The Dublin foodie

A Northwest Foodie Road Trip: Part III

2011-06-09T08:49:00.001-07:00

The Epic Feast at VM (Viewmount House, Co Longford)

Stepping inside we were greeted by one half of the Viewmount House team, Beryl Kearney, who owns and runs the place with her husband James. Her manner, like her Georgian guesthouse, is full of warmth and pretension-less ease. We were welcomed and seated in the cosy reception area, where Beryl entertained us like the kind aunt of some students who’d just come home from a school trip and were chattering away about their adventures. Then we ordered another bottle of prosecco – this time a pink one – and settled in to work through the menus set before us.

We were in no rush. As we discussed the promising options we noted that four is really the optimum number for a party such as ours. As was the case in most of our previous dining experiences, we resolved to order every single dish to share – with four you get to try most of the menu and the group is neat enough to share around without too much hassle (or without the risk of any dish getting hogged by some person in an advantageous corner of the table). We have few rules on the foodie road trip, except the golden two: every one eats everything and everyone shares everything. Failure to comply with the latter especially will result in food mugging followed by expulsion.

No fear of that with our group of foodies thankfully, and we all looked forward to the meal ahead as we were led into the expansive stylish yet rustic dining room (a clash of modern furnishings with exposed stone walls and wooden roof beams). We were seated by a window with a view of the front garden – a rabbit actually frolicked by just as we were admiring the scene (perhaps bribed by the house with a bag of acorns, although that’s probably unlikely). Then without much delay, a pre-appetiser of mini quail burgers was brought out.

Inside the little slider, the nugget of quail meat was tender and succulent, while the other fillings, including caramelised onion and fresh rocket, were delicious and apt in their gourmet burger-ness. The toasted bun was just right, not too dense, and the accompanying tomberries and balsamic reduction on the plate gave a refreshing zing at the end. We scoffed them, and then wanted more.

As we awaited our starter, the server advised us not to eat too much of the fresh baked bread he’d just put in front of us, considering the number of courses we were about to consume. Not ones for restraint, however, we finished off the Guinness and treacle, olive focaccia, and French baguette with the cherry pepper hummus dip accompanying them, and then found ourselves asking him for more. I pity the fool who tells us to stop eating!

Then came the starters: (1) Lissadell mussels with ‘Asian Junction Green Curry Coconut Broth’ (with shiitake mushroom, pineapple, scallion and coriander); (2) ‘Anise Orange Cured Thornhill Duck Leg Confit’ (with beetroot, mushroom, tarragon and sherry ragout); (3) ‘Wonton of Slow Cooked Donald Russell Beef Cheek’ (with Yorke's Swede, butternut squash, onion jam, ratatouille and pickled cucumber); and (4) the glorious ‘Tasting Plate of Irish Pudding and Rare Breed Pork’ (Jane Russell's black & Clonakility white pudding terrine, manuka-glazed rare breed pork cheek, pulled shoulder confit, and vegetable spring roll).

You may probably guess, as we rotated the dishes about the table with the precision of structural engineers, that the pork plate was the big crowd pleaser. Unctuous ribbons of tender meat in mellifluous culinary fallalery …I realise this is flouncier food writer tosh than I normally commit to paper (or screen), but I’m struggling to communicate the deliciousness of this pork dish without resorting to such loquacity. It was freakin’ amazing tasting, okay! Likewise the duck, while not the celebrity that pork has become these days, was equally delicious as it did it’s own thing. Rich gamey leg meat which was enveloped in the mouth by a pleasing balance of earthy and sweet flavours, all comforting and hearty. The beef cheek wonton was another goodie, with umami and sweetness reminiscent of the quail burger (sooooo good) with an added twang of acidity. Finally the mussels – which struggled to get a look in next to the meat dishes (lets face it, meat rocks) – were, of course, also beautiful to eat, with flavours that were delicate yet individual and interesting and made you keep digging until the very last bite was gone.

Second course in and we were reveling in pure satisfaction. The foodie equivalent of wanting to light up after a mouthgasm (as Ed Hick would say …love that man). The plates were cleared and we sat smiling stupidly at each other – I think I hallucinated another rabbit in the window – and we waited for our ‘middle courses.’

We ate more bread.

So, on to round three and out arrived our ‘Taste of the Midlands Salad’ (containing O’Halleran’s free range egg, spinach leaves, Kelly’s organic soft cheese (as in the Moonshine Dairy), Rogan’s whiskey oak-smoked bacon, capers, herbs from the Viewmount garden (as seen earlier in Gary O’Hanlon’s hand, fresh from said garden), red onion, red wine vinaigrette, and roast pear). Times two. Also arriving for our delectation was a very special chicken and sweet corn soup, prepared using the early sweet corn from local Carrickboy grower David Burn (whose produce is showcased in Chapter One’s legendary sweet corn soup and is much vaunted by fellow advocate Ross Lewis). Soup was also times two.

The salad was fragrant and beautiful to look at and eat, bringing to mind the artistry we’d seen at Kai in Galway earlier that day. It was the kind of dish that could be used as a billboard for Irish tourism – a real reminder of how far Irish gastronomy has come and an example of how lucky we are in this country in terms of everything we have on our own doorstep. The soup, on the other hand, was pure comfort and deliciousness. While the salad eaters were waxing lyrical about its beauty and freshness, the soup eaters were making non-verbal sounds, head down and not handing it over. It was meaty and sweet and rich (probably quite fattening) and just gorgeous to eat. You could happily guzzle a big bowl of it for a meal – dangerously good stuff.

Mutiple mouthgasms (Hick, 2011). At this point, our waiter announced that chef was treating us to some special palate cleansers, and within a short while some jewel like little pots of vibrant pinky red rhubarb jelly topped with Moonshine Dairy organic natural yoghurt appeared. We were instructed to make sure to eat both together, as the rhubarb was too sweet and the yoghurt to sour to eat solo, while together they made a perfect combo. This was sound advice. Yummy. Also delivered were two bouls of mojito sorbet, each topped with a purple sprig of mint from the garden. The consensus quickly reached was that it was good mojito, frozen or not.

After the cleansing reprieve, we resumed course on our culinary extravaganza and eagerly awaited the mains, even though we may have been feeling a touch full at this stage (not enough, naturally, to slow down the expedition to the top of mount glutton). For round four, we received: (1) ‘Finnebrogue Farm Oisin Venison Saddle’ (with candied Yorke's Swede, red wine celeriac, and Valrhona chocolate berry sauce); (2) ‘Raz el Hanout rubbed Roscommon Spring Lamb Rack (with curried celeriac remoulade, kromeski (croquet) of lamb shoulder and natural yoghurt); (3) ‘Mapel Manuka-glazed Thornhill Duck Breast’ (with beetroot confit, roast butternut squash, parsnip and swede, and garlic pureé); and finally, (4) some perfectly baked Donegal Coast plaice (with a ‘spaghetti of vegetables, Clogherhead prawns, crayfish and lough Swilly crab, in coriander lime broth).

I’m almost out of language to describe the food by now – also the memory of it as I sit here writing about in detail is making me very hungry. Once again, all was delicious. The venison was especially successful – although one of our group wasn’t as partial to the ubiquitous truffle oil which had been dotted about the plate, and also added to the large gourmet potato croquets which came as a side (along with finger-licklingly buttery mash and some al dente seasonal veggies). To others it was pleasing though. The duck was perfectly pink and butter-like as the knife went through, and very attractively adorned by delicate little spears of wild asparagus and minimalist-looking root veg. The lamb was also well-received, its interesting North African spice blend a welcome wake-up from the brink of food coma. While the fish, with its delicate seafood and complimentary vegetable and herb flavours, was like a breath of fresh sea air.

I’ve talked so much food, I imaging it’s hard to take in any more description, so feast you eyes on the pictures instead on my Facebook page. Eat a thousand calories from these pictures, or however that saying goes.

You might think we’d be too stuffed to eat anything else after all that, and you’d be correct. That didn’t stop us, however, having no less than FIVE desserts! I know, I we should be ashamed… but we’re not. After a break, the kitchen sent out: a very decadent chocolate dessert which consisted of a cylindrical dark chocolate casing containing a chocolate, Kaluah and espresso genache with a chocolate sorbet; an assortment of house-made sorbets (mango and blueberry) and vanilla ice cream; a green tea crème bruleé; an utterly moreish passion fruit parfait; and a sweet little rhubarb tart (in perfect puff pastry) with vanilla ice cream. All thanks to pastry chef Sammy who’s been at VM since it opened three years ago.

I am now officially out of food writing words. Suffice to say, in spite of how full we were on finishing off the mains, we left nothing of the desserts. At this point though we were well and truly stuffed. When the pots of peppermint tea and pretty little petits fours arrived, we could only manage a nibble of the macarons (crisp to the tooth, then meltingly soft on the inside) and handmade chocolate truffles (also divine).

Now prepare yourself readers for the biggest shock of all: the dinner menu at VM costs only €58 per head! And €53 if you leave out the dessert course, which in our case was total over indulgence. The wine list is ample, well thought out and reasonably priced, and the early bird is only €35!!

This is why I say VM was the ‘pièce de résistance’ of our journey. It epitomises the excellence and value of Irish food at its best – something we can be so proud of and should be boasting about as far and wide as we can. Likewise Beryl and James Kearney in Viewmount House (and Alan Rooks and Brigene Clafferty in Linsfort Castle) are quietly providing the kind of hospitality you couldn’t get anywhere else. Uniquely ours, worth every reasonable penny and then some, and worth the schlep to these places less visited in our lovely country. So my wish is that other people will read this blog and follow our road trip. You won’t be sorry, you just won’t want to go home.

A Northwest Foodie Road Trip: Part II

2011-06-09T08:31:00.000-07:00

TUESDAY: A surprise in Sligo, a mad one in Galway, and a feast to remember at VM

Onto day three and we couldn’t believe it was time to leave Inishowen already. And seeing as we had a bit of a journey ahead of us, we prepared a hearty breakfast of scrambled free range eggs (fresh from Wexford Lad’s farm), with some generous slabs of Jack McCarthy’s black pudding (as in McCarthy’s of Kanturk, Co Cork, naturally) and thick toasted white batch with butter. Not the healthiest start to the day, but we made up for that by also having some natural yoghurt with honey and some fresh Wexford strawberries (also courtesy of the Wexford Lad, of course), which was full of healthy stuff.

With the car loaded up, we said goodbye to Dunree and Inishowen and headed south for Co Sligo. From here our plan was quite loose, so it wasn’t until somewhere between Ballyshannon and Bundoran that we reached the decision to stop in Sligo town – primarily to pay a visit to a friend of Clonakilty Lass who owns a little café called Grappa in the town centre, but also to have a bit of snoop about for whatever else looked good. After around two and a half hours or so on the road, we pulled up by the Garavogue River and sauntered down Rockwood Parade towards the café.

Then all of a sudden, to our absolute amazement, we were looking at Conrad Gallagher’s mug, grinning out from a studio photograph decorating what appeared to be the wall of a brand new bistro. Everyone had heard that the twice Michelin-starred chef had closed his fancy new tasting restaurant in Sligo after less than a year (amid yet more rumours and controversy, which seems to follow the big fella everywhere he goes), so you coulda knocked me down with a feather as I stood looking at this ‘Conrad’s Kitchen,’ seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Had I missed something?? In the midst of final exams and whatnot had I lost touch with the movings and shakings of even the big name chefs like Gallagher? Morto!

Thankfully a quick text to the man himself confirmed that this bistro had in fact just opened the day before – quietly. I was relieved to learn that I hadn’t missed out that bit of news, and actually found it very funny that there had been an attempted ‘quite opening’ by our most famous chef only to have a critic randomly pass by the front door the next day – hate that!

After a coffee and a gossip in neighbouring Grappa – which incidentally is a sweet little café and very attentive to the needs of coeliacs, just FYI – my nosiness got the better of me and we all barrelled into Conrad’s new place for a go. It still smelled like paint and the staff looked almost confused to see us …I must add, their bewilderment might have had something to do with the fact that I’d just let chef Gallagher know I was about to break and enter. A mean thing to do to a place just open a day, but how often do I get to Sligo?

Well, welcome disruption or not we were shown to a good-sized round table in the corner where we could take in the floor. Other diners across the restaurant were chatting and receiving what looked like fairly decent portions of food, so we wound in our necks and paid attention to the menu. I recognised a lot of the dishes, being a fan of Salon des Saveurs (Conrad’s tasting restaurant in Dublin), and was curious to see how they’d be done in the bistro. The à la carte was divided into ‘smaller dishes,’ ‘larger dishes,’ ‘sides,’ ‘pizzas,’ and ‘puddings,’ the idea I suppose being that you can eat as much or as little as you like for lunch or dinner, pretty much in line with the casual format of a bistro. A cursory glance revealed a great deal of value, with the likes of French onion soup for just €3.15 or a Caesar salad with ‘aged Parmesan, sour dough croutons, soft hens egg, confit tomatoes, and Conrad’s 80-day aged Caesar dressing’ (€3.95 with chicken or €4.95 with prawns).

