Corinna Hardgrave was one of Ireland’s best known food writers and restaurant critics, with a career that brought together her love of food, wine, travel and storytelling. Behind that public career was a family life she largely kept away from the spotlight, including her husband, Steve Hardgrave, and their two daughters, Katherine and Isabelle.
Steve was more than simply Corinna’s husband. He shared her enthusiasm for food and was an accomplished cook himself. The couple often enjoyed meals together, and Steve became an important sounding board as Corinna developed her thoughts about restaurants and dishes.
Corinna died on October 5, 2026, at the age of 64 following an illness. Her death prompted tributes from colleagues, chefs and people across Ireland’s food industry. For her family, however, the loss was much more personal. Steve’s tribute offered an emotional glimpse into the woman behind the restaurant reviews, describing the role she eventually held at The Irish Times as her dream job.
Who Was Corinna Hardgrave’s Husband?
Corinna Hardgrave’s husband was Steve Hardgrave. While Corinna built a visible public career in journalism, Steve maintained a considerably lower profile.
The couple’s relationship occasionally appeared in Corinna’s own writing and interviews, particularly when she talked about food. Steve was interested in cooking and restaurants, which made him a natural companion for someone whose professional life revolved around evaluating food.
Corinna once spoke about eating in restaurants with Steve and discussing what they had experienced afterwards. Those conversations gave her another perspective before she turned her thoughts into published work.
There is not a large amount of public information about Steve’s personal or professional background, and that distinction is important. Most of what readers know about him comes through his connection to Corinna and their family life.
Steve Was Her Dining Companion
For Corinna, restaurants were not simply places to visit for work. Food was something she genuinely enjoyed, and Steve shared that interest.
He frequently accompanied her on restaurant visits and could discuss meals with her afterwards. His own ability in the kitchen meant he understood food beyond simply eating it. This made their conversations useful for Corinna, particularly when she was thinking about the strengths and weaknesses of a dish.
Being a restaurant critic can be a solitary form of work. A review eventually carries one person’s name and judgement, even when someone else has shared the meal. In Corinna’s case, Steve could offer an informal second opinion while the final assessment remained hers.
That personal connection also shows how closely food was woven into their everyday family life.
Corinna and Steve Had Two Daughters
Corinna and Steve Hardgrave had two daughters, Katherine and Isabelle.
Their daughters were part of Corinna’s family life, but neither was pushed into the public spotlight. Corinna’s published career focused mainly on food, restaurants, wine and travel, rather than revealing extensive details about her children.
The birth of her first daughter also marked an important period in Corinna’s professional journey. After becoming a mother, she and her family returned to Ireland, and it was around this period that her food writing career began to take shape.
It is an interesting part of her story because her later career became so closely associated with restaurants and food journalism. What started as a new chapter after returning to Ireland eventually developed into decades of professional writing.
How Corinna Began Her Food Writing Career
Corinna did not begin her working life as a restaurant critic.
Her early career included working with Guinness, followed by a period in the Middle East where she worked as a flight attendant. She later became involved in promotion, public relations and marketing and also spent time living and working in England.
These experiences gave her a broad professional background before she found her strongest voice in food and travel writing.
After returning to Ireland following the birth of her first daughter, Corinna moved increasingly toward food journalism. Her background in communication and marketing proved useful because food writing requires more than knowing whether a meal tastes good. It also involves interviewing people, researching stories, understanding audiences and turning experiences into engaging copy.
Over time, food became much more than an interest. It became the central theme of her professional life.
Her Career at The Irish Times
Corinna became the restaurant critic for The Irish Times in 2020, a position that represented a major milestone in her career.
She had already established herself as a respected food and wine writer before taking the role. Her earlier work included wine writing for the Irish Independent, food writing for the Sunday Times, and restaurant and wine coverage for Irish Tatler.
She also edited the Eat Out restaurant guide and contributed food and travel writing to several publications.
