In late 2005 Fiona McHugh gave Irish Times food critic Catherine Cleary a behind the scenes view of her vision for Fallon & Byrne, located in an old Victorian era telephone exchange from 11 to 17 Exchequer Street.  In a vast empty building covered in dust she shared her “love, passion and dreams”. McHugh, a former editor of The Sunday Times in Ireland, was preparing to plough everything into a Manhattan-style food store, cafe and restaurant modelled on Dean & Deluca in SoHo. McHugh and her husband Paul Byrne, a developer, had often fantasised about creating a similar retail and…

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