Being a bit stuffed still since the mammoth breakfast, we decided to go for two smaller courses, one side, one dessert and three glasses of wine (I must say at this point, Galway Girl, Clonakilty Lass and I remain eternally grateful to Wexford Lad for doing all the driving).

Without too much delay, our lunch of Crab Cakes with Kataifi (shredded wheat like pastry) with ‘Basque-style stew of peppers, rocket and wild garlic aioli,’ Shitake Mushroom Risotto with shredded duck leg and aged Parmesan, ‘Fat Chips in duck fat,’ and a Mango Cheesecake with ‘salsa and mango ice cream’ (yes, at the same time, we hadn’t long left on the meter) arrived. The crab cakes and risotto were in portions large enough to make for a good lunch, while we felt we would have liked more of the fat chips, which were indeed good and fattening (what was I saying about being full from breakfast?). In any case both dishes went down with plate-licking aplomb – happily bistrofied adaptations of their fine dining equivalents in Salon. The dessert pleased equally well, and with the three glasses of fairly decent red wine, the whole bill came to just under €48. I know it’s not fair to review and run in pace literally just opened, but I gotta say so far so good for Conrad’s Kitchen in Sligo town. Value is key as the man says himself, and looks like there’s an abundance of that on offer here. Let’s hope this one stays open!

For info on the menus (including weekend brunch and gourmet pizza night) see the website: http://www.conradskitchen.com

Overstaying our meter by a mere 20 minutes, thankfully sans clamp, we set off on our way once again towards Galway. With the addition of a quick pit-stop at Galway Girl’s family farm for some tea and fig rolls, it was approximately a further hour and a half before we were glamming ourselves up for the night ahead in Galway city – make-upping and preening within the confines of our bunks in our en suite dorm in Barnacles hostel (the only show in town for hostel accommodation, in my not very humble opinion).

http://www.barnacles.ie/

Heading out for dinner, I was curious to see how Bar No.8 was doing since the departure of Jess Murphy (now ensconced in her own restaurant, Kai), however the inclement weather and inappropriate footware I’d brought prompted me to point our group towards the slightly closer Ard Bia. Finding them in their new(ish) abode at the Spanish Arch, we bundled into the small entrance way and discovered the restaurant to be quite packed for a Tuesday night (always a good sign). After a short wait we were shown to a table in the back close to the kitchen. For some reason it took a while to be given menus or, more annoyingly, to make eye contact with the woman hustling busily to and fro past our table without as much as a nod in our direction (courtesy goes such a long way, it never ceases to amaze me when I encounter people who’ve not yet grasped that).

Eventually though, the menus were delivered (and a bottle of prosecco ordered before they hit the table cloth), and we were back on track. On account of our impromptu feed in Conrad Gallagher’s bistro earlier – and the big breakfast before that…. and tea and biscuits afterward – we decided we’d split a mezze plate for starters. Three very tasty versions of hummus, including a beetroot one, and a delicious lamb sheek kebab, served with some lovely fresh salady bits and some decent pitta, went down a treat. For the mains, the three chefs couldn’t resist the offer of ray wing on special, so all three went for it: beautifully fried and served with crab butter, albino beetroot, and pak choi. We also scoffed the local Killary mussels with great chunks of chorizo and a hot and spicy (we suspected harissa) broth. This was actually a starter but the kitchen very obligingly made it into a main size portion and furnished some crusty bread for mopping up the tasty sauce. All dishes were well appreciated by our discerning palates, and yet again we found ourselves in receipt of good value for money. On the prosecco (which was decent) and a bottle of delectable Paddy Borthwick Paper Road Pinot Noir we scarcely spent €60, while the food over-delivered at the lower end of mid-range prices.

All in all, we were pleased to kick off our night at Ard Bia, for which you’ll find more info at: http://ardbia.com/about/.

From there we headed out into the night, and what happened in Galway stays in Galway! Suffice to tell you it happened in the Quay Street vicinity, involving pubs including The Kings Head, The Quays, and The Front Door. Enough said.

WDENESDAY: Galway again, Athlone and VM@Viewmount House, Longford

Thanks to a prior arrangement to meet a friend for coffee in the morning, we got ourselves and our hangovers up at a ludicrously early our and hit the road before 9.30am. Painful it was but we were glad in the end. The early start cleared the heads in advance of brunch so that sensible decisions could be made about where to eat. Since über-talented New Zealander Jess Murphy had just opened Kai, it really would have been inexcusable to have missed it during our short visit to Galway – especially in favour of going for hangover grub at some unspeakable outlet, such as the kind that pours liquid cheese on your chips.

Thankfully, with our heads clear(er than they had been), we made our way to Sea Road to find her new eatery. Given that we were more than half an hour early for lunch, we tucked ourselves into a quaint but stylish banquet and ordered some of her bespoke herbal tea (a calming chamomile number with lavender and other ingredients) and a delicious buttery home-baked apricot scone with freshly made seasonal fruit jams (strawberry and vanilla and damson berry). The server (Jess’ husband) was relaxed, friendly and totally obliging, in spite of the fact that we’d tarnished the cool bohemian atmosphere of the place with copious trashy magazines, from which we read aloud causing maniacal giggling and other hideous noises – such was our frame of mind. They didn’t seem to mind at all, there was nothing but friendliness. Then finally, our wait paid off, and the lunch options for the day were written up on the board. At this point we noticed the small room was starting to fill up, the anticipation building as we looked on with delight at the menu being revealed.

Everything was in season and local as possible: a beetroot and miso soup; a colourful peperonata with organic leaves and edible flowers on toasted ciabatta; a fragrant salad of roasted broccoli and organic leaves with feta and caramelised hazel nuts; some Ortiz tuna in a coriander mayonnaise on toasted bread; and a gooey moreish cheddar and bacon quiche with light but satisfying pastry. It may sound simple on paper, and perhaps it is all quite simple, but to achieve simplicity this beautiful requires skill and artistry. To achieve simplicity this delicious requires that very rare talent bestowed on only a handful of chefs. Once again, we ate food that over-delivered on the price we paid.

You won’t find a current menu on their website, because Kai doesn’t roll that way (what with everything being so local and seasonal it changes every day) However, you will find a sample of the fabness to be found there, as well as other important details like how to find them: http://www.kaicaferestaurant.com/. I can’t stress enough though that Kai is a special place worth finding.

So, after another magical encounter of the foodie kind, we got back in the car and decided to head to Salthill for a walk and an ice cream. Sadly, however, the weather had taken a turn for the worse, so we changed our course for Athlone, partly thinking of conditions improving as we headed east, and partly thinking of finding somewhere to hang out and enjoy ourselves some more.

The Left Bank Bistro in Athlone provided the very thing. I’d not been in since 2009, when I reviewed it as part of a piece for Food & Wine on places to visit over Easter – it has just the right kind of comfy vibe that makes you want to hang out and indulge a bit. Perfect for long weekends (or Sundays when you’re just in that kind of mood), and I was happy to find that the place was the same as the last time I’d visited. We parked ourselves in the café-like front of the bistro and – you’ve guessed it – ordered a few glasses of wine for the girls (who still hadn’t shared any of the driving). As we sipped and chatted, we glanced nonchalantly over the menu. We never did get those ice creams in Salthill so it wouldn’t hurt to sample a little something, surely? It would have been rude not to!

The chicken wings stared temptingly at us from the lunch menu, as did creamy ham and mushroom pasta. I remembered the heartiness of a beef and Guinness stew I’d eaten on my last visit and imagined how good those chicken wings and/or creamy pasta would be right at that moment. However, I did cop on in time to realise that this would have been pure gluttony and, much worse than that, would possibly ruin our appetites for the main event at VM in Longford later on. So instead we contented ourselves by perusing the home-baked cakes and confections perched on the counter, settling on a piece of light but rich lemon Madeira cake with a lemon curd filling, and another of coffee mocha Madeira cake with coffee butter icing. Each piece was gargantuan and served with fresh whipped cream (both under a fiver) and we demolished them quickly declaring the lemon as the winner. It’s hard to beat lemon curd, in fairness. Then we hung out for what seemed like another hour at least, chatting and relaxing without a care, or the need to order anything more.

The Left Bank does a good early bird and also acts as a wine bar with a nice tapas menu. See: http://www.leftbankbistro.com for details.

Finally, though, we had reached the last leg of the journey – the one I was dying for – so into the car we got and away to Longford and Viewmount House for the ultimate and most grand feast of the lot.

The car rolled through the open country roads at pace, Lady Gaga blasting from the ipod – me singing atrociously in between giving wrong directions – and all of us now too excited to read any more stories about how bad Cheryl Cole’s hair was at the US X Factor launch (which was very, very bad, FYI). Finally, after three days of touring and eating and drinking, we arrived at the gates of Viewmount House, relieved to have made it after brains and google maps had sent us wrong – and I being a Dubliner couldn’t orientate myself when not travelling in a straight line from Dublin.

I had ventured up to VM once before in 2009, having heard some buzz about the place soon after it had opened. It’s only an hour or so from Dublin (which may surprise those not aware) and I had been impressed by the keen cookery and use of excellent local, seasonal produce. This time I was excited to see how things had progressed. As we got out of the car, I immediately spied chef Gary O’Hanlon coming from the garden on his way back to the kitchen to begin dinner service. Maybe it was his Donegal lilt as he gave us a big cheery welcome, or maybe it was the basket of fresh herbs and chive flowers in his hand, but as we entered the house we felt like we were going to feel right at home here. We also got the feeling we were in for something special.

...the remainder of the VM review is covered in its own blog post (as it was quite epic). See Part III to find out about what is clearly one of the best restaurants in Ireland.

A Northwest Foodie Road Trip: Part I

2011-06-07T09:07:00.000-07:00

After much discussion about how to ‘do’ a foodie road trip in Ireland, my chef BNBFs (which means ‘brand new best friends’ for those not in the k-n-o-w) and I resolved to make it several, as opposed to just one, focusing on themes – such as regions, establishment-type, seasons etc. For our first jolly, we decided on a restaurant trail of sorts in the northwest, owing to the fact that I have the ultimate foodie contact in Donegal and, very helpfully, a holiday home in the same place.

I put in a call to my Inishowen friend, owner of Harry’s Bar & Restaurant and all-round lovely guy Donal O’D, and in the blink of a rare breed porker’s eye we had a plan. Two nights at my family farmhouse in Dunree (Donegal), a quick visit to Sligo town en route to Galway for a night, then a blast through Athlone en route to a final feast at VM in Viewmount House, Co Longford, before heading back to the ‘big smoke’ (that’s country speak for Dublin btw). With thanks to the inside help from Donal and some fortuitous timing, our foodie trip was jam-packed with great food and fun. In fact, we had such great experiences and great value for money, we reckoned that it’s our duty to tell everyone about it.

So this is the first chapter of our ‘How to Eat Your Way Around Ireland’ adventures. I'm actually splitting it into two separate posts (as it was turning into the War & Peace of blog posts),so what follows is our two days in Inishowen. We had four foodies, one car, three and a half days, a boot full of tuck, and one sat nav (which was surprisingly helpful in even the most remote locations).

SUNDAY: Head for Inishowen, Co Donegal.

As I had the Dublin City Soul Festival to attend to (judging the Soul Food Restaurant Trail) we didn’t take off until late afternoon, which is probably a bit late. Consequently, by the time we’d dropped off our bags and gotten the house in Dunree sorted, we didn’t make it into Harry’s in Bridgend until circa 9.40pm! A scandalously late hour to be swanning into any establishment on a Sunday evening, but being the lovely people that they are in Harry’s, we were welcomed in (literally with open arms) and treated to a royal feast without a word of complaint.

A selection of starters were chosen and prepared for us in advance of our arrival (which was a good thing as the number of delectable options on the menu proved too many for us to make quick decisions). Perfectly pan-fried John Dory from Greencastle, Co Donegal, with an apple pureé, mandarin orange segments, and sweet organic pea shoots from Harry’s own walled garden were devoured with gusto, as well as some decadent pâté and hearty terrine served with a nicely spiced house-made relish. We drank a decent prosecco and then some ripe fruity Greenstone pinot noir from Marlborough, New Zealand, both reasonably priced around the mid twenties. For what they were, the starters were also astoundingly good value. For mains we chose platters of local Inishowen organic saddleback pork (succulent slow roast shoulder in a lightly spiced glaze) and roast rib of Donegal aged beef (aged in Harry’s own hanging room), to share between the four of us. With the meat we ate tasty rich dauphinois potatoes and good, proper chips as served in Donal’s parents’ café just a few doors up (famed locally for their chicken fillet burger), and some organic purple bok choy from the garden, tastily prepared with ample seasoning and flavour. Conversation was limited as we feasted – we left nothing. In spite of us being rather full, we ordered a rich but not too heavy dark chocolate and whiskey cake, and a Carrageen moss pudding on a ginger biscuit base. Both were delicious. To give you an idea of the value for money, a three course dinner at Harry's is €24 at weekends and €20 during the week. I’m not given to endless flowery summations in my reviews but suffice to say, our trip to Harry’s left us all (critic and chefs) still thinking and talking about what we’d eaten for some days afterward. It’s a very special and unique restaurant, as much due to the people involved (from supplier to front of house) as to the quality local produce it serves to showcase. Harry’s is THE foodie attraction of Inishowen, if not all Donegal. No trip up north is complete without a visit.

http://www.harrys.ie/

Fed and happy, Donal O’D showed us to the nautically themed Drift Inn in Buncrana for a G&T before we rolled home to bed.