Her work reached beyond Ireland as well. She wrote for international publications and interviewed respected figures in the global food world. Among those she spoke with were chefs and food writers such as Ferran Adrià, Alice Waters, Madhur Jaffrey and Yotam Ottolenghi.
That experience helped shape the thoughtful approach she brought to restaurant criticism.
Corinna Was Also a Wine Expert
Food was only one part of Corinna’s professional expertise. She also had extensive knowledge of wine.
She held a WSET Diploma in Wine & Spirits and worked as an international wine judge. She hosted wine dinners and tastings and was involved in wine education.
Her knowledge of wine added another layer to her restaurant writing. She could consider not only the food on a plate, but also how a restaurant approached wine, service and the overall dining experience.
Corinna’s career therefore covered several areas at once. She was a food writer, restaurant critic, wine specialist, travel writer and experienced communications professional.
What Made Her Restaurant Reviews Stand Out?
Corinna’s approach to restaurant criticism was not simply about expensive ingredients or fashionable dining rooms.
She paid attention to the quality of cooking, ingredients, value and the atmosphere of a restaurant. She appreciated confident food and understood that restraint can sometimes be more effective than adding unnecessary elements to a dish.
She also had an interest in sustainability, local producers and responsible choices within the food industry.
Her writing could therefore give readers more than a simple verdict. It could help them understand what made a restaurant worth visiting and what they might expect when they arrived.
Steve’s Tribute After Her Death
Corinna Hardgrave died on October 5, 2026, aged 64, following an illness.
Her death was met with sadness across Ireland’s food and journalism communities. Colleagues and chefs remembered her knowledge, fairness, enthusiasm and support for the country’s restaurant industry.
Steve’s tribute was particularly meaningful because he knew the person behind the professional reputation.
He remembered Corinna’s work as a restaurant critic as her absolute dream job. That description captured something important about her career. After years of writing, working with food and wine, travelling and building her knowledge, she eventually reached a position that brought together the things she loved most.
For readers, Corinna was a critic whose work appeared in a newspaper. For Steve and their daughters, she was a wife and mother whose passion for food was part of everyday life.
Corinna Hardgrave’s Family Life Away From the Spotlight
Despite her public career, Corinna did not make her family the centre of her media presence.
Her professional reputation was built on her own work, while Steve and their daughters remained largely private. Still, the small details she shared about Steve showed that food was something they enjoyed together.
That makes the story of their relationship especially fitting. Her husband was not simply someone standing behind a successful writer. He was also someone who understood her enthusiasm for cooking, restaurants and dining.
Their shared interest gave Corinna a companion with whom she could talk about the very subject that shaped her career.
Corinna Hardgrave’s Legacy
Corinna’s legacy extends well beyond her time as The Irish Times restaurant critic.
She spent years building knowledge across food, wine, travel, marketing and journalism. She helped readers discover restaurants, understand food trends and appreciate the people working behind the scenes.
Her awards for food and restaurant writing further reflected the quality of her work. She was recognised for her food writing in 2021 and restaurant writing in 2022, while her restaurant criticism continued to receive recognition later in her career.
Yet perhaps the most revealing description of her work came from Steve, who saw the restaurant critic role as the culmination of her passion.
Final Thoughts on Corinna Hardgrave’s Husband and Family
Corinna Hardgrave’s husband was Steve Hardgrave, a man who shared her love of food and regularly joined her for meals and restaurant experiences. Together they had two daughters, Katherine and Isabelle.
While Steve kept a low public profile, his connection to Corinna’s career was clear through the stories she shared about their dining experiences. He understood her enthusiasm for food and was someone with whom she could discuss the meals she encountered.
Corinna’s death at 64 marked the end of a remarkable career in Irish food journalism. She left behind not only a body of restaurant criticism and food writing, but also a family who knew the person behind the byline.
For Steve and their daughters, her legacy is undoubtedly much more personal. She was a wife, mother, writer and passionate lover of food whose dream job eventually allowed her to bring all those interests together.