So, it turns out Irish Country Living is perched in Bono’s favourite seat in Select Stores – and as we suspect that this is as close as we’ll ever get to the U2 frontman, we’ll make the most of it.

But you never know who you might bump in to in the family-run whole food shop, kitchen and deli in Dalkey; Hollywood heartthrob Josh Hartnett or Bond girl Eva Green popping in from Ardmore Studios for a smoothie fix, the stars of Vikings, director Neil Jordan – though one of the most famous neighbours has remained elusive.

“We never see Enya,” laughs Oliver McCabe, whose own star is on the rise with the release of The Fuel Food Cookbook, which boasts a foreword by nutrition guru Patrick Holford, as well as journalist – and long time customer – Robert Fisk, who recalls the days when the corner shop sold heads of cabbage, oil and peat as opposed to Bircher muesli, super-detox smoothies or millet mega protein burgers.

But Oliver is on a mission to make healthy eating easier for families all over Ireland – not for him expensive gadgets like the Nutribullet, or extreme diets like the paleo plan – and over the next three weeks, he will share some of his favourite recipes with Irish Country Living.

“I just don’t like seeing people afraid of food,” he explains.

The Fuel Food Cookbook is dedicated to Oliver’s parents, Paddy and Margaret, who were from Cavan but set themselves up in the greengrocer’s on the corner of Railway Road in 1959 and gradually extended by buying the butcher’s and wine shop on either side, selling everything from fresh fruit to fuel.

“They did turkeys and bikes and moss peat – it was the real deal,” says Oliver.

One of Oliver’s earliest memories is accompanying his father on his delivery rounds, but he was only four when Paddy passed away after a sudden illness. With five children under 14, Margaret not only had to raise a young family single-handedly, but also had to take charge of the business.

“She had to come in here straight after the funeral and had to teach herself how to drive – she would have had to pick up on the book work,” recalls Oliver, adding that after a day’s work she would put a three-course meal on the table.

Little wonder where he got his own work ethic from, earning his own money from 15 as a lounge boy and serving stints in restaurants and hotels before going to Australia in the late ’90s, where he worked with celebrity chef Neil Perry and first encountered the type of “lifestyle” health shops that would later influence his family business.

Not that it was easy. When Oliver came home in 2001 so his mother could retire, he found that while the fuel department run by his older brother Leo was keeping the business afloat, the shop itself needed TLC.

To get people talking, he put up a mirror in the window one day with a sign saying “Look at yourself” and information on what fruit and veg to eat for healthy hair or shiny eyes.

“People thought I was insane,” he laughs.

With bigger plans in mind, however, he convinced his family to take a chance and in 2004 he gutted the shop, installed a juice bar and coffee machine and started stocking whole foods like nuts and seeds and pulses, as well as serving healthy wraps, pitas, soups and stews.

To further his knowledge, Oliver also studied for his diploma in diet and nutrition.

Sadly, he encountered a major stumbling block in 2008 when his mother suffered a stroke and passed away in 2012 – the stress of which took not only an emotional toll, but a physical one.

“That’s when I let go of myself because I was distraught,” Oliver says. “I put on three stone, I didn’t exercise, I over ate, I drank.”

The situation came to a head when, while giving a talk on sports nutrition at a local school, a parent informed him that somebody said he should not be giving advice when he was overweight himself.

“And that struck home,” he recalls.

However, around the same time, a friend suggested he try a zumba class, as he had loved dancing as a child.

“And I became happy again,” he says simply. “I just got into healthy eating and a lot of recipes would have come from that time.

“There’s very few people in the health business or nutrition area that can say that they suffered themselves. I’ve been there myself and I can connect with people; and especially from a male perspective and going through bereavement.”

That dark period in Oliver’s life ultimately inspired the Fuel Food deli and kitchen as part of the refurbishment at Select Stores in 2015, as well as the newly released cook book with Mercier Press, which he hopes will find a home not only in family kitchens but also with cafe and restaurant owners around Ireland.

“They can pop it into their HSAP plan and they can have it in their healthy menu,” he says, explaining that each recipe is accompanied by nutritional information as well as a list of allergens.

“There’s 130 recipes so they have a lot to choose from.”

And as Select Stores looks ahead to almost 60 years in business, it’s in rude health, with four of the five McCabe siblings involved: Oliver as general manager, Leo as owner and over the fuel department, Mairead in charge of stock and dealing with suppliers and Hillary in the “Fuel Food” kitchen.

“The Osbornes,” quips Oliver, who says that working as a family requires clear communication and defined roles.

“Especially with the refurbishment and what we were getting ourselves into. We just had major meetings. ‘Are we going ahead with this? Yes or no.’ We had to get our roles defined, we had to get our departments defined. We couldn’t be seeing each other as brothers and sisters or as ‘the baby’ – everyone had their role.

“That all had to be defined; and then everybody moves on.”

And no doubt Paddy and Margaret would be proud as their youngest son brings their little corner shop to a whole new audience.

“They’re on my shoulders,” smiles Oliver. “I have their pamphlet in my back pocket from their anniversary mass and I’m going to keep it with me throughout this experience and I’m going to enjoy it. I just want to enjoy every second.”

Select Stores, 1 Railway Road, Dalkey, Co Dublin. Tel: 01-285-9611. Web: www.selectstores.ie