MONDAY: Dunree Fort, Malin Head, and Linsfort Castle

We woke to sunshine – a rare commodity – and immediately set off to take advantage while it lasted. Given the indulgence of the night before, we also felt a bit of exercise was in order. Not two kilometres from the house is the fabulous Fort Dunree (approx 7 miles from Buncrana), located on the top of Dunree Head and which affords some stunning views of the region, including Lough Swilly and the facing peninsula with beautiful Portsalon beach to the west, and the Urris Hills and other north Donegal mountains and surrounding hinterland to the east. The fort has a museum and interpretive centre but my favourite attraction is the walk around the head, which allows you to amble through the old barracks buildings and get up close and personal with the massive guns (actually in use in the last century). As a word of warning, there is quite a lot of uphill, however the views are so rewarding it’s well worth the effort – and if you’ve been to Harry’s the night before then a good uphill walk is what you need! For directions and details follow the link below.

http://www.dunree.pro.ie/home.html

After a morning hiking and taking in the scenery, we headed for the farmhouse, just in time to dodge the rain. The great thing about travelling with foodies is that they always come prepared, so we were well equipped to kill an hour or so waiting for the weather to pick up again. Our Galway Girl treated us to some buttery Glebe Brethan (comte-style cheese from unpasteurised Montbeliarde cows’ milk made by David Tiernan in Co Louth), some lovely toffee-scented Coolea (semi hard cow’s milk cheese made by Dick and Sinead Willems in Co Cork) and some salty Cashel Blue (un-homogenised cow’s milk blue made by Jane and Louis Grubb in Co Tipperary), which we nibbled along with her very own rhubarb and ginger relish. Our Clonakilty Lass provided a ripe Languedoc red to quaff with the cheese, and afterwards we had light little blueberry and lime sponge cakes (baked by Galway Girl) and good dark chocolate brought by our Wexford Lad. I can't stress how much of an asset it is to include chefs among your travelling companions!

When the sun finally broke through the clouds once again, we hopped in the car and made for Malin Head – Ireland’s most northerly point. Heading east from Dunree across a wild Donegal blanket bog and past the Mamore Gap, the scenery is once again quite stunning. We passed through the little towns of Clonmany, Ballyliffin, Carndonagh and eventually Malin, from where we headed north to the point past Five Finger Strand. When we reached it – by some miracle – the sun was shining and the day was fresh. Galway Girl, Wexford Lad and Clonakilty Lass were all blown away by the view, and I was very proud to have family ties with the county. Like a bunch of big kids we ran down the side of the hill and over the fence, all the way to the water’s edge, which was a bit rough but still made you want to jump in. It was breathtakingly beautiful and made us feel really alive – I was a bit giddy afterward. Then we scrambled back up the hill and went for coffee at the lone vendor’s van parked up in this remote, often windblown spot.

Now this was a real surprise. Caffe Banba (Ireland’s most northerly coffee and cakes) is actually pretty good. In fact, it’s very good, and all the way up there in the middle of nowhere! Proprietor (and lovely fella) Dominic McDermott previously brewed Java Republic’s Blue Earth Organic coffee, but has now switched to Bailies (a Belfast roaster), and tasty brew it is. We couldn’t resist nabbing a couple of slices of lemon and ginger cake while we were at it (home-baked by Dominic’s wife Andrea), and they were super too - moist and light. With refreshments in hand, we sought shelter behind a wall and looked out over the Atlanitc, smug with the success of our foodie road trip so far.

For more info on Caffe Banba see http://www.caffebanba.com/ ….it makes Malin Head even more worth the journey.

The afternoon was drawing to a close and Harry’s Donal O’D had organised for us to spend the evening at Linsfort Castle (or so we thought) having homemade pizzas from the wood fire oven in the garden. We raced back to our side of the Inishowen peninsula and grabbed a few bottles of wine, with moments to spare before our friend collected us and chauffeured us the short distance to Linsfort. It’s probable only a brazen Dub like myself would chance their arm and ask for such treatment, especially following the late arrival the night before. However, this is what I have come to know of Donegal people’s generosity, after spending so many holidays throughout my life in Inishowen, so without question we hopped into the jeep Donal had just borrowed in order to accommodate the lot of us, and set off for another evening of food and fun.

To our amazement, we weren’t dining in Linsfort Castle (a fab guesthouse and B&B overlooking Lough Swilly), but at their neighbours’ house – the private residence of a lovely couple who just happen to be foodies and who have a wood fire oven in their garden. They had been the centre of much buzz during the Inishfood Festival earlier in the year, when Mr Pizza stoked up his oven and fed over 50 foodies in attendance just for the craic. However, his is not a commercial enterprise, only one of personal passion and big heartedness, so it was a real privilege to be invited (or at the very least, accommodated at the behest of Inishowen’s most persistent foodie, Donal O’D). That said, we weren’t exactly shy about barrelling in and making ourselves at home, cracking open the wine and sharing it around like we were all old friends. And what happened next was as unprecedented and fantastic a food experience as any I’ve had in Ireland to date.

Alan Rooks and Brigeen Clafferty from the aforementioned Linsfort Castle were also at the wee pizza party, armed with wine, and apple butter and plum jam made from fruit grown in their own garden – brought as gifts for us to try! They’re a warm couple that we liked instantly, and it wasn’t long before interesting conversation and good spirits were flowing. Then the pizzas started to appear. First a simple, wafer thin crispy base topped with a little rosemary and sea salt and a splash of olive oil. Delicious! The olive oil, we learned, was from our host’s parents’ olive grove in Umbria, so the simply topped pizza created the perfect conduit for tasting it. Next came a simple tomato sauce with rocket and parmesan, then some caramelised onion and goat log, then some spicy salami and mozzarella, then an utterly moreish butternut squash and soft goat cheese, then a couple of rounds of thinly sliced tender potato with rosemary and salt (which he referred to as ‘chip pizza’), then more salami. It was a gourmet pizza feast, served up by a big friendly guy who’d never seen us before in his life, amid interesting and friendly company, as we watched the sun go down over the Swilly. After the embers began to die, we took a stroll down to the little beach behind the house to see the end of the sunset. If I could insert a photo of that sight at this point I would – Linsfort beach is without doubt one of my favourite beaches in all of Donegal (which is saying a lot considering the beaches in this part of the world). Rather clumsily, I’ve posted some pics on Facebook instead!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.223826004312850.68498.100000563576031

After thanking our host profusely for his incredibly generous hospitality, and Donal O’D who stayed only long enough to see us thoroughly happy before heading back to Harry’s for the night, we were then invited to Linsfort Castle for some coffee and a look around. At this point, readers, I’m happy to say that all are welcome to visit this guesthouse and, personal bias aside, I reckon it’s possibly the best base for a holiday in Inishowen. I know my personal bias is great given my own holiday home is just up the road, but for the purposes of this trip I don’t believe you could do better.

For starters Brigeen’s gardens, while not only beautiful to walk through, produce fruit, vegetables, free range eggs (from a clutch of Blackrock hens) and honey, all of which are served up to guests in the B&B. Inside the house, her talented eye is evident in every room, each individually and tastefully decorated, as is every nook of the house. In the old kitchen where breakfast is served every morning, an old fireplace replete with traditional hob and pots, and an old still-working wireless give a certain country elegance. As does the vintage china from which we drank proper coffee after our tour of the house and gardens. In spite of their both being vegetarian, Alan had a stove purpose-built in the guest quarters for cooking bacon and sausages for breakfast each morning (sourced from Crowe’s Farm in Co Tipperary), although, true to form, there’s ample veggie options to choose from too. At the end of our terrific evening in Linsfort, Brigeen insisted on driving us home.

To find out more about Alan and Brigeen and their stunning Linsfort Castle, see: http://www.linsfortcastle.com/.

And that concluded our fab one and a half days in Inishowen. In Part II I'll fill you in on our foodie adventures in Sligo, Galway, Athlone and - la pièce de résistance - Viewmount House in Longford!

Food for the Soul Part 2

2011-05-17T01:20:00.000-07:00

The Dublin City Soul Festival is almost upon us again, which means I and my foodie spies will be combing the Restaurant Trail looking for this year's winner for best 'Soul Food.' There are 17 nosh spots on the trail and I get the distinct impression the bar has been raised for Soul Fest 2011 - get a loada the gospel brunch planned for the Gallery restaurant at the Church (http://www.dublincitysoulfestival.ie/category/events/music-whats-on/brunch).

I've also heard some other places will be hosting impromptu sessions with singer-songwriters from the Rising Stars camp...more on that later!

However, last year's winner, Seagrass in Portbello, has set the bar high enough already, with their inspiring platter that really captured the meaning of 'soul food.' Here's what the judges had to say about Seagrass:

'The seagrass special soul food menu fitted all parameters of the soul food brief - the food of peasant people, made with whatever they had, and lots of soul! Four dishes from four continents: Coddle (Ireland), Matata soup from Mozambique, southern fried chicken with grits pancake, and soy/sesame slamon with coconut and pea rice cake with wasabi yoghurt.

The coddle was a large garlicky sausage floating in an ultra umami stock - vegetable we were told - but almost beef like in intensity. Lots of tasty lardons and onions with rosemary and other herbs - utterly soulful. Next was the spicy mussel soup with peanuts, capers, and a refreshing sour flavour that acted as a cleanser as much as a pick me up for the palate (and soul). The southern fried chicken with grits pancake was tender breast in a tasty batter (textured rather than crunchy due to the lack of white flour used in the kitchen, but still adhering fairly well), topped with a sweet home-made catsup. Horseradish yoghurt sauce was also present to cut through the sweetness and fried flavours. Finally, salmon with a sweet soy and sesame coating with wasabi and peanut sauce was damn tasty.

Strongly recommend Seagrass - it was full of happy diners enjoying themselves.'

So there you have it, not one but FOUR soul dishes, and a very imaginative and delicious interpretation of soul it was too. This year's eateries will have to work hard to top that, and I for one am looking forward to the contest!

In the spirit of the Soul Festival, I have another recipe to contribute. Now, I know I did barbecue last time and I know it's a bit of a cliché, but the good weather of April gave me lots of opportunities for experimenting with the Weber and, well, these ribs are just too good not to share. It's an adaptation of a Jamie Oliver recipe, tweaked for my fondness of salt and spice (especially cinnamon and aniseed) and a bit less fruity and sweet. Hope you enjoy - this is definitely one for eating with a napkin close at hand.

Caroline's sticky barbecued baby back ribs

I never know how much of anything I'm putting in so beware of any quantities I give!

Rack of baby back (loin) ribs (with the membrane taken off)
250ml balsamic vinegar
few good glugs of soy sauce
ketchup (enough to make the mixture gloopy)
big bunch of thyme, picked
juice/zest of half an orange
1 fat garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp toasted cumin seeds, crushed
2 cloves
1 tbsp fennel seeds, cruched
2 star anise, crushed
1 heaped tbsp smoked paprika
1 heaped tsp cinnamon
some ground black pepper
pinch chili flakes (if you like)

Put the ribs in a large bowl or basin and cover completely in the marinade. The longer you can leave it the better - no less than half a day.

Light the coals and wait for them to reach the right temperature (white with no flame) - if you can get hickory then use that. Put the ribs on the grill with the lid on, vents fully open for the first five minutes. Then close the vents so only a small amount of air gets in to slow the roasting process.

Depending on the weight, you should have juicy sticky ribs in about 40 minutes. I closed the vents 10 minutes before the end just to make sure they'd be juicy enough.

Rest the meat for 10 minutes under foil before carving and serving. Drink good fruity pinot noir, such as Bogle from California or Waipara Springs from New Zealand, or a fruity full-bodied beer like Dungarvan Brewing Co's Copper Coast Red Ale or Curim Gold from the Carlow Brewing Company.

The GOOP detox: Five days of cleansing

2011-04-28T23:45:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know I said it was a seven-day cleansing detox but given the lack of calories in this diet, I'd say managing five days wasn't bad going - for a normal person who has to function on a daily basis, that is. No doubt about it, this - like most detoxes - is a crash diet in disguise. Now before I get all critical, I gotta admit that by the fourth day I was feeling absolutely terrific, better than I'd felt in a long time, and my skin is practically glowing. However, I'd made a few calorie enhancements by this stage, so I reckon I would probably have been feeling rather a little too low in energy to appreciate the benefits had I stuck to the original menu.

To recap, the GOOP detox (named after Gwyneth Paltrow's blog) is a diet that cuts out alcohol, caffeine, sugar, dairy, gluten, processed foods, red meat, shellfish, and nightshade vegetables (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, aubergines...due to their digestion-disrupting alkanoids). I can see the logic in all of those omissions, so at the beginning of the detox I was actually looking forward to doing it and seeing the results.

