challenges have you faced?

The weather, of course! Irish growing conditions are unpredictable, and every season brings new lessons. However, there is also the challenge of shifting mindsets: helping people understand why biodiversity, flavour, and food heritage matter, and why we need to invest in good food and drink for our health and well-being, spending money on buying the best so you don’t have to spend with Big Pharma. It’s slow work, but it’s work worth doing.

What’s been your biggest achievement so far?

Creating a garden that feeds both biodiversity and curiosity. Watching someone taste a tomato or an Irish-grown peach and be genuinely surprised – or seeing a chef or producer light up over a forgotten variety – that’s the magic.

I’m proud to have built something that supports the soil, tells stories, and invites people to reimagine the future of Irish food.

Could you imagine doing anything else?

Honestly, no. I’ve always followed integrity and flavour – it’s taken me from kitchens to farms, food markets, and boardrooms. I’ve advised chefs, hospitality experts, designers, media agencies, and business leaders on the future of Irish food, hospitality, and tourism.

Growing was the natural extension of that path. Whether I’m hands in the soil, developing something new in the kitchen, or telling the next Irish food story – this is precisely where I’m meant to be.

What does the future hold for Fat Tomato?

More growing, more sharing. I’m looking for some land to expand my garden in Wexford, where I plan to build a home, create a larger garden and forest, and establish a space to host workshops, tastings, and learning experiences.

Fat Tomato will be a new kind of space:

• A smallholding, a home for sharing, and a workshop and garden for dreaming in.
• A place where gardeners, farmers, chefs, producers, artists, designers, writers, and curious minds can escape, breathe, and recharge.
• A space to dream and, most importantly, to grow, cook, and eat.

It will be an edible forest of old and new Irish flavours. You never know who you’ll meet, what you might taste, or what might happen, bringing surprise and joy to every visit.

Fat Tomato will celebrate Irish craft and design while reflecting my love of travel through its landscape and architecture. I want to create a place where chefs, growers, and eaters can reconnect with the land. Ireland has the potential to reshape how we grow and eat – and Fat Tomato is just one flavour-packed part of that future.

Anything else to add?

Just a heartfelt thank you to everyone who’s been part of this journey – from friends, family, chefs, writers, hospitality experts and seed savers to neighbours who stop by every week to buy my heritage rainbow eggs, veggies and taste something new from the jar and bottle range. 

This project may have taken years to take shape, but an eight-year project has a nice ring to it! And honestly, we’re only just getting started.