City Hotel hosting Declan’s annual Christmas dinner extravaganza

“Derry is full of amazing people” said Declan Moore, the owner of Claude’s Café on Shipquay Street, who is in the planning stages of his annual free Christmas day dinner extravaganza. 

“Between the business community and the general public, people have literally been rolling up here, opening their cheque books, giving donations and dropping off Christmas presents,” he smiled.

Declan and his elves have provided free Christmas day dinners for people locally who have needed one, for 20 years or more.

For the past two years, the dinners were delivered to people’s homes due to covid restrictions but this year, Declan said he wanted to bring people together again and have a sense of an occasion around the festive meal again.

“So, this Christmas, we will be hosting our Claude’s annual Christmas day dinner in the City Hotel here,” he said. 

“Covid presented us with a challenge and I would like to acknowledge the Waterfoot Hotel who kindly stepped up last year and said, ’Just take over our kitchen and work away’. 

“Thanks to them and our volunteers, we were able to transport almost 700 dinners to the entire city and beyond. It was a fantastic facility, with great parking. Everything just worked so well. 

“This year, I am very much looking forward to having all of our diners sitting down together again, enjoying a lovely meal and some company, on Christmas afternoon. I am delighted to say, we have now partnered with the City Hotel. We struck up a relationship with their directors and general manager, so, once again, we will just take over a kitchen.

“I am trying to get back this year to the idea of making the dinner more intimate, having  people eating within the hotel, giving them a lovely experience,” said Declan. 

As well as dinner, all of Declan’s guests will receive a small Christmas present.

“There is a lot of logistical work involved in the day,” he laughed, “but this year there is going to be a bigger need for it. People are absolutely struggling all over the place. 

“I want to put the emphasis on people coming to the City Hotel, where we have the capacity for seating 100 to 150 people. We will probably end up doing a delivery service as well, but I would like to think we have come away a wee bit from the delivery side of things, although not entirely.

“In October, I put it out there in the lap of the gods and honestly the phone has not stopped ringing. My daughter Molly has been responsible for the social media side of things. She was telling me things had ‘gone through the roof.’”

Ironically, Declan said his reasons for doing the Christmas day dinners were purely selfish.

He said: “The people who get the most out of the whole day are myself and the volunteers behind the meal!

“I must also acknowledge our food partners, Express Food Service. They are a Claude’s Café supplier and every year I literally lift the phone and say to Gerard, ‘I need 700 turkey and hams’ and they are delivered to wherever I want free of charge. 

“I ring my vegetable supplier, Foyle Chipping and say, ‘I need whatever amount of fruit and vegetables’ and it will be delivered to the City Hotel. I’ll ring Henderson Food Service and they won’t even say, ‘Hello’, it will be’ ‘What do you want?’.

“I can put my hand on my heart and say I will not pay one penny for any amount of food I need,” said Declan.

Declan’s cooking partner in crime is his good friend, Paul McElhinney.

“Paul is one of the best chefs in town,” said Declan. “He has helped us out over a number of years. He knows his way around an industrial kitchen, which we will need because we are cooking for so many people. 

“The whole operation is a 50/50 split with a cousin of mine, Dermott O’Donnell, with whom I work very, very closely. I look after a certain amount  and Dermott is responsible for the rest. In terms of people and volunteers, he is Captain Fantastic  with all his spreadsheets,” grinned Declan, who said, “Without the ingredients of these strategic people, we honestly could not make it work.”

Declan asked if someone is suggesting a person who might want a Christmas day dinner in the City Hotel, to check with the person first. Declan can be contacted through social media.

“We also liaise with all the agencies, such as Age Concern, who are glad of our intervention at this present time.

“It is a privilege for us to work alongside people for  whom this is a 365 day a year job. It is nice that we can give someone a day off or a helping hand or whatever.

“There will be no photographs of the meal posted on social media. I want everyone to feel we are together, having a lovely dinner, in a five star place, overlooking a beautiful city and river.

“So, the stars are aligning. The City Hotel is available, the directors are working hard, we are doing our bit, the derry public is doing their bit. It is overwhelming the kindness. I want to acknowledge every single person in Derry who makes it work every year by doing their wee bit,” he said.

Reiterating that he wants to coax people back out again in a social and enjoyable setting, Declan added: “Perhaps people need to be somewhere on Christmas day, to be engaged and busy. I know I do. So this is a positive benefit of a very enjoyable day. I am also glad my wife, Teresa, is joining me this year, along with my daughters, who have been involved since they were wanes.”

Claude's Café can be contacted HERE.