In my frenzy for trying out all the new expensive health shop products, I hadn't noticed how lacking in substance it all was - perhaps somewhere between 600-800 Kcals per day, depending on how liberal you are with the olive oil. So I decided by day two to make a few adjustments. Another rule I broke was the one about only having one solid meal a day (the rest have to be blended). This I just couldn't do. I'm sure it's something about having a flat stomach or some such vital thing if you're Gwyneth Paltrow, but for me, nothing was worth enduring dinner as mulch for no excellent reason. And finally, I added condiments that may have broken rules (I didn't check) but I kept them to only a teaspoon per day, so that hardly counts - I just can't do punitive eating, it's against my religion.

Otherwise I did keep to the rules and didn't add anything on the banned list. Having gone through a whole week, I'm actually really pleased with the results, and it's even made me want to continue my healthy ways. In fact, I'm in no rush to ruin my good work. Below is the diet I actually followed - I can honestly recommend this to anyone who wants to feel better or sleep better, or generally improve their health. To make it more sustaining, just add more carbohydrate and have bigger portions.

Here's how it went...

Day 1:

Start with the shake that looks and feels like frog spawn..

small punnet of blueberries
1-2 heaped tbsp of whey protein powder
1-2 heaped tsp Organic Super Greens
Approx 250ml almond milk (or more to taste)
*Blend well so you don't get lumpy bits - that completely grosses me out!

For lunch I had the green mulch aka Broccoli and Rocket soup (I added the spinach and sprouts because I had them)

1/2 onion + 1 garlic clove (chopped) and cooked in 1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 head broccoli, added to pan and cooked in 2.5 cups of water
Add pan contents to bunch of baby spinach, bunch of rocket, handful of alfalfa sprouts, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, tbsp pumpkin seeds, touch more olive oil and some lemon juice.
Blend until it becomes mulch.
*The flavour is quite nice, you can practically taste the health benefits...the texture makes you squirm, especially as it cools.

For dinner I had a steamed fillet of salmon with steamed spinach, with a salad of rocket in lemon and olive oil on the side. To this I added the illicit horseradish sauce (1 tsp) which made the meal so much more enjoyable (the accumulative affects of three bland meals were getting to me at this stage).

Throughout the day I drank coconut water, aloe vera juice blended with water, warm water with lemon, herbal tea and approx two litres of water.

Day 2:

Today I added fresh mint to the frog spawn shake to improve it a little - it was a slight improvement.

You're supposed to snack on pumpkin seeds if you get hungry, between meals (while having all you're hydrating/digestive assisting liquids) but I decided to snack on some good quality sugar-free dark chocolate. It's much more filling and is, after all, full of antioxidants!

For lunch I baked some lemon sole on a bed of fennel (to hell with all this steaming) and served with a rocket salad as above, with a handful of pea shoots added in.

In the afternoon I did have the pumpkin seeds (blurgh!)

For dinner I steamed broccoli and spinach and served with more rocket and pea sprouts, with a dressing made from 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp balsamic vinegar, and 1 tbsp olive oil. I did not blend this!

Day 3:

Once again I woke up absolutely starving! This morning (well, actually the day before, since I already had the stuff in) I decided to change the menu.

For breakfast I had toasted spelt bread (at least 200Kcal worth) with Benecol olive spread and some Dalfour sugar-free marmalade.

Once again I had my mid-morning dark chocolate - one of my favourite snacks anyway.

Then for lunch I made a new shake, and this is DELICIOUS! Will definitely be keeping this one.
1 whole fresh mango, chopped without the skin
Bunch fresh mint leaves
1-2 heaped tbsp whey protein
1-2 heaped tsp Organic Super Greens
250-300ml almond milk
*Blend well so all the mango gets blitzed.

The shake for lunch was actually very filling so I didn't need a snack before dinner, even though I was cycling and being very active.

For dinner I baked a seabass fillet with lime and dried coriander on a bed of fennel, served with a salad of baby gem lettuce, fresh coriander, alfalfa sprouts and half an avacado, with a dressing of 1 tsp wholegrain mustard, 1 tsp balsamic vinegar, and 1 tbsp olive oil.
*For more calories in any of the mains you could add any kind of rice.

Day 4:

Today I woke up feeling absolutely terrific. I'd had the best quality sleep for a very long time, and I was generally feeling great.

I just repeated Day 3's menu, since it was all pretty good. Only difference was that I used lentil and mung bean sprouts in the salad instead of alfalfa sprouts (they actually worked better, as they had more crunch and were less spongy, so didn't soak up too much dressing).

By now I've also realised just how refreshing and efficient at hydrating coconut water is. As with all the fancy health products, it ain't cheap - but I think it'll become a constant in my fridge throughout the summer.

Day 5:

Well that's today, and tonight is a Friday night. I wouldn't have thought it at the start of the week, but a big part of me doesn't want to stop now - even though there's entertaining to be done tonight. Funny how even a week off the bad stuff makes you suddenly all precious about yourself!

GOOP had a load of other recipes I could have doctored - using cress and miso and ginger, for example - but as I pointed out throughout this week, I'm a normal person without the aid of an assistant, or chef, so I wasn't shopping every day for new fresh ingredients.

I'm sticking to my spelt toast and mango shake for breakfast and lunch today, then tonight I have a big head of pak choi and some organic chicken to work with.

By now I'd say you get the idea about how this works. Ultimately, I think the original GOOP detox just isn't practical for most people, but I do think the principle behind it has great benefits - especially if, like me, you're prone to over-indulging. It takes some organisation, it's not cheap, and the first couple of days require a bit of effort. Other than that, I recommend having a go at it. Once you've created some menus that work for you, it proves that healthy eating can actually be more enjoyable than you might have thought...and it always makes you feel better than the bad stuff!

SHOPPING LIST

Almond milk (Nourish stocks a good selection of alternatives, including rice/hazelnut milk)
Coconut water (Vita Coco is available in most health shops and specialty grocers)
Whey protein powder
Organic Super Greens (contains chlorella, spirulina, barley grass and wheat grass)
Herbal teas (chamomile, nettle, dandelion especially)
Aloe Vera juice (Nourish stocks one with digestive aids, caraway, fennel, papaya)
Alfalfa/pea/lentil/mung bean sprouts (mine were from Happy Pear, available at health shops and specialty grocers)
Pumpkin seeds
Good olive oil and lemons
Copious quantities of green leafy veg and brassica (spinach, kale, lettuces, herbs, pak choi, broccoli etc)
Fresh oily and white fish
Lean chicken/turkey meat

For more recipes for shakes, juices, soups and whatnot see GOOP! http://goop.com/newsletter/15/

The GOOP detox: Day 1 of the 7-day cleanse

2011-04-25T09:03:00.002-07:00

The official title of this post should be: "Why the [bleep] am I doing this to myself?!" However, some of you will get that just from the given title and, no doubt, will shudder at the notion of seven days so ill-spent. Well, I too used to be like you, spending my mornings enjoying full-fat yoghurt with honey and fruit, while happily already pondering dinner. But after a few weeks recently spent just so - outdoing myself week on week in gastronomic largess - I succumbed to guilt over consuming mountainous belly-expanding pork belly (of course with the crackling), and stuffed loins of lamb, and black pudding fatter than John Candy, and giant t-bone steaks, and endless cheeseboards groaning under shamefully over-generous servings of assorted vacherins, blues and cheddars, and, of course, copious good bottles from every wine-producing region you can think of...

You get the picture. After weeks of 'having a whale of a time,' as they like to say in those trashy magazines where they draw circles around celebrity love handles, I decided it might be a good idea to give myself a detox, and maybe even consider living a little more healthily than a French aristocrat who measures status by the number of body parts affected by gout.

So after a short surf on the interwebs, I came upon a detox that seemed both the kind of drastic measure I was seeking to reverse my recent indulgence, and also one not quite so punitive as those that seem to involve nothing more than lemon and/or cabbage water and a cocktail of natural laxatives. Gwyneth Paltrow was the suitably lean source of this wonder cure (on her blog 'GOOP'), it being the cleansing 7-day detox diet designed by some cardiologist named Dr Alejandro Junger.

You can find the details of its ethos and so forth on Gwynnie's blog - I was merely concerned with the fact that it seemed effective yet still let me eat foods with names I recognised as being from the natural world. In a nutshell, you cut out alcohol, caffeine, sugar, dairy, gluten, red meat, shellfish, processed foods, and nightshade veg (tomatoes, peppers and aubergines), and possibly more but eyes wouldn't let me see the words.

Now readers, I too was horrified at the notion of no dairy and no gluten - two staples of my diet - however, many healthy peoples from faraway Oriental lands survive every day without such foods (as well as poor sods from bread and cheese country afflicted with various allergies and intolerance), so I knew I too could manage it. Wine, I love and hate you! In a way I was glad to say adios to this vice, which has become all too quotidian. The rest bothered me only a little. So with steely determination, I was resolved to GOOP myself for seven days.

And here we are on Day 1 (actually that was yesterday but I'm only finishing the post this morning). Having spent the princely sum of €77 in a health shop buying assorted vittles, followed by a similar amount buying organic fruit and veg at the grocery shop, I started the day feeling optimistic about the whole experience.

Breakfast consisted of a 'shake' of blueberries, almond milk, whey powder and some organic 'Super Greens' powder (chlorella, spirulina, barley grass and wheat grass). Once you get past the frog spawn appearance, it tastes okay. Although after the first few sips you start noticing the taste a bit more, as well as the slightly unpleasant consistency. Mine had the odd lump - I'm not sure which ingredient is the one that keeps coagulating but in the interest of keeping this shake down, I'll have to work that out by the end of the week.

Did I mention that only one meal of the day can be solid? Usually this should be lunch, but as today required me to eat dinner with my family, I decided I'd opt for a liquid lunch - this detox has taken all the fun out of that expression. I blitzed half a head of cooked broccoli with some garlic, spinach, rocket, alfalfa sprouts, olive oil, lemon juice, two and a half cups of water, a spoonful of pumpkin seeds, and a quarter of a teaspoon of sea salt. Again, on first acquaintance I was thinking, 'this isn't bad! Nice, even.' However, that quickly subsided as I noticed the tepid green mulch felt like, well, tepid green mulch to eat. Like some squelchy greens that had been chewed and regurgitated. I struggled with this one - now dreading future soup courses.

Dinner, as I said, could be solid, generally consisting of steamed something with steamed green veg. I had salmon with steamed spinach and a side of rocket dressed in lemon juice and a half tablespoon of olive oil. It was okay... in truth, I cracked and had a teaspoon of horseradish sauce. It was just so bland.. I was weak!!!

In between 'meals' you can have coconut water, warm water with lemon, aloe vera juice, herbal tea, and maybe the odd seed if you're peckish. After day one, in spite of some minor instances of revulsion, I have to admit that my skin is already visibly improved - even eliciting some comments to that effect - and I'm not starving. One down, six to go... this better be worth it!

Hello boys!

2011-02-02T01:57:00.000-08:00

So I’m sitting around on a boring Wednesday, itching to go out and have some fun and hopefully get into some kind of trouble, definitely wearing the new ridiculously high Kurt Geiger heels, and definitely with the recently acquired fabulous girlfriends on the masters, and I think to myself: where can all of the above be beautifully achieved? Not that I even need to ask myself that question, since I’ve poised my fabulousness on the bar stools and sofa cushions of my destination of choice many a time before, as the need arose. The Exchequer is always willing and able to oblige my moments of inner super model. Such a thoughtful bar, providing charming attractive owners to flirt with while we enjoy our blissfully calorific cocktails!

This night in question I decided we should eat too – eating is so in right now – so we tucked ourselves into a table too big for us in the gastropub’s rear dining room, without a word of complaint from the good looking owner at attendance. Then, sipping a delicious martini with three olives (Tanqueray, naturally…although Hendrick’s was another option, probably for another kind of night) we took nearly an hour to order, as we gabbed about all our important news, again without a word of complaint, despite the fact we’d taken the big table at 7.30pm. Finally we decided on starters of oven-baked cod with a tomato, fennel and spring onion shellfish soup and chargrilled toast (€9.50), and (the utterly fantastic man that is) Jack McCarthy’s own Irish haggis with brown onion purée, roasted garlic and Bushmills sauce and wild mushrooms (€8.95).

In the two dishes there was more than enough for three people, and even the non-meat-eater couldn’t help swiping a bite of the haggis, enveloped in that wonderfully rich sauce. In a way it’s not surprising that the soup failed to impress quite so much next to Jack McCarthy’s scrumptious handy work, but apart from a slight lack of seasoning and/or some spice (one of the chef friends offered), it was nicely redolent of crustacean, and the cod and ubiquitous sea molluscs were juicy and good.

