Our Story
of Falling in Love
“The warm kitchen is my passion and the nature that surrounds Denmark is one of my loves” …
Having grown up in Ireland in a small country town, sitting at my parents table night after night eating traditional Irish fare it was against all odds that I would decide to make my name in the kitchen.I studied and trained in Ireland and was privileged to work as Executive Chef in some of the most esteemed establishments across Europe.
On returning to Dublin to work, I met my wife Jacqueline who was at the time on a working holiday herself.
We had our son Hamish in Ireland and made the decision to move to Jacqueline’s native country Australia. With our young son in tow we packed up and made the move, first working in Perth and the Swan Valley at some of the best fine dining and wedding venues on offer, then after a fateful return trip to Denmark where we had previously spent our honeymoon – we again made the decision to move and make a new life in the country. For our little family, country life makes perfect sense, a beautiful environment to raise our Hamish as Hamish is autistic, non-verbal and with the love + support that surrounds us in this beautiful town, this is the ideal home to offer Hamish the best the world offers….. and Hamish is ‘our’ world.
It was a natural decision given my career as an Executive Chef and Jacqueline’s strong background in event planning and hospitality management to open our own fine dining restaurant and wedding venue in Denmark. We are grateful for the prestigious awards and accolades that our restaurant brought to our name; #1 venue on TripAdvisor in Denmark for 4+ years, multiple Savour regional, state + national awards and a gold plate later, we decided that having a restaurant was not giving us the freedom we needed if we were to meet the special needs of our unique family. This led to the closing of our restaurant and our new exciting move towards concentrating on weddings in The Great Southern and our couples.
We have created Kirby’s Catering Denmark. It is a way of addressing a need in the area for quality Chef created weddings. Ours is a unique take on what we feel weddings should be. We believe in fine food, dressed down for comfort and enjoyed over full-belly laughs; hands wrapped around wine glasses, without a single glance at your phone. If LOVE was edible, this is what it would taste like. Our menu is brimming with more South West local produce than a roadside honesty box, and executed with a Michelin-star kitchen pedigree, minus the pretence. It’s quality fare that’s made to be shared with the ones you love, set against the backdrop of Denmark, Western Australia. The other thing we Kirby’s do, is look after you. We enjoy creating special seamless celebrations, we enjoy celebrating love and we believe all love is equal, love is love. Jacqueline and I enjoy what we do, and our experience comes to the fore at times such as this – a lot is taken care of for you by us and our team. Our managers, sous chefs and wait staff are on the same page as us to deliver you the seamless day you will be expecting. It’s not just one person attempting to pull it all together – our team is like an orchestra that provides each component to complete the whole. Because we are unified, we can meet your expectations. We know and rely on each other. Your meal has been prepared by myself and my sous chefs, not caterers – it’s personal and you can trust that the day will go well – the food will be beautiful, the environment is beautiful, the bride is beautiful and so is the wine from some of Denmark’s finest vineyards. A happy, successful outcome is our only focus on your wedding down south in ‘The Great Southern’. Denmark may draw you close from past memories of childhood visits or be set to create memories for the first time; we welcome the opportunity to play apart in the new memories and oh what a journey we will have together bringing your vision in to reality…… Frederick, Jacqueline and Hamish x