It Takes Two To Tino’s

Claire & Tino 30JAN18

t’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when Greystones only had two coffee shops…

One was the big and bould Copper Kettle down where Buoy’s Kitchen is now, and the other was Tino’s, a small, tidy and very, very tasty little deli that specialised in, well, being special.

All the pastries and batch loaves were freshly baked that morning, by the man of the house, whilst his good lady wife, Claire, made sure that every single customer got the full gourmet experience.

Even if we didn’t know what the heck gourmet actually meant back in those days.

Yep, snuggled in between Frank Clarke’s Ladies & Gents Hairdressing (did any woman ever actually get a cut there?) and the Greystones Credit Union, Tino’s was an institution. And a damn tasty one at that.

We touched upon the history of Tino’s back in January 2016 – from Augusto Cassoni The Third meeting Claire McGarry at a Greystones Rugby Club dance to their glorious Greystones success – and a recent share on Facebook brought all of the fond memories rushing back for many a Greystonian.

They had the best rolls and cakes ever, reckoned Laurie Linton. Anne Carty Gallagher still isn’t quite over their €4 quiches, hot out of the oven, whilst Louis O’Meara and Dermot Hackett had a bonding moment over their love of Tino’s Chicken Liver Pate. Karen Colbert loved her Saturday treat of a fine French fancy, Jacinta Fisher rated Tino’s her favourite place to go as a child every Friday, Catherine Hughes loved the meringues with extra cream, Barry Dunne their honeycomb, Amanda Hempenstall their baps, and Mary Philpott adored Tino’s almond pies…

Quite a few called for proprietors Tino and Claire to come out of retirement, which, given that they’re now happily retired, surrounded by their four adult kids, Emma, Nicola, Gerard and Killian, and nine grandchildren.

We caught up with Tino and Claire, looking pretty much the exact same as when they hung up their aprons in 2007, after 33 years on Greystones main street, to try and find out the secret recipe to their delectable and delicious deli success story…

You can check out our history of Tino’s here. Historic pics by Peter McNiff.