The pre-dinner cocktails were replaced by a bottle of zingy Graf Joseph Grüner Veltliner 2009, and after a quick stop-out for some lippy retouching and another flirt with one half of the handsome duo, mains were served. Whole Irish baked seabass with peppery fresh rocket, oven dried tomatoes, black olives and a great big mound of the most finely shredded matchstick chips you ever saw in your life (€33.95), all served up on a board for two people to share. In case you didn’t cop that we’re dealing with proper ladies’ men in The Exchequer, this dish can leave you in no doubt. The fish was baked to perfection and slipped down beautifully with a little squeeze of lime – a great dish, not surprisingly fast becoming one of the most popular since the appearance of the new menu. We also nibbled the crispy pork belly, which very cleverly was paired with perfectly fried curls of crispy squid, with a fish caramel sauce and a carrot and chilli purée (€16.95). The cute waiter advised us that we might want a carb on the side so we went for the champ (€3.25) and weren’t sorry that we did. The pork was meltingly tender and worked well with the squid (which being lighter than crackling but equally satisfying was another winner with the ladies) and all in all we were very happy bunnies by the time we’d daintily munched our way through it all.

Two hours after we’d first sat down, the cute waiter was happy to leave us with the dessert menu and treated us to a new cocktail the bar was trying out: a pretty orange-coloured concoction involving mandarin vodka, cointreau and fresh mandarin. With a second mojito and a twisted lime and clove daiquari (one of the many special recipes from the hot barman/cocktail genius Darren), we decided to share a round of warm cinnamon and brown sugar doughnuts with blueberry jam and custard, and toasted sesame ice cream (€5.95). Not every part of the dish worked to our liking – we could have lived without the sesame ice cream – but we could each have demolished a pot of the blueberries and custard, which featured tart little berries perfectly off-set by the creamy vanilla custard. Once again the course was as well turned out as ourselves, and provided a more than suitable end to our girly dinner.

Unfortunately, time had come go home, and as I air-kissed handsome one last time for the night amid profuse thanks and flattery, I remembered why The Exchequer ticks every single box on this girl’s wish list. Now why instead of going home we found ourselves draining a second bottle of prosecco in the new club of Dublin’s original ladies’ man, is another story!

Peter Rock and Ian Tucker. 3-5 Exchequer St. Ph: 01 6706787, email: info@theexchequer.ie, web: www.theexchequer.ie. Accepts cards. Booking required for Sunday roast. Open 12pm-11.30pm Mon-Thurs, 12pm-2.30am Fri-Sat, 12p-11pm Sun

How to do Dublin

2010-12-28T05:56:00.000-08:00

Recently I got a message from an American couple who were coming to Dublin and wanted some advice on what places to visit to experience the city in little bites. Personally, I think this is the perfect way to see a city - you really appreciate how food connects everything we do in life, and it's such a good way to get the feel of a new place and people. As I set to work writing my reply, it occurred to me I should post it on the blog, so it can be a resource for any foodie out there looking for an inside track to Dublin's best bits. Also, my message to Misty (that's the lady's name) turned out to be the War & Peace of messages, so making a blog post out of it almost counts as work - so I don't feel so bad about spending all that time on it instead of writing reviews!

So here's my message to Misty:

Hi Misty,

Sure that's no problem- that's exactly how I like to do it!

The city centre is divided by the river into north and south side and has districts at its four corners: Smithfield (north-west) and IFSC/North docklands (north-east) and these are connected by tram. Then there's south docklands/Grand Canal basin (south east) and Kilmainham/James' Gate (south west). The middle bit includes O'Connell St and surrounding shopping streets (north) and Dame St, Christchurch, St Stephen's Green and Grafton St (south).

There's loads to see and do all over so I'll list good places to look out for in the different areas, and things you might be doing in those places.

North Side

Smithfield has the Jameson Distillery and Chief O'Neill's tower, where you get a good view of the city. Walking further eastwards along the quays you'll come to the Parkgate St entrance to the Phoenix Park, where Dublin Zoo is. The Luas (tram) goes to both Smithfield and almost to Parkgate St - I love the zoo and the park so if there's time I'd visit there - you'll also find Juno's Café on Parkgate St which is terrific.

If you walk back along the quays towards O'Connell St, you'll pass Capel St, which has interesting little ethnic food shops and bakeries, and just off it on Little Mary St is a good Chinese restaurant called Jade. The top of Capel St meets Parnell St, the entire length of which is like our Chinatown. There's loads of restaurants but the best are Sichuan House, Charming Noodles (cheap n cheerful) and a Korean restaurant called Kimchi at a pub called the Hop House. On Cathedral St, off O'Connell St, is another very good Chinese place called M&L.

Moving further along the quays towards O'Connell St you'll pass the 'Italian Quarter' or Bloom's Lane, off Ormond Quay. You'll see some nice Italian cafés and restaurants here, my favourite of which is Enoteca delle Langhe (for nice Italian cheeses and a glass of wine). Close to this on Millennium Walkway you'll find Koh, which does nice cocktails and Thai food, and also Boojum the Mexican place which does lovely fresh burritos and great house made chilli sauce. New to the area, on Great Strand Street, is Foam Café and Gallery - a quirky place that's fun to hang out in, with some nice artisanal organic lemonades and baked treats worthy of note.

Continuing along the quays, you'll find Liffey St, which has one of my favourite wine bar/delis, Taste of Emilia - great bruschetta and boards of Italian DOP meats and cheeses, and lovely wine. And also on this street is a Japanese restaurant called Ten Thousand (take-away called Kokoro beside it) which has some of the best value sushi in the city. You'll also find the Epicurean Mall between Liffey St and Abbey St, inside which are loads of cool food stalls - my favourite of which is Taco Taco (one of our best for Mexican street food).

If you have the time and/or inclination I do recommend The Winding Stair on Ormond Quay - you have to book and it's not nibbles (more a serious feed), but it's Irish food at it's best and one of my fav restaurants in the country. I wouldn't miss it, if possible.

If you were to carry on down towards the IFSC (Irish Financial Services Centre) and the docklands, you'll find loads of places down here, and it's a district well worth visiting. Ely wine bar at CHQ is good, and Enowine (or La Cuvee) and another Bar Italia are in the actual IFSC. On down to the Point Village there's a busy food/flea market on Saturdays and Sundays, with great food stalls, and you might have a go on the Dublin Eye - which is a big wheel for seeing the city.

The Luas goes right through the IFSC, all the way down to the Point Village.

South Side

The north and south docklands are connected by a couple of bridges, the most spectacular of which is the Samuel Beckett bridge that went up last year. If you cross this bridge you can head over to the Grand Canal basin, where the fab Grand Canal theatre has just opened - it's a really cool new part of the city and you should definitely see it. Also there's nice little places on Hanover Quay and Ely HQ has a heated terrace so you can sit outside and watch the swans on the water over a drink and some food. Herbstreet beside it is also fab - I'd choose it over Ely just for the chicken wings, and you can still look at the water if you sit by the window. Across the way is a pretty good new Spanish-style café bar that does tapas, called Café H.

Across the main road (Pearse Street) is KC Peaches - owned by a really nice American girl called Katie! It does terrific brunch (especially the Healthy Howth omlette or fried egg sandwich) and also really good muffins and baked goods. Just up the road The Art of Coffee does, just as you'd expect from that name, amazing coffee. And across from that is Il Valentino artisan bakery - just in case you need to buy some snacks for the road!

If you head up Pearse St back towards the centre, you'll see Trinity College (definitely go in for a look) and you'll come to the Dame St, Grafton St, Stephen's Green end of things. There's loads to do around here, especially shopping, but a visit to this area won't be complete unless you go to Fallon & Byrne on Exchequer St. It's foodie Mecca in Dublin - with a fab wine bar in the cellar where you can order cheese and paté etc, a nice deli on the ground floor where you can get food and bring it to the wine bar below, and a restaurant on the first floor. Personally, the ground floor and basement are my favourite places, I never bother with the restaurant.

Also nice to visit around this area are: Dunne & Crescenzi on Sth Fredrick St (Italian café/wine bar); the Port House on Sth William St for fantastic tapas. Havana on George's St also does tapas (although not quite as good as the Port House), but it has a great atmosphere; in the Powerscourt Shopping Centre there's a gorgeous little café called the Pepper Pot, which has lovely food and a yummy citrus ice tea; Le Café des Irlandais on George's St is a French rotisserie restaurant that does irresistible roast duck and chicken; and Govinda's on Aungier St (also Merrion Row and Middle Abbey St) does some of the tastiest vegetarian food you'll find in Dublin, and very cheap too. Finally, if you go to Dublin Castle and the Chester Beatty Library, the Silk Road café in the library is lovely. And Queen of Tarts across the road on Dame St is a venerable institution for breakfast, lunch or snacks - pastries, of course, are order of the day. And on Castle St nearby a little place called Toffoli does fantastic pizza, bruschetta and other Italian foods, with exceptionally good Italian ingredients, particularly the meats.

If you're visiting 'Georgian Dublin' i.e. around Merrion Square, Fitzwilliam Square, Pembroke Street etc, look out for: Dax on Pembroke St (a French restaurant and café-bar), the restaurant's pricey but the café-bar does good nibbles and wines, and has live jazz on Thursday and Friday evenings; Ely wine bar on Ely Place (lovely wine bar with good atmosphere); Pearl Brasserie on Merrion Row (not so much for casual nibbles but it's a great restaurant); and Diep le Shaker on Pembroke Lane (fab Thai restaurant, also a bit fancy). If you're near Baggot St on a week-day and fancy lunch on the run, try Pablo Picante burrito bar (take-away only but great burritos)- they've recently opened a sit-down/take-away place on Clarendon Market close to Grafton Street (see my post 'Burrito Bonanza' for more details about these!) Also Mantraa is a great Indian restaurant on this street and does really good value lunch deals.

If you go for walk out near the new rugby stadium (The Aviva stadium), find Juniors café and pizza places, and the Chop House gastropub nearby on Bath Avenue.

Two good places for beer and food are the Bull & Castle beer hall at Christchurch (not so great on food but a must for beer fans) and Against the Grain on Wexford St, which seems to have nicer food. This second location is also a night spot - Anseo is my favourite pub down here. Then I also love the Exchequer Bar on Exchequer St, beside Fallon & Byrne, for cocktails and night life, and it also does great gastropub food.

Finally, the Museum of Modern Art is in Kilmainham and the Guinness brewery is in James' Gate - if you're coming up this way there's a cute little place called Just off Francis (on Thomas St just off Francis St) which is good for food and drinks.

This is just a synopsis, I'm sure you'll have great fun discovering the rest! Hope you have a brilliant time!

PS. My current fav restaurant is Michie Sushi. It's the best sushi in Dublin - the other's aren't at the races at all by comparison. It's outside the centre in a lovely village called Ranelagh - only a few stops on the Luas from St Stephen's Green, and down a tiny street called Chelmsford Lane. It's only a little nook but it's soooo worth the effort if you like good sushi, and it has that feel of a secret place. Ranelagh's also nice to see, and there's a lovely wine bar just under the Luas station.

Burrito bonanza!

2010-08-17T00:23:00.000-07:00

With a rake of new openings in the recent past, the Dubs are going Tex-Mex mad for filling cheap eats of all shapes, sizes and strength of chilli pepper hotness. Burritos are the new panini, it would seem, and with this taste-value ratio it's not hard to see why. From new takeaway bars such as Burritos & Blues and Pablo Picante to old stalwarts like Café Azteca and Taco Taco that are still doing their good hot stuff for now even keener prices, we’re loving the Dublin Mexican wave.

Burrito & Blues, 2 Wexford Street, Dublin 2
Literally just open, this funky little corner space couldn’t be more welcome in the young, happening end of town that is its new neighbourhood. Build your own burrito how you like it – with a choice of four strengths of hot sauce from mild to ‘blow-your-head-off’ salsa – or choose a house favourite such as the Silver Bullet ‘king of burritos’ with all the trimmings. Quick and tasty on the hoof or sitting in listening to some suitably delicious blues, this burrito bar won’t be long becoming a local favourite.

Pablo Picante, 131 Baggot Street, Dublin 2
Another burrito bar that opened to much aplomb last year, Pablo Picante is one part serious Tex-Mex street food, one part masked Mexican wrestler (we kid you not, check out his effigy on the walls of the establishment!) Perhaps the menacing figure represents the power of their house made chilli sauce, as demonstrated in the legendary heat of the ‘Super Picc,’ that’s reported to be hotter than most can handle. Whatever he means, the quality of the food – such as the Carnitas of slow roast pulled pork or the filling Victorio Verde veggie burrito replete with zingy house made guacamole – as well as great value prices, have people queuing out the door daily. Get there early for lunch.

Boojum, Millenium Walkway, Dublin 1
Inspired by the no-nonsense taquerias of Mexico, the young owners behind Boojum brought their take on the concept first to Belfast and now to Dublin. The idea is fast food based on fresh ingredients, great flavour and good value, and, in the words of Lady Gaga, hot like Mex-i-co! Burritos are built to order with a choice of salsas: mild tomato or corn, medium heat tangy salsa verde, or smoky hot salsa roja. The result is fresh, healthy and super tasty. Their well-known value extends to good student deals too.

Sabores de Mexico, Harcourt Street (Thursday), Temple Bar and Leopardstown Markets
“Muy Auténtico y muy bueuno! This is the first and only time I've found real Mexican food in Ireland in the last four years,” gushed one enthusiast for Gustavo and Theresa Hernandez’s authentic street food. Newly installed at the Harcourt Street food market, Sabores de Mexico has been on the Dublin market circuit for some time. Fancy a chorizo taco with frijoles refritos and homemade salsa? You’ll also find them at the Temple Bar Market on Saturdays, Leopardstown on Fridays, or further a field in Brooklodge in Wicklow on the first Sunday of every month.

Cactus Jacks, Millennium Walkway (Middle Abbey St), Dublin 1
A good value restaurant offering a range of Tex-Mex and steak dinners, including some nice coeliac and vegetarian options, Cactus Jacks is becoming a hit with Dubs and visitors alike. Possibly most striking on the menu are the prices. With an early bird offer of three courses for €19.95 including a glass of house wine or soft drink, daily from 4 to 7pm, or the three for €10 tapas deal, or the free meals for kids under 12 on Sundays, you get a lot of spicy bang for your buck.

Cortina’s, The Pembroke District , Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin 14
More delicious and filling Mexican food, this time as an oasis in the retail jungle that is the Dundrum Centre. This recently opened restaurante offers everything from Mexican style tapas and sandwiches to starters and mains. Salsas such as mango, lime and chilli and salsa de mole are made in house, and the smoky corn chowder entrada is a popular choice. These folks know their achote from their agave, just beware cocktail offers that may not be all that they seem.

Cafe Azteca, 19 - 21 Lord Edward Street, Dublin 2
This cheap and cheerful Mexican café has been pleasing the crowd for some time now, with its simple and great value snack food based on good ingredients – to which its evening cookery classes can attest. That’s right, Café Azteca not only serves up great tomales, pozole and taquitos, it also gives lessons on how to make them. Now open late from Thursday to Saturday, look out for its huevos rancheros wrap with fresh homemade salsa for breakfast.

Taco Taco, Epicurean Food Hall, Liffey Street Lower, Dublin 1
It’s hard to beat the value of a Taco Taco taco. When it comes to fast food, this is hard to beat all round. Service is friendly and the food is delicious, with more Mexican snack foods than you can shake a stick at, from tostada (corn tortilla fried in oil) to mollete (Mexican style crusty roll with refried beans and filling), sincronizada (filling between two tortillas) to grilled chicken torta (deep fried tortilla with chicken filling including fresh green tomatillo salsa), and all the usual suspects too. It’s no wonder regulars describe themselves as addicted to Taco Taco. With this kind of deliciousness available this cheaply and conveniently, it wouldn’t be hard.

Food for the soul

2010-05-19T01:31:00.000-07:00

Being a blogger and foodie facebooker (I did just make that up) I meet people with different interesting connections to food. For instance there's Chris, or Soul Man as I like to call him, the founder of Dublin's only major soul festival. I wasn't sure at first how I could play any part in his magnum opus - the festival he dreamed up for our fair city, now in it's fourth year - but turns out there's a space for food and foodie-ism just about anywhere. Makes sense I suppose, when your aim is to enrich the soul. Food has always been up there with music as an agent of those same heady, evocative properties.

So after a few not brief meetings at various Dublin cafés and coffee shops - discussing music, food and everything else you can fit into the space of several cappuccinos - me and the Soul Man came up with the idea of a 'Soul Food Trail' or the 'Soul Food Restaurant Trail,' as it's turned out in the end. The basic premise was to see how many restaurants, cafés, gastropubs and so on would get involved in the festival: playing music, dressing up their space, but most importantly, having a signature 'soul food' dish on the menu for the duration. We hoped for other acts of participation too, like perhaps having special offers for festival-goers or giving away dinner vouchers as prizes, as part of the promotion of the festival. But the key thing was the soul dish, as the real point of engagement between music and food for the week that was in it.

Naturally, times being tough 'n all, people were less willing and/or able to deviate from the daily business of surviving (for many, according to strict budgetary plans), but there was also a surprisingly good turn out for the trail, in spite of things. This upped the ante somewhat, so we thought: what could we do to drive our participants to greater heights of creativity, to really push the food experience of the festival to the level we were hoping for?

Of course - and I know I'm biased - Bridgestone was the obvious catalyst! And Bridgestone being Bridgestone, they (John and Sally) couldn't resist the notion of such a sensory mélonge and, well, just the plain ol' thought of 'soul food.' So now we had a contest on our hands, making it the task of the Bridgestone judges to find the 'Best Soul Food' before the end of the week.

As the week of the festival approaches, we have no idea what to expect and the highest hopes for this unusual event, most of all of seeing the potential for something even grander next year. On a personal note, I'm just dying to see this great mix of food and music, tourists and home crowd, and the whole cultural shooting match in full swing!

It's also got me thinking quite deeply about what 'soul food' means to people? I like to think of it as a very broad term that could take on as many meanings as the imagination can allow, as long as it's edible and touches the soul in some way or other. The comfort food you reach for every time you need a happy injection. Or complex creations by a talented artist that make you close your eyes and think about it until you drift away to some other place. Or just something you make because the smell takes you back to another time in your life to which attaches some warm feeling or nostalgia you seem to need, explicable or not.

I am REALLY looking forward to seeing 'soul food' in all its forms next week, and hope the trail becomes a fixture, as the festival itself has now become. On that note I'll part with a 'soul food' dish of my very own, which contains two of the most evocative aromas for this foodie - roast chicken and cinnamon §:) (Dublin City Soul Festival 27 - 30 May 2010, www.dublincitysoulfestival.ie)

Caroline's Spicy Barbecued Chicken

One whole chicken
Olive oil
Chilli oil
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tsp cinnamon
Small pinch nutmeg (freshly grated)
Sprig fresh thyme (picked)
Good hot pepper sauce, to taste (such as Piri Piri, I love Smoked Tobasco)
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Good squeeze of lemon
Sea salt (Maldon's my fav)
Black pepper

I prefer to roast the chicken before grilling, for that essential roast chicken aroma, but the recipe can be cooked from scratch on the bbq (just be careful to cook it all properly).

1. Massage the chicken with generous amounts of olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, then roast slowly until cooked and juicy (get a good quality bird to ensure best results).

2. Once cooled, remove the legs (as drumsticks and thighs), wings, breasts, oysters, and any other good bit you fancy, and place in a large bowl of some sort. The carcass can be used for stock.

3. Sprinkle the chicken with all the other ingredients, as evenly as possible, as well as some more sea salt and black pepper and toss (very carefully to keep the skin in place) to ensure it's all well coated. Cover and allow to marinate from anywhere between 2 and 24 hours.

4. Finally, when your barbecue is ready, put the chicken on the grill until it's nicely charred and the garlic and spices have had a chance to cook. (I find using a grilling basket makes life a lot easier for turning so many small bits - and it means it all gets done evenly). Serve sizzling hot with lemon wedges, and make sure to eat the crispy fat and get the chilli oil all over you face!

What makes them special?

2010-05-02T03:42:00.000-07:00

You know those cafés which, by and large, you don't notice? They're sometimes quaint but mostly nondescript, sometimes bearing intriguing titles or frontage a good deal fancier than the bill of fare inside turns out to be. They quietly do their daily trade below the radar of journalists and food writers, which for the most part is understandable.

Their ubiquity around Ireland seemed to accompany the burgeoning of the economy through the last decade, as indeed 'coffee to-go' and deli counter food - cornerstones of the modern foodservice and convenience offering - came to symbolise a new culture of 'cash-rich and time-poor' consumerism. Their standards seem to reflect the needs of their customers and their value for money perhaps a little more so nowadays than in the past. But in general they have one thing in common: homogeny.

And yet, on the rarest of occasions, you will happen upon one that seems to be of a different breed. On first appearances, it may seem the same, perhaps owing to the presence of chicken tikka and tuna mayo, or other such regulars of the standard deli. But then something about it sets it apart, and what that is only some people will appreciate.

I recently stepped into one of these 'special' coffee shops, just next to Patrick's Cathedral of all places. Almost instantly I began to wonder, 'what makes this special?' Is it little details in the decor or atmosphere - on this occasion, filled with the scent of cinnamon buns that were baking in the smallest imaginable oven - or perhaps the way they toast the bread, under an old fashioned grill?

Is it the way they make good old fashioned scrambled eggs, without the addition of cream or chives, but cooked moist nonetheless? Is it the way their coffee is unexpectedly good? Or is it the way their steady stream of regular customers flit easily in and out, occupying their favourite nooks and rattling off their usual orders to staff with whom they have a comfortably friendly relationship?

Truth is it's all of the above, but most of all, it's the owners of the business who give it its je ne sais quoi. Love, that is. Love of food, love of good service, love of the place. The most refreshing thing about 'it' when you do come by it is its authenticity, because it's something that can't be faked. Those little details that make a place special arise from a person's genuine interest in what they're offering, and a genuine love of what they do.

Bite of Life on Dublin 8's humble Patrick Street is full of love! Established in 1997 by husband and wife team Jorinde and Conor Moynihan, its small, simply furnished interior is more than well-equipped to give as much pleasure as some of the most popular brunch spots in town. What could be more perfect than Saturday morning with the paper, in the window seat next to the cosy log fire, watching the world go by while enjoying a breakfast of simple pleasures and the smell of freshly baked, homemade buns?

The food is simple: perfectly scrambled eggs and toast, with a choice of smoked salmon or bacon if you're feeling so inclined; perfect porridge with honey and banana; fresh homemade cakes and confections; and an array of homemade soups, salads and sandwiches on bread from Blazing Salads. And good coffee.

There's nothing to stand out and grab your attention in the humble offering at Bite of Life, and perhaps nothing special in its homely space or cheerful yellow exterior. However, if you also have a love of food and those things which people like Jorinde and Conor Moynihan appreciate deeply, you too will see what's special about their café, and those other gems that share the same love.

Review, 9th February

Bite of Life
Café and juice bar
55 Patrick Street
Dublin 8

T:01 4542949
www.biteoflife.com

Open Monday to Friday 7.30am to 4pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am to 4pm
Caters for offices (platters), ring before 11am to order. Free delivery.

Honesty and consistency, too much to ask?

2010-02-15T03:00:00.000-08:00

Is it just me or has everyone got it in for Conrad Gallagher? Maybe I'll rephrase the question: have the critics in this town collectively decided to switch off their taste buds when they walk into Conrad Gallagher's new restaurant? Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I was of the belief that reviewers are supposed to critique the food, not the interior design, the proprietor's character and/or history...

"I hated it," said one well-known critic, "Thornton's is doing all that and much better," he declared to me. Really? Last I checked, the €25 three course lunch at Thornton's contains roughly the same amount of food, less ingredients in season, and arguably no more flare in the cooking. It has a nicer room with more expensive furnishings, a more fashionable address, and perhaps is serving up dishes more in tune with the expectations of today's audience - ie hearty soup in a bowl not in an eggcup etc - but the food does not outshine Gallagher's, in all objectiveness.

We've all sat round the table at one time or another with a person or persons that just refuse to be impressed by anything, and adopt the 'what's so special about that' attitude to everything before them. I've seen it at L'Ecrivain and Chapter One! But it's absolutely facetious, obtuse even, for a critic to do it, and this is the only explanation I can fathom for some of the critique I have read for Salon des Saveurs.

Honesty and consistency are essential qualities for any reviewer, if anything you say is to be taken seriously that is. Reviews must be balanced and conducted according to sound and consistent methods, and above all they must be honest. The truth is not a matter of opinion.

This is my review of Conrad Gallagher's new restaurant, and I hope a fair reflection of it.

SALON DES SAVEURS

Conrad Gallagher is nothing if not controversial. His every move attracts the attention of the press and seems to spark the interest of Joe public, so colourful has his story been to date. He blazed a trail onto the Irish food scene over two decades ago, winning four gold medals at the Hotel Olympia and Chef Ireland, having begun his training at just 12 years old. Then, following time spent in the kitchens of some of the most revered restaurants of the world, including Monaco’s inimitable Louis XV and New York’s Le Cirque, Gallagher returned to Dublin with his own restaurant, Peacock Alley, named for the famous and eponymous institution at the Waldorf Astoria, where he passed two years as sous chef.

The rest, as they say, is history. At 25 he was the youngest chef ever to receive the coveted Michelin Star, for his work at Peacock Alley in Dublin, and by his 27th year he had gained his second star. And then it all went horribly wrong.

I’m not going to write about what befell the troubled chef after that – the details have been recalled in summary and in full more than a few times since his return to Ireland – except to say that, in conversation with the man himself recently, he asserts that he has never lost money on food, of which fact he remains proud in spite of anything else that may have gone wrong for him.

So now he has opened Salon Des Saveurs, a ‘tasting restaurant’ which also goes by the name ‘The Tasting Room.’ Not too far in distance but worlds away from his old address, Salon inhabits the snug site that was formerly Darwin’s on Aungiers Street, while the latter has moved across the road.

Neither fashionable or elegant in its location nor in its furnishing, Gallagher’s new home has come in for a whole lot of criticism from the resident opiners. The room is dim and decorated in a gaudy, ‘modern style’ circa 1995, they write. And as for the food? The charge of retro-ising, and not in an ironic or otherwise clever manner, has similarly been levelled at it. I’d go so far as to say the tone has a touch of ‘is that all?’ as critics come to be impressed and sit back waiting to be underwhelmed.

Most of the reviewers descended within the first week of opening – which was delayed and still pushed on before all was ready – and some on the first night. And yet, the critique has been largely unforgiving. With claims of tiny portions, mean wine serves, outmoded food, and a generally not very impressive experience to be had all round, the press seemed to be giving Salon the thumbs down.

This I found bemusing. At first glance, the menu is intriguing, if not singular. It offers nothing but tasting menus for dinner, each with course by course wine matches, which as a concept I have not seen before in this city. Secondly, the menus start at €24 (or double the menu price with wine pairings), and proceed upwards to €34, €44 and finally, €54. The tasting menu is a rare experience for most diners, one many would love but few can afford, and here is a restaurant offering nothing but and at prices that make it accessible to all pockets.

I phoned for a reservation and accepted a late sitting on a busy Saturday night, some two weeks after the restaurant had opened. On arrival I was greeted by the laid back charm of Bruno Berta, well-known chef and restaurateur who once worked in the kitchen of Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud, and then again by Gallagher’s wife, Candice. Finally we were seated towards the back of the room, at the edge of a busy route between the kitchen and the floor, and were handed menus to peruse.

Okay, the décor, it has to be said, could be considered ‘uncool’ and even a bit gaudy – especially the monumental painting of five multi-starred French chefs – but (a), I’m not a design guru who gets offended by things I consider bad taste, and (b) ‘expensive’ is neither the modus operandi nor the aim of Salon, so my surrounds did little to detract from my happiness on the night. The atmosphere was buzzy with the sounds of excited diners and the rushing of the waiters up and down from the kitchen, and back and forth from the bar (which incidentally looked like an accident waiting to happen such was the volume of used and clean glassware perched atop it). Again, I found myself relatively unperturbed by any of this, and most would find it par for the course in restaurants of equivalent scale and calibre in Paris.

I would agree the service could do with sharpening up – on knowledge of the food and wine, and in general, becoming a little less manic – but after only two weeks, it’s too soon to judge a crew that is still getting used to its new routine.

Different waiters offered us water and bread, and we got stuck into the enticing lists before us. I made up my mind I wanted the €24 menu: a light and tempting array comprising parsnip-vanilla velouté, with prawn, sweet pimentos, and garden tarragon; wasabi-cured salmon ‘pastrami,’ with pickled pear, ginger, soy, and dill oil; risotto of soya beans, with calamari, chorizo, rocket, and crème fraîche; daube of beef with celeriac mousseline, salsify, fava beans, pearl onion, and parsley hollandaise; and finished with a ‘tasting of apple.’

Alas, I was informed that this would not be possible. The person who took my reservation neglected to explain, as they should have, that menus are per table only, whether for a party of two or 10. I could understand that it would probably be next to impossible to deliver several different tasting menus all at one time, and over 48 covers per sitting, but I couldn’t help feeling cheated somehow.

Disappointed, we settled on the €34 menu (€68 with the matching wines), but they were willing to swap in a course for me, within reason, if that made me feel better. I took advantage of the offer, troublemaker that I am, and thought to myself, ‘this better be good,’ since you see fit to boss me around so. Our young waiter, formerly at Bang café he blithely informed us, was good-humoured if not a little casual with us in answering all our questions and requests. I admit the jury was out as we awaited our first course.

Round one, and out came pumpkin soup with pancetta, black trumpet mushrooms, Parmesan, and truffle oil, served deconstructed, with its garnish on the side. Gallagher explained to me that although he was one of the first in town to serve soup like the French, ie. garnish in the bowl and soup poured over the top at the table, with this presentation he feels he’s pushing things on. Here I must disagree with him and I threw my garnish back into the soup where it belongs. This was somewhat difficult as the soup was served in a slightly oversized eggcup, but no more difficult than attempting to eat, with a teaspoon, the garnish of those delicate black chanterelles and lightly pan-fried pancetta off the tiny little salver on which they arrived. Chef may be right, that the soup does not need the garnish, but I believe the garnish missed the soup.

But then I tasted the soup and for the first time since arriving, my inner critic was silenced. Every golden mouthful was mellifluous, luxurious and deeply layered, bursting with the complex earthy flavours of the truffle, giving way to that sweet squash and the salty richness of Parmesan cheese. Every mouthful testified to Gallagher’s undeniable ability as a chef, and by the end I was satisfied that the portion was the perfect amount. To drink with it, Californian Bogle (Clarksburg) Viognier 2007 was an elegant partner, with just enough richness and weight on the palate, and refreshing acidity and perfume to compliment the flavours and texture of the soup.

Next arrived the risotto of asparagus, laced with Parmesan, chanterelle mushrooms, caraway seeds and topped with duck leg confit. I opted at this point for my substitution and called out a neat tranche of the wasabi-cured salmon. I enjoyed its delicate flavours; dill, lightly spicy ginger and the faintest hint of wasabi on the fish, although personally I could have handled more heat. And again, I enjoyed the chosen match of Pierre Chainier, Tour de la Roche Tourraine 2008 from the Loire Valley, whose lychee, slight gooseberry and citrus fruit, and lean mineral finish worked a treat.

Round three, and it was time for ravioli of spice crab, beetroot, pumpkin, spinach, and curried froth. Again, simple but impressive and belying the skill and creativity of a practiced master. The freshly made pasta was just al dente, swaddling a bundle of delicately flavoured crabmeat. Perhaps a secret success of this dish was its pairing with Domaine de Robert Fleurie 2007, which was ever so slightly spicy and possessed the chewy fruit of a cranberry jelly or current sauce of the kind that might accompany game. Unexpectedly it worked, particularly with the sweetness of the pumpkin and beetroot, whose colours looked most attractive in the dish as I worked through it.

On to the canon of lamb with tapenade, slow cooked aubergine, red onion, goats cheese, and saffron aioli. This dish in particular has been criticized as stingy – with which, in the context of the five courses, I cannot agree – however, the kitchen has had no problem sending out extra helpings for those who found it lacking. I found it perfectly cooked and very pleasing, if not quite as exciting as preceding courses. And once again, nicely spiced and generous of fruit and body, Pervini, Archidamo Primitivo di Maduria (Puglia) 2006 was a fine match.

We finished with the ‘tasting of lemon:’ lemon tart, ice lemon soufflé, lemon rice pudding, and spiced lemon cake, all of which was sublime with the fresh, zesty flavours of Mount Horrocks “Cordon Cut” Riesling (Clare Valley) 2008. The meal had been an unmitigated success, and whatever misgivings I’d had at the beginning were most certainly forgotten by the end. I even found myself approving of the fact that each table can only choose one menu, forcing all diners to become more engaged with the food, having to sell their favourite to rest of their party, in a bid to get their choice of menu – brings a bit of theatre to the occasion of having a meal.

The bill came to €153, including the “suggested” 12.5% service charge which is added on my behalf (wasn’t entirely delighted by that) but we felt we’d just received great value nonetheless.

Making his way around the room at the end of service, Gallagher sat and chatted with his customers. In his kitchen are four young chefs, including one who was formerly a commis chef at Peacock Alley, and one only 22 years old charged with making desserts. All recipes are from Gallagher himself, as are all the wine matches. He does all his own buying – all Irish meat and fish, except for his whole ducks which he sources from France – and he’s very much the motor of his own kitchen.

“I know I have to earn my stripes again,” he said to me over coffee, “but I’m committed to doing that.” And I believe he will. Salon des Saveurs may need a little time to get there, but the chef in its kitchen remains, as ever, one of our very best.

Review, 15th February 2010

Salon des Saveurs

16 Aungiers Street
Dublin 2

T: 01 4758 840
www.salondessaveurs.com

Open for lunch Monday to Saturday 12.30pm – 2.30 pm; dinner Monday to Saturday 5pm to 10pm; pre-theatre dinner Monday to Saturday 5pm to 6.30pm

Reservations necessary for dinner. Credit card machine “not working” at present, call in advance to check

Lunch/pre-theatre: Two courses for €18.95, three for €23.95

All wines available by the glass, from €6.50 to €14, and by the bottle

And all for a tenner!

2010-02-08T10:26:00.000-08:00

Speaking of all things cool and in the vicinity of Camden Street, I had to write to you about Green Nineteen, just in case no one else has. This place has become a hot spot and even hard to get into on a Tuesday night. Not surprising for a cool little eatery doing good food and all mains at 10 quid! And what a cocktail list too; a mint julep which comes in an icy cold metal cup, or the zingy Mexican Green, a blend of Tequila, Marachino Liqueur, pressed apple juice, fresh chilli and bitters. On my last visit I chose something called ‘All business’ (given it was a week day and that) which was a berry delicious concoction finished off with fresh raspberries and mint – very healthy!

The food is also something to write home about, most of all because of the great value. The chicken supreme with mushroom and tarragon cream and lemon zest mash, adorned with a tasty selection of roast root veg, is a very generous portion for the price. And yum-looking, and wolfed down by one fellow diner. A bargain at €10, although no indication of the chicken’s provenance and no clue from our server. The menu does indicate that all beef cooked in the restaurant is 100% Irish.

The grilled seasonal veg sandwich on brown toast with smoked Gubeen and Irish leaves was a very tasty and filling lunch, but ironically possibly a little expensive at €8.50. However, I do get it. High cost items like the cocktails, sarnies, cheese boards etc (which personally I really enjoyed and which cost the same at other venues) may be what allows Green Nineteen to offer its fab main courses at such a low price. And as I’ve mentioned, without moving more mark-up onto the rest of the menu than consumers will find elsewhere.

The atmosphere is relaxed and funky, the cocktails are grrr-eat, and all in all, this is a genuinely good idea. So I count myself lucky to have Green Nineteen, and long may it satisfy our need for lovely hearty food at a keen price, accompanied by decadent cocktails.

Review, 15th August 2009

Green Nineteen
19 Camden Street Lower
Dublin 2

T: 01 4789626
www.green19.ie

Email: management@green19.ie

Open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 11pm, and noon to 6pm on Sunday. Doesn’t take reservations for early sitting i.e. until 4pm, then kitchen closes until 5pm. Booking for evening is possible however, and advisable.

Le pichet, s'il vous plait

2010-02-08T10:18:00.000-08:00

Owners Stephen Gibson and Nick Munier describe their new venture as ‘a modern take on the classic bistro,’ which is fair enough. Modern incarnations of classic dishes such as citrus cured organic salmon, avocado, salmon wasabi crème fraîche and soy and mirin dressing (€9.00), and mackerel, brick pastry, horseradish, shaved fennel and
beetroot vinaigrette (€7.00) certainly live up to the reputation.

Having visited last Sunday I think ‘an Irish take on the classic bistro’ is an equally apt description. Despite their complicated sounding titles, it’s clear that quality fresh, produce is the cornerstone of all dishes at Pichet, presented in suitably unfussy fashion so as to allow diners to appreciate them.

Pichet bears the hallmarks of experienced restaurateurs. Although open only three months the operation appears to run like a well-oiled machine; the interior is well thought out and well finished, the service is friendly and professional, the menu is concise and appealing from top to bottom, and the wine list – as the bistro’s name implies – allows plenty of options by the glass, 250ml or 500ml pichet, and bottle. They also have beer and stout on draught behind the bar which serves as a deli counter during the day.

We were impressed before we’d ordered a thing, and even more so when they obligingly brought my fellow eater his required balsamic vinegar and olive oil for dipping the fresh, crusty bread. After long deliberations (always a good sign when the menu is relatively concise) I opted for the Castletown Bere crab, chorizo mayonnaise and sour dough toast, and mussels and clams à la Grèque (€12.00), and cleared my plate. The crabmeat was fresh as a daisy and dotted with the tiniest bits of chorizo, which when combined with the creamy, yellow mayo was melt-in-the-mouth to the last bite. While the mussels and clams in their chilled herby tomato base gave a nice little taste of something else, just for interest.

The salad of crispy hens egg, Serrano ham, baby leeks, and caper vinaigrette (€7.00) also disappeared without a trace, as did the small pichet of rosé we to chose to accompany the first course (La Vie en Rose, VdP des Collines Rhodaniennes, Domaine du Monteillet, France 2007, €10.25).

The mains were equally hard to choose for all the delicious-sounding options, but we did at last decide on the certified Hereford 10oz ribeye, (from Peter Hannon,
Co Armagh), béarnaise sauce, watercress salad, and chips (€26.00), and the confit suckling pig with puy lentils, Toulouse sausage, sauerkraut, and Dalkey mustard (€20.00). Despile my best efforts, I could not stop myself from finishing off the molten suckling pig and trimmings, the meat topped with generous slabs of salty crackling. And the steak was deemed to one of the best we’d seen in a Dublin restaurant – and I must also mention that the chips tasted as though they’d been cooked in a good quality fat, staying delicious to the end of dinner.

To go with the second course, I had chosen a glass of Barbera d’Alba, Prunotto, Italy 2007 (€8.00) which proved to have been so popular that night they’d run out. So I went with a tasty pinot noir instead (Lake Chalice Estate, Marlborough, New Zealand 2007 €9.25), which worked perfectly with my suckling pig. My lad, being his own man, chose Sauvignon Blanc ‘Reserva’, St.Digna, Miguel Torres, Chile 2008 (€5.75) to go with his steak – each to their own!

