Conrad Gallagher

Conrad Gallagher was born March 12, 1971, in Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland, just six days before Saint Patrick’s Day, which may explain why he isn’t considered a Saint. His formal education began at Scoil Colmcille, St Euman’s College and ended at Killybegs Catering College. He apprenticed with several of Ireland’s best chefs before moving to the United States to attend New York University’s Culinary Arts program, and at the same time he worked at a little restaurant in Queens. He then landed a job as chef de partie at the Plaza Hotel, working his way up the kitchen ranks to be the youngest sous chef under Chef Henri Raub. In 1993, he accepted the position of sous chef at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria’s Peacock Alley under Chef Laurent Manrique, where he would later meet Great Chef Alain Ducasse. Two years later, he left to work in Le Cirque, and also in Restaurant Daniel under Great Chef Daniel Boulud. On Saint Patrick’s Day 1996, he cooked for President Bill Clinton at the White House. In 1997, Chef Ducasse offered him a one year contract to work at his Hôtel de Paris in Monte-Carlo.

In 1998, he returned to Dublin to open Peacock Alley (no connection to the Waldorf’s Peacock Alley). After being moved to larger premises twice, he finally was at home in the Fitzwilliam Hotel on St. Stephen’s Green. After winning his first Michelin star, the Great Chefs team showed up at Peacock Alley in May of 1999 to tape Chef Conrad for the Discovery Channel’s Great Chefs of the World television series.

In 2002 he won another star, but clouds were forming, and under financial and legal pressure, he closed and moved back to New York City with his American wife. In 2004 he moved to South Africa to consult for Sun International Group operating several restaurants, which eventually failed, then he and his family moved back to Ireland in 2009 to open another restaurant. That too failed, and he moved back to the United States, this time to Las Vegas to open a gourmet burger restaurant, but after 3 months he closed it and moved to Costa Mesa, California in 2014 to open a catering company.

In 2015 Conrad moved to Doha Qatar to take up a position as corporate chef for Aura hospitality where he was instrumental in developing the company’s 32 brands, and in 2016 he was made managing director, and in 2017, the CEO.

Food Concepts 360 established in 2017 and headquartered in Qatar and South Africa and has evolved over the years to become one of the leading hospitality companies across the region, offering comprehensive end-to-end solutions and proven expertise in restaurant concept development, restaurant management of outlets across the wider Middle East and Africa. With its industrywide experience in just a short span of time, Food Concepts 360 has successfully launched over 10 Food & Beverage concepts and unveiled over 16 outlets across the world. From modest beginnings to the present, Food Concepts 360 has developed, deployed and implemented innovative concepts backed by its team of industry experts who possess over two decades of experience in the domain across the globe.