With restaurants opening around the country weekly, if a reviewer had a mind to it, he could go to two or three gala openings a week. A gala opening - if it needs an explanation - is when a PR company invites as many people as it can to the event whose photograph might appeal to a picture editor, and thus ensure publicity for the neonate restaurant. As a rule I decline these invitations, I prefer to go to the restaurant on a normal night to see what it has to offer, but this week an invitation arrived in the post that looked so interesting, I decided to accept.

Brasserie Orange has arrived in Waterford City with a bang. Chef proprietor Guy Kellner has had an extraordinary career himself, but for the opening of his brasserie he arranged not just one night, but four - each one hosted by world class chef. The first night had chef Jean-Louis Dumonet, who got his Michelin star in London's Ninety Park Avenue. Now he's running the restaurant that bears his name at The Carlyle in New York city. The second night had Victor Broceaux, a Basque grand master with over forty years of experience, including the restaurant at New York's Four Seasons and the Rockefeller Center. Night three showcased the skills of Laurent Gras, a chef who earned his three Michelin stars in Alain Ducasse's Louis Quinze in Monte Carlo and Robichon in Paris. The last night was Conrad Gallagher's night, over from South Africa where he currently oversees 17 restaurants for Sun Hotels. I looked down this stellar list of luminaries and thought that this was one gala event I was definitely going to attend. With chefs like that, good food was going to be virtual certainty. I called my friend Ciara Cronin, who is normally very busy running her yoga classes at yoga.ie, but she was free on the Thursday night, which meant that we would be fed by Victor Broceaux.

Brasserie Orange is in an old barracks that used to be Dwyer's, a restaurant that served Waterford from 1989 until recently. The building has been completely revamped once again, this time with a very, smart modern look. Part of the ceiling has been removed, so that a large part of the dining room has two storeys of height. There is still an upstairs, much smaller now, with a few tables and a comfortable seating area that acts as an overflow. The tables are elegantly set with good napery and cutlery, everything looks carefully chosen and expensive. The most striking feature of downstairs is the completely open kitchen, so open that you almost feel you're sitting in an extension of it. Ciara and I were seated right in front of it, and so were able to see everything that was happening in a surprisingly calm kitchen, given that seventy-five people were dining. Apart from Victor Broceaux, his two sous chefs for the night were Jean-Louis and Laurent, which meant that for this meal three truly great chefs were in the kitchen, while Guy Kellner, the proprietor, did the front of house.

We found ourselves sitting next to Eric Theze, the head chef from the excellent Faithlegg House, who was there with his wife Christine having a busman's holiday - obviously a night like this was going to have every gastronome in Waterford County somewhere in the room. The menu was a set dinner, priced at €75, the profits from the night going to The Garter Lane Arts Centre. It began with a dish that reflected Victor's Iberian roots, an almond milk gazpacho. This really was an extraordinary dish, which was served with an apricot pastilla and three green grapes. The combination of flavours was truly exciting - a great dish. Next came the Cod Fish Salad, a daintily presented dish with asparagus tips, an asparagus emulsion and a drizzle of truffle oil.

It was at this point that Ciara remarked that we seemed to be getting a really carefully designed meal, high in protein and greens that is typical of Pacific Rim cooking. Nutrition is something she takes seriously, as a yoga instructor she needs to not just look fit and supple, but actually to be healthy as well. She had a point: the next course was Fish Soup Suquet, again a dainty assemblage of prawns, monkfish and a dash of aioli for flavouring. I could happily have gone on eating these light fish courses, but the next one was duck breast, served with caramelised pears and a corn cake. Now there's not much more simple than a corn cake in this world, but this one had everyone that I spoke to in the restaurant enthusing, including Ciara, Eric and Christine.

A deceptively simple mango salad with a red berry granita was the last course - my heart went out to whoever had to slice mangoes for 75 people into perfectly sized slivers. Exquisite chocolate truffles ended the meal along with our coffees.

This is clearly not a meal that you'll be able to get again, but the same serving team and the kitchen team will be there from now on - minus of course the stellar chefs. The brasserie menu is simple and keenly priced: starters are all under €10 and the most expensive main course is €23. A simple and reasonably priced wine list accompanies the menu. Brasserie Orange is a fine addition to Waterford's gastronomic rinascimento.