Seeing as I’d been so bold over dinner already we shared dessert (€6.00); a yummy puff pastry tart filled with caramelised apple and topped with banana ice cream (although it had said vanilla on the menu, the surprise substitution did it for me). And next time I vow to be a beast and try some of their other creations, such as white chocolate cheesecake with passion fruit jelly and raspberries.

Pichet really has it all. By day it’s a nice little deli serving sandwiches, soups and pastries, as well as wine to takeaway. Then by night it serves up exceptionally good food for very reasonable prices, in cosy yet modern bistro ambience with great service. I haven’t a bad word to say about Pichet, it’s a star and one of the food highlights this year. According to Stephen Gibson they’ve been doing very well since they opened, booking out each weekend, so I have every confidence the bistro has what it takes to endure – it’s one of the few places delivering on the name ‘bistro’.

Review, 23rd September 2009

Pichet

Café, bar/wine shop and restaurant
14 – 15 Trinity Street
Dublin 2

T: 01 6771060
Email: info@pichetrestaurant.com
www.pichetrestaurant.com

Open Monday to Friday from 8am to 10.30pm, Saturday from 10am to 11pm, and Sunday from 12pm to 9pm

New pub for the old corner

2010-02-08T09:49:00.000-08:00

It was high time something opened in the prime spot at the Central Hotel on Dublin’s Exchequer Street. Fallon and Byrne and Ukiyo reside across the street, Odessa, Shebeen Chic and the Stag’s head occupy the far end of Dame Court and, of course, let’s not forget the Library bar above it. This corner has been sorely in need of something to complete the area, and something good too.

Well it seems the perfect solution has just landed right in it. The Exchequer, which opened on Halloween weekend, is everything we could hope for from a modern Irish pub. By day, and evening, the kitchen turns out an assortment of gastropub fare, based on quality Irish produce and artisan ingredients. By night, its talented bar staff offer up an impressive range of beers and unique cocktails not to be found anywhere else.

The brainchild of partners Ian Tucker and Peter Rock (son of Dickie), The Exchequer describes itself as a gastropub – quite literally, as it includes a dictionary definition of the word on its website: “A public house which specialises in serving high-quality food.” I would venture to define it further however, as a quite distinctly ‘Irish gastropub,’ one which makes a conscious effort in every way to appeal to a new generation of Irish gastronauts – and socially and environmentally aware to boot.

As we’re about food, I must draw attention first to the menu, which deserves some consideration. It gives plenty of choice – although not easy ones as it all looks good – but it doesn’t overreach and consequently, doesn’t overcharge. For starters I chose the Doran’s smoked chowder with potato and leek, at €4.95 a bowl. I always consider this dish to be a good benchmark and The Exchequer’s version, laden with tasty fish and seafood in the shell, over-delivers on price. We also sampled the potted Clogher Head brown crab with soda bread, severed with organic leaves (€8.95) and that was equally praise worthy.

In subsequent conversation with proprietor Ian Tucker, we learned that almost everything on the menu is sourced in Ireland and locally as possible. Gold River farm in Co Wicklow supplies the organic leaves, meat comes from O’Malley’s in Limerick, and all fish and seafood is supplied by Doran’s in Howth – mostly from Carlingford and some from the west of Ireland – and 100% from sustainable sources. This principle is followed through on the menu with the choice of battered ling ‘fingers’ as opposed to cod or haddock. And it’s actually a bestseller, as ling’s light texture lends itself well to frying in batter, not to mention its lower price.

The Exchequer is also a supporter of Irish artisan food producers, using Silke Cropp’s Corleggy Farmhouse goat's cheese in its warm roast organic beet salad, with prune and walnut relish and organic landcress (€11.95), and Desmond cheese from Sheridan’s Cheesemongers in its slow-cooked crispy duck salad with poached duck egg (€8.50). In addition, all air-dried meats and other charcuterie is supplied by James McGeough in Connemara, and the organic ice cream – apart from the delicious house-made stuff – comes from Tipperary Organic Ice Cream.

As I said, the whole menu looks really good! Back to our own selections on the night we visited, I went with the bowl of steamed cockles and West Cork’s Roaring Waterbay mussels (€11.95), which comes in a lovely white wine broth. My companion meanwhile scoffed the chargrilled rib of beef, champ, roasted shallot and red wine jus (€17.95), which was amply hearty to stand up to a pint, if you were that way inclined. All was yum, the plates went back spotless.

To it wash down, there is a selection of around 30 beers by the bottle, 11 special cocktails in addition to all the standards, and a very decent range of wines by the glass or bottle. In spite of it being a Tuesday, I couldn’t resist a list as tempting as this, so opted for a fragrant Basil and Elderflower Collins (€9) for an aperitif (heir cocktail menu is conveniently divided into starters, mains and afters), a glass of Kremser Kremsleiten Riesling (€8) for the starter, a Diva Chenin Blanc (South Africa, €7.25) to go with the cockles and mussels, and then finished with a Mr Exchequer (€9), a fab blend of bourbon or rum with clove syrup and angostura bitters.

All the cocktails are original recipes from multi-award-winning mixologist Darren Geraghty, who was overall winner of the first-ever Irish Open cocktail competition and is competing for Ireland in the forthcoming world championship contest. At €9 his creations put the €12 and upwards offerings of other not-too-far-away establishments to shame.

So finally, we rounded off our dinner with The Exchequer jelly and ice cream. (€4.95), which was served with autumn berries and homemade amoretti ice cream, and the chocolate platter which contains a sumptuous chocolate ganache tart, chocolate fondant, white chocolate mousse and organic chocolate truffle ice cream (€9.95). The platter is actually intended for two people to share, which makes it extremely reasonable price-wise, but if you’re feeling indulgent I advise you to go for it, you can always take the leftovers home. And the tart is great for breakfast with coffee….yes, I did just admit to that!

All pastries and ice cream, save those from Tipperary Organic Ice Cream, are made by The Exchequer’s own pastry chef Isabella, formerly of Thornton’s restaurant.

There’s nothing bad you can say about this new gastropub that has just blazed a trail into Dublin’s city centre. This is the pub we’ve all been crying out for and hope to see a lot more like it. It’s clear from their operation that its owners are genuinely into food and good old-fashioned Irish hospitality; they’ve just repackaged the Irish pub for today’s audience. So lets hope it succeeds and shows the rest how it’s done.

Review, 18th November 2009

The Exchequer
3-5 Exchequer Street
Dublin 2

T:01 670 6787

Email: info@theexchequer.ie
www.theexchequer.ie

Open for lunch and dinner Monday to Saturday, brunch and roast dinner on Sunday. Full late bar at weekends

Chapter One, where indulgence is good

2009-12-05T10:30:00.000-08:00

It was one of those great indulgent nights when you’d almost expect to wake up with gout never mind a hangover, but I woke the morning after our feast at Chapter One with neither. I can only attribute this to the excellence of the food and drink we’d consumed because, despite our indulgence, it’s just impossible to feel bad about something this good.

I also put it down to the superb company I was in that night; fellow gourmands who know when it’s neither the time nor the place for restraint. Briefly among the company also was the man himself, chef-proprietor Ross Lewis, who treated us to a tour of his newly revamped kitchen and, very generously, to two extra courses during our three and half hour repast.

The kitchen and the food that comes out of it are a testament to Lewis’ consummate professionalism and ability as a restaurateur. It is as aesthetically appealing as it is efficient in producing its world-class dishes. Tranquil and spotless, it turns out plate after plate of perfect food under the gaze of diners at the chef’s table and, of course, under the constant watchful eye of Lewis himself.

Food is the star at Chapter One. The cooking is classical, although with unique personality, and designed always to allow the ingredients to take centre stage. Flare is used to showcase produce, every ingredient to enhance the diner’s enjoyment of the dish. No needlessly complicated embellishments, nothing to distract from the quality of the food.

Knowing what we were preparing for and to do justice to the best of Irish cuisine, we spent a long time considering the wine list, with assistance from the very good humoured restaurant manager Declan Maxwell. To start off, the most experienced gourmand among us selected a developed gewurztraminer from Zind Humbrecht, as an aperitif to oil the wheels as we began the more serious deliberations.

It’s a good complaint when you want everything on the menu, but with the long journey ahead I thought it best to select lighter courses thereby allowing me to fit more in. And of course, I would inevitably dip into my companions’ plates too.

With breads selected – I opted for crusty white soda – and the last of our gewurtz slipping down nicely, the first amuse bouche arrived. A pretty arrangement of clams in a lively caper dressing with overnight oven-dried tomatoes and a few other morsels from the end of summer’s crop, it was the perfect opener for the seasonal feast on its way.

Next came Lewis’ beloved organic Irish sweetcorn soup, with a delicate little cepe tortellini at the centre and drizzle of cepe-scented olive oil on top. Sunshine in a bowl. From the vibrant yellow colour to the sweet and nutty flavours, the soup is a celebration of the early autumn. And it was as refreshing to hear Lewis talk so enthusiastically about his sweetcorn supplier, whose stock has already been blanched, removed from the cobs and carefully frozen to provide the basis of delicious stocks and soups for the next number of months. His delight in the wonderful produce translated perfectly into the delightfulness in our bowls.

At this point we took a quick pause to order a white wine for the approaching starter and fish courses; a densely mineral sauvignon blanc from the Chablis region which served as the perfect foil for the richness of my companions’ options, and a crisp, fruity compliment to my Langoustine spring roll with red pepper purée in the Basque style and basil oil.

My starter was indeed as good as it sounds but more interesting again was the charcuterie selection being dished up with great ceremony to my left. A tender and meaty piece of strongly smoked venison, which was deep crimson in colour, melty cured ham, moreish black pudding and velvety fois gras on toasted brioche held our attention as it was carefully plated up. To my right, some golden roasted quail with a white truffle and honey glaze appeared, served on a bed of gratinated peas and girolle mushrooms in a smoked bacon cream, lifted by some aged sherry vinegar.

Our plates were each returned empty, but not before we’d all sampled the glorious trolley and passed bites of juicy prawn in its smooth red pepper purée, and rich quail with creamy trimmings, around the table several times.

Once more the plates were cleared, new cutlery was laid, and we arrested to choose a suitable wine for the main course. We had two fish and one red meat on the way, so we opted for a pinot noir; a very lovely Mercurey 1er Cru ‘Les Ruelles’ 2004 from Château de Chamirey, which was opened to breath while we tended our next course.

Out came cod with a cassoulet of Morteau sausage, chopped green olives and fresh coco paimpol beans, fennel purée, and sauté queen scallops, compliments of the chef. The dish, which appears on the menu as a main course, was extremely tasty, and both fish and scallop alike were cooked to perfection. Again, the food was pretty as a picture but, more importantly, put together in such a way that you easily could construct good, greedy forkfuls, without necessarily appearing like a glutton.

At last we reached our fifth and main courses. So far we were all still in fine form, clearing plate after plate with no leftovers and plenty of room for more. My halibut with aubergine purée, basil and tomato, roast violet artichokes, and Dublin Bay brown shrimp was a delicious mix of late summer produce and Mediterranean flavours to enliven the moist white fish and sweet little shrimp. I was more than happy with our choice of Burgundy along side this dish, as were my companions next to hake in a red pepper glaze and rib of Aberdeen Angus beef with acidulated onion and sage compote.

What a pleasure to be served one course after another in the knowledge that each will be as perfect as the last, so all you have to do sit back and enjoy. Service was neither intrusive nor under-attentive, but friendly and helpful, making sure we got the most from our experience.

With the main part of our meal behind us we decided to share a single dessert in order to save room for some good Irish cheeses afterwards. Warm chocolate mousse, orange and campari jelly with coffee cream and vanilla ice cream was actually enough for the three of us – although, truth be told, I would gladly have been a glutton and got the lime parfait, pineapple and orange salad and coconut emulsion as well – and it lived up to the high praise from other diners in the restaurant.

After quick deliberations we decided on a plate of five cheeses including Durrus, Munster, and Glebe Brethan, and manager Declan Maxwell generously offered to add any further cheeses we might like to try. To top it off, we enjoyed a bottle of Rioja compliments of the chef, to quaff with our cheese and quince paste.

Finally we rounded off the meal with a selection of handmade chocolates, toffees and nougat, which we nibbled over a digestif of assorted Irish whiskeys; 12-year-old and 18-year-old Jameson and the very fine Jameson Crested Ten.

Our excellent hosts poured us out of the restaurant some three and a half hours after we came in, to go home and think about the feast we’d just had for days to come. Chapter One is everything you hope for from a fine dining restaurant, and everything I hope for from an Irish restaurant. Food is always front and centre in this establishment, and the customer’s pleasure is its ultimate goal.

Review, 5th December 2009

Chapter One

Basement of Writers Museum
18 - 19 Parnell Square
Dublin 1

T: 01 8732266
E-mail: info@chapteronerestaurant.com
www.chapteronerestaurant.com

Open for lunch from Tuesday to Friday 12.30pm to 2.00pm, and for dinner from Tuesday to Saturday 6.00pm to 11.00pm