Popular Listowel-based café, Lizzy’s Little Kitchen, has grown significantly following its short move to new larger premises on Church Street – previously known as the ‘The Coffee Nook’ – in the thriving North Kerry market town.
Charismatic hometown girl, Lizzy Lyons, (Owner & Head Chef, and a regular contributor to Ireland AM’s cookery slot for the last few years) has made a real name for herself locally for her healthy feel-good brand of home-cooked food and welcoming style of hospitality. Her life as a budding business woman began back in 2015 when she started operating a stall in the Listowel and Ballybunion Farmers’ Markets selling seafood chowder, homemade soup and her signature brown bread. The very next year Lizzy was able to open her first café on Lower William Street and now, thanks to the loyalty and support of the local community, she has been able to relocate her bustling business just down the road, securing her dream premises in the process.
The newly refurbished space on Church Street has indoor seating capacity for twenty diners, and is blessed with a spacious sun-soaked terrace at the rear that can comfortably accommodate as many as sixty guests for outdoor dining – more than double the old café’s capacity. The back section of the al fresco area which includes a covered courtyard is of some historical significance to the town. This is the exact spot where Listowel-born Irish Playwright, Novelist and Short Story Writer, Bryan MacMahon, used to keep his horses when he lived in one of the houses that overlooks Lizzy’s impressive new setup.
And, not only does the new space allow for more diners, upstairs the building also boasts its own accommodation, with a self contained one bedroom apartment, a triple room, a double, and a single (all with en suites), all available for booking – ideal for anyone looking for a base from which to explore ‘The Kingdom’ and all of its popular tourist hotspots. Rates for the newly redecorated rooms start at €80. Room enquiries/bookings can be made by emailing lizzyslittlekitchen@hotmail.com or calling 087 390 7133.
Lizzy’s Breakfast menu, which is served until 12pm, consists a Super Cooked Breakfast that is sure to set you up for the day ahead, a Full Irish Breakfast – two Sausages, a Bacon Rasher, Tomato, Mushrooms, Black & White Pudding, Eggs, Beans, Baby Potatoes, and Homemade Brown Bread – served with your choice of tea or coffee. Diners can also opt for a smaller Mini Breakfast or a Vegan/Vegetarian Breakfast offering that includes Homemade Hummus, Avocado, Spinach, Tomato, Baby Potatoes, Beans, Egg, and Sourdough Toast. Pancakes are topped with Fresh Fruit & Maple Syrup, and Poached Eggs with Avocado and Sweet Chilli Sauce on Homemade Brown Bread is another popular choice. Other healthier options consist of Porridge with Nuts, Fresh Fruit and Coconut Sugar, and a Bircher Muesli with Mixed Berries, Peanut Butter and Candied Nuts.
At lunch (served 12pm – 3pm), visitors to the café can choose from the likes of Homemade Seafood Chowder with Lizzy’s own Brown Bread, a Soup of the Day, and Open Chicken and Salmon Sandwiches. Toasted Sourdough comes topped with Homemade Hummus, Avocado, Tomato and Grilled Halloumi, alongside an Apple Slaw. A mainstay of Lizzy’s menu since she began the business is her Madras Style Chicken Curry with Natural Yoghurt, Homemade Chutney, and a side of Fluffy Rice. And, a visit to The Kingdom wouldn’t be complete with sampling the signature Lamb Tagine. For those looking for something a little lighter during the summer, a House Made selection of Vegetarian Salads like Feta Cheese with Sweet Potato, Avocado, Cherry Tomatoes, Grated Carrots, Peppers, Cucumber, and Candied Nuts on a bed of Organic Greens with Lizzy’s own Pomegranate Dressing (there is an option to add Chicken if you like) makes for a perfect al fresco lunch.
Desserts and sweet treats are baked fresh in-house each morning and making regular appearances on the specials board are Lizzy’s Flourless Chocolate & Almond Cake, Vegan Coconut Rice Pudding, Orange Blossom & Berry Trifle, and Local Apple Sponge Crumble with Homemade Custard – perfect accompaniments to the café’s Badger & Dodo specialty coffees.
As well as having a focus on health, Lizzy’s menus also showcase sustainability with ingredients sourced as locally as possible from some of the county’s best food producers. 100% Irish reared meats are sourced just a few metres down the street from Butchers, Brendan O’Mahoney and Larry Buckley. Sausages and traditional Kerry style black pudding come from Eileen and Thomas Ashe’s award-winning Annascaul Black Pudding Co., and their eggs are supplied by Tournafulla Free Range Eggs in Knock Nadiha. Freshly caught crab comes straight from the Fishermen’s boats in Dingle, fish from Star Seafoods in Kenmare, Leagh Farm in Ballyduff provides Lizzy’s with a variety of different naturally grown vegetables, and freshly picked salads are sourced from Gáirdín Solas (The Kitchen Garden) in Listowel. And, since day one in business, all of Lizzy’s Little Kitchen’s takeaway packaging has been fully compostable and biodegradable.
Commenting on the new move to the new premises, Owner & Head Chef of Lizzy’s Little Kitchen, Lizzy Lyons said: “Our new premises are a dream come true for us and I feel there is a great vibe in here. The support from our local community through a really tough time kept us going. The opportunities are endless with the new location and I know that we have a great future ahead of us here.”
Lizzy’s Little Kitchen is open five days a week, Tuesday to Saturday 9am – 4pm. (Closed on Sundays & Mondays)
About Lizzy’s Little Kitchen
One of Lizzy Lyons’ first forays into professional cooking was a very exciting baptism to say the least. As Catering Manager at Universal Music in London, she regularly rubbed shoulders with stars like Mick Jagger and Lionel Richie. And, it was at Universal that Lizzy was also first exposed to the style of healthy ingredients that now influence her own menus on a daily basis. London is also where she met her now husband and business partner, Arek. When the couple decided to start a family, they chose to return to Ireland and Lizzy’s hometown of Listowel. Having originally begun life serving her homemade brown bread, with a choice of seafood chowder and tomato & mascarpone soup as a market trader in Ballybunion and at the Listowel Farmers’ Market, Lizzy’s Little Kitchen quickly grew legs and opened its first permanent premises in Listowel in 2016 on Lower William Street. Over the past five years the café has built a strong reputation with locals and people visiting Co. Kerry for quality home cooked food using locally grown ingredients. Lizzy’s relaxed style and approach towards food has also struck a chord with TV viewers nationwide over the last three years following her regular guest chef appearances on Virgin Media’s Ireland AM morning show.
