About Móna and Ron

Móna Wise

IRISH by birth and AMERICAN by choice, Galway girl Móna Wise (nee Dempsey) spent 15 years gaining fruitful life and work experience in the United States and also managed to find herself a husband.

Having met and married Ron Wise (aka the chef), in Cincinnati, Ohio and building a lovely home and restaurant together, they decided that it was time to return ‘home’ to Galway once the children were of school-going age.

Settling back into the Irish lifestyle took a little adjusting for the family, but since returning home to Galway in 2007 Móna has not stopped stating the fact that there is no place like home.

Finding herself with a small amount of free time, Móna enrolled in a four year (BA-Connect Degree) course at NUIG studying German, English Literature with a specialism in Creative Writing.

In addition to this undertaking, Wise and her husband are foster parents and have opened their home and hearts to building their family in a very unique way. The couple share the same parenting ethos and are raising their family one plate at a time growing and cooking wholesome, local, fresh and organic food.

Móna and her husband have just begun working on their first cookbook (The Chef & I) depicting their life together and the many wonderful meals they have shared with their friends and family.

Wise lives less than a half mile from where she grew up in Claregalway (to be near her Mum) with her Husband Ron, their children Jack and Rorí, and foster daughters Sam and Lulu, dog Pearl, and 18 hens, ducks and guinea fowl.

Móna can be found hanging out in the following circles:

Twitter @WiseMona
Facebook Mona Wise or WiseWords
Google + MonaZWise@GMail.com

Ron L. Wise

With a degree in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, NY, Ron (aka ‘the Chef’) has always allowed gardening and food to anchor him.

A long career as an executive Chef in Cincinnati, Ohio, it was not until he opened his own place (Rondo’s Restaurant) that Ron began to feel like he was finally making an impact on his customers dining choices.

A founding member of a chef’s and growers collaborative (back in the eighties) Wise has always worked with food that is in season and maintains strong relationships with many of his US farming friends to this day.

After making the big move to Ireland in 2008, it took the Chef a few months to find the right place for him to get back into the swing of things.

These days Ron can be found baking his daily bread at Morton’s of Galway in the mornings and he spends his afternoons taking care of his very large flock of chickens and ducks.

At any given time you will find him building a swing set, or fixing a flat tyre on one of the kids bikes. A baker, a chef, a gardener, for sure, but it is his title ‘Daddy’ that he covets the most.

Ron does not believe in electronic communication so if you want to get in touch with him, best to call by the house in the afternoons when he is at home with the kids.