Last Friday, after battling illness for a number of months, the chef and food writer Paolo Tullio passed away at the age of 65.
For five years every Thursday, he appeared live in studio with Newstalk presenter Sean Moncrieff – ostensibly to talk about food, but more often than not exploring countless other topics given his passion for just about everything.
On today’s Moncrieff, the show paid tribute to the Michelin-starred chef, whose warmth and charm were an immediate fixture from his first appearances on the radio right through to his last. As Sean explained, Paolo would enter the studio during the commercial break, turn to him and say in a grand Italian accent, “Mr Moncrieff, how was your week?”
The two broadcasters would then dive right into a lengthy conversation about life and food, often unaware that their microphones had gone live as the programme came back on air. For many people – and for Paolo as well – the Thursday food slot was the beginning of the weekend.“Paolo would arrive up at reception on the 5th floor,” Sean said today, “And then flirt his way down the two floors, and then flirt with every woman until he got in here. I think if he was to write his own funeral rites, he’s had a raft of mysterious glamorous women weeping at the back of the spot where the funeral takes place.”
Paolo, who moved to Ireland to study at Trinity College, had such a rapport with Sean that many listeners have offered condolences and their sympathies to the presenter, as well as to the show’s producer Caroline Clarke and the researchers. Many contacted the show to express how fondly they enjoyed Paolo’s segment, and how much they were going to miss him.
Mark in Cork wrote, “I have never sent a text nor email to a radio station before, but tonight I was so sorry to hear of the passing of Paolo. I really loved his broadcasts every Thursday and I knew from the tenor of every broadcast that you all loved having him on. I am so sad and will miss him dearly. I know little of cuisine, but after each interview I felt that anyone could be a pro.”
“He taught and encouraged a 50-year-old kitchen moron (me!) to at least try and cook!”, wrote Niall. “All by his simple, seductive, commonsense talk that made you want to at least try what he had suggested. Above and beyond all that Paolo was a peerless raconteur. I recall his wonderful, evocative descriptions of how a ‘simple’ picnic in his part of Italy where a six-course, eight-hour sojourn near a mountain stream was a basic affair.”
Paul McGuinness, the former U2 manager and a close friend of Paolo for almost 50 years, recalled fondly how he first met the gold-lamé cape-wearing eccentric at Trinity, where Paolo was gifted actor and writer – occasionally under the penname Denis Oddfinger. In this clip, McGuinness describes Paolo’s many talents during his university days:Tom Doorley, a close friend of Paolo’s from their work as food critics and on The Restaurant, came into studio to talk to Sean, where he also praised Paolo’s writing, and how he always championed chefs and cooking instead of roasting them over a critical fire:Of course, by approaching his critique of restaurants around the country with a glass-half-full attitude, Paolo’s frustrations would need to find another release, and as Doorley and Moncrieff spoke, they remembered Paolo’s ferocious fury at anyone daring to add cream to a Carbonara – amongst other Irish butcherings of la dolce vita:Paolo’s five years as a contributor to Moncrieff were seasoned with so many moments displaying his wit and wisdom, and his sheer knowledge of food and how to approach it were unrivalled. Listeners would write in to the show seeking answers on everything to do with cuisine and how to consume it, and there was no subject that Paolo could not find an inventive and unexpected answer to – such as how to daintily eat pasta:The food slot on Moncrieff takes place every Thursday at 3pm, and over the weekend, the production team here grappled with how to approach the segment.
“We were wondering should we do it? Is it crass? Should we just do something to do with Paolo instead?” Sean said on air today, before adding: “And then we heard the funeral was on this Thursday at 3 o’clock, so I don’t know if there is some mysterious power at work there.”
Paolo Tullio will be greatly missed by everyone at Newstalk, and forever fondly remembered by the whole Moncrieff team. He was an essential ingredient to the show for five years, and has added some real flavour to all our lives for many more to come.
And all of us here remind you to not feel too sad, for Paolo never cared to be too grim:
