News Archive
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Corfu Greek Restaurant
05 January 2012
The sight of two olive trees and a perky canopy blowing in the wind tunnel that was Parliament Street, running up from the River Liffey to Dublin Castle, on a cold winter evening proved very attractive as we dashed in search of sustenance. It was early e
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Our Latest Great Place to Stay & Eat - Ard na Sidhe
03 January 2012
One of the most intriguingly beautiful areas in Ireland is tucked away off the beaten track around Caragh Lake on the Ring of Kerry. Just south of Killorglin this magnificent lake is four miles long and surrounded by heather hills, forests, and exotic
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THE LUCINDAS 2011
02 January 2012
IT'S been a year of value menus and early birds, pop ups and pop offs, bloggers and blaggers. My annual awards are a reflection of a colourful dining year for all of us. So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Lucindas 2011!
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat
30 December 2011
When I head off for a few days break to a coastal location what I really want of a restaurant is a relaxed ambiance, no city stress or fuss, and I always look forward to some really nice seafood. Jack’s Coastguard Restaurant at the little fishing village
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CHECK OUT NEW YEAR OFFERS
28 December 2011
There is so much shopping, preparation, cooking and partying in the lead up to and over Christmas, that I always feel the women of Ireland deserve a break immediately afterwards. This year, as New Year's Eve falls on a Saturday, you have the perfect excus
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Our Latest Great Place to Stay & Eat - Limerick Strand Hotel
21 December 2011
The Limerick Strand Hotel is a spanking new sleek hotel which was developed in 2007 on the site of the former Jury’s Hotel at O’Callaghan Strand in the vibrant heart of Limerick City. Some €50m went into the creation of this 7 storey ultra modern and...
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - El Vino at The Elysian
21 December 2011
In the final act of the romantic move Moulin Rouge, Toulouse-Lautrec shouts from the rooftops.....
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Amicus
19 December 2011
Being part-time residents of Kinsale, we often pop into Douglas in Cork en route from Dublin to do some shopping
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Roly's Bistro - a Dublin Institution
18 December 2011
ON a recent busy Saturday, more by accident than design, we stopped off for lunch at Roly's Bistro in Ballsbridge in Dublin 4. Roly's is firmly entrenched in society as a real Dublin institution.... Sitting surrounded by families, f
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Tuscany Bistro
16 December 2011
we all love Italian food, I think that's pretty well a given, but when it is really good Italian food, that is even better.
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DEPARTMENT STORE SHOPPING LUNCHES
13 December 2011
It's that time of year again when family memories are set in stone. The Big City visit is still de rigueur for many -- it's so much more exciting than sitting at a computer, buying online, with none of the crowds, excited children, or that wonderful feel
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KILKENNY PEOPLE
13 December 2011
Small shops and businesses throughout the country are our lifeblood, and one cannot emphasise enough how important they are in our society and to our future. People who have the get-up-and-go to set up a business, working for themselves, are the people wh
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Magpie Inn, The
08 December 2011
Gastropubs are judged now by diners as severely as restaurants so the grub has to be wholesome and cooked with a certain flair, unlike the old pub grub world of meat and two veg.
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Our Latest Great Place to Stay & Eat - Landmark Hotel & Boardwalk Cafe
07 December 2011
The Landmark Hotel is more than aptly named for it is a truly fine landmark not only in Carrick-on-Shannon itself, but in the general region as it has achieved a huge reputation for consistent hospitality, comfort, style, service and good food. Carrick-
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Christmas Markets
06 December 2011
We now have an amazing range of Christmas markets all over the country. These homegrown markets give a lot of people in the food or crafts business the opportunity to raise some extra money this Christmas. Whether it is food or gifts...
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Restaurant Review - The Dining Room at La Stampa
06 December 2011
You would be forgiven for thinking that The Dining Room at La Stampa is beginning to sound like a pop-up restaurant. Jean Christophe Novelli pops up, Paul Flynn pops up, Conrad Gallagher pops up. All popped off -- and the latest pop-up is Ronan Ryan, pic
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - The Chop House
01 December 2011
Kevin Arundel has created his own mix of France and a Chelsea Gastropub at his Chop House at a D4 crossroads that his become a very hip place to wine and dine. He has an undoubted eye for the latest trend. Originally a chef at the Michelin starred resta
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Isaac's Restaurant
30 November 2011
Every City in the world has a restaurant that personifies its people, a buzzy busy brasserie that is the destination for birthdays, conferrings, family celebrations, or just a good night out with good friends. In Paris it might be La Coupole, in London
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Our Latest Great Place to Stay & Eat - Absolute Hotel Limerick
29 November 2011
Limerick is a great City which has come on in leaps and bounds in the area of food and sleek accommodation over the past four or five years making it an even more desirable destination to visit. One of the fabulous additions over this period has been...
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Restaurant Review - GOOD COOKING
29 November 2011
Some of our restaurants lost out on the awards front recently, while others go from strength to strength, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, who revisits two worthy winners and remains well pleased
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RESTAURANT REVIEW - CORFU
24 November 2011
Not everything coming out of Greece these days is a total disaster, says Lucinda O’Sullivan. Their economy may be on the skids, but Corfu restaurant is one export we’re more than happy to see here
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Lucinda talks to Sunil Ghai of Ananda
23 November 2011
Public get a taste for fine Indian dining The Irish are beginning to appreciate true Indian cuisine, Sunil Ghai tells
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Our Latest Great Place to Stay & Eat - Keenan's of Tarmonbarry
17 November 2011
Luckily you don’t have to be a ‘ Toad of Toad Hall’ mucking around on the river to enjoy Keenan’s of Tarmonbarry. Certainly my better half was never good on the waterways and regales us regularly about how he and six of his mates, in their single days, u
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Our Latest Great Place to Stay & Heat - The Castle Hotel Macroom
16 November 2011
I have a great regard and love for family run hotels that have been of service to their community and area for generations. We see so much of this Abroad in France and Italy but we have just as many wonderful such establishments here in Ireland.
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Our Latest Great Place to Stay & Eat - Dunloe Castle
16 November 2011
There are more hotels in Killarney than in any other town in the country, and some fabulous hotels at that. Top of the range on all fronts from comfort, luxury, friendliness, and liveability, not forgetting superb food, is the 5 Star Hotel Dunloe Castle.
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Restaurant Review - The Magpie Inn
14 November 2011
Ever more we are veering towards the casual relaxed value dining ethos with good Tapas, Italian, and Gastropubs all flying. We have always wanted to dine like our Continental neighbours on a regular basis on reasonably priced simple food and
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Slaney Country Market
14 November 2011
Every Saturday morning in the heart Bunclody a group of dedicated ladies gather to sell their food and artistic produce at the Slaney Country Market. Bunclody is a very pictueresque town in itself, in North County Wexford on the Co. Carlow border.
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Aniar
07 November 2011
We can expect to see mini ‘Noma’s’ popping up worldwide faster than High Street copies of Catwalk designs over the next couple of years. Rene Redzepi’s Noma Restaurant in Copenhagen, voted the San Pellegrino World’s No. 1 Restaurant for 2010 and 2011, h
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GREAT PLACES TO STAY IN LONDON
04 November 2011
Had a great visit to London where shopped til we dropped, had fab food, and checked out a couple of great hotels...
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Our Latest Great Place to Stay & Eat
04 November 2011
The Harlequin Hotel is a modern boutique hotel in Castlebar which is furnished in boutique style with chandeliers, plush buttonbacked feature chairs and sofas, lovely Venetian mirrors, beautiful throws, funky details, all of which are uplifting and bright
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Our Latest Great Place to Stay & Eat
03 November 2011
Le tout Irlande was mesmerised in 1969 when the late General and Mme de Gaulle came on a two week visit to Ireland. The paparazzi of the day ducked in and out trying to get black and white pictures of this legendary tall tall man relaxing in Connemara.
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Restaurant Review - Oriental Cafe
31 October 2011
Tabletalk We were almost elated sitting down in the new Oriental Café by the Yamamori restaurant owners in the former Bewley’s Oriental Café premises in South Great George’s Street. Here at last it seemed was the perfect, nay obvious, match for this
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Ode to Italy - Eileen Dunne & Stefano Crescenzi
31 October 2011
Sunday October 30 2011 'IF IT'S for you, it won't pass you by" is an old saying that certainly seems to have been the case with Eileen Dunne, and Stefano Crescenzi, who not only met and fell in love in a somewhat roundabout way but who revolutionised t
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CHECK OUT HALLOWEEN & MID TERM BREAKS
27 October 2011
Halloween Breaks 2011 With Halloween and the Midterm Break approaching the evenings are closing in fast but it is still a time of year that gives us bright crisp days with golden autumnal leaves and is, as our American cousins say, perfect for a‘Fall..
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Restaurant Review - Weafer & Cooper
27 October 2011
Glasthule Village in South County Dublin has had a real awakening with the arrival of Weafer & Cooper, an all day modern Italian style eatery, very much along the lines of Jamie Oliver’s ‘Jamie’s Italian’ neighbourhood restaurants which are opening apace
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - The Spires & Thomas Moore Tavern
21 October 2011
Extravaganza is certainly not dead in Wexford if The Spires restaurant is anything to go by. All it needed was Joan Collins to waft through the doors in a cloud of big hair, shoulder pads, furs, and Dynasty jewels, and take up residence in the button back
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RESTAURANT - REVIEW - GUINNESS STOREHOUSE
20 October 2011
Tabletalk “I’ve just got off a plane this morning and headed to the Guiness Storehouse otherwise my friends back in New York would never speak to me again.”So said a young scientist here for a three day conference in Trinity College as he supped his pi
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3 MEN AND A BOTTLE OF SPIRITS
20 October 2011
JUST what is it about men in threes? Down through the centuries, we've had the Three Musketeers, Three Men in a Boat, Three Men in a Tub, Three Men And a Baby... And continuing that tradition, right here in Ireland, in the pretty...
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RESTAURANT REVIEW - THE SPIRES, WEXFORD.
12 October 2011
Extravaganza is certainly not dead in Wexford if The Spires restaurant is anything to go by. All it needed was Joan Collins to waft through the doors in a cloud of big hair, shoulder pads, furs, and Dynasty jewels, and take up residence...
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Ireland's Cafe Culture
11 October 2011
Cafes and bakeries have been doing very well in these times, especially those combined with bakeries because people find the alluring aroma of freshly baked breads and cakes irresistible. We have a very special relationship with the cafes...
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35 Years of Kinsale Gourmet Festival
11 October 2011
Today sees the culmination of the 35th Kinsale Gourmet Festival -- an idea that was started out way back in 1976 by a group of enterprising restaurateurs and hoteliers and which has become one of the longest running food festivals in the country
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MICHELIN STARS & BIBS 2012
06 October 2011
Here is the list of Michelin Star Holders for 2012 - no change on 2011. Michelin Bibs has one new addition and two who have lost their Bibs! Picture shown was at The Box Tree!
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Gourmet Food Parlour Malahide
04 October 2011
Lorraine Heskin and Lorraine Byrne are two young ladies with a passion for delicious food of which they have an extraordinary knowledge. They opened their first Gourmet Food Parlour on Cumberland Street in Dun Laoire, not far from where I live in 2006.
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RESTAURANT REVIEW - WHITEFRIAR GRILL
04 October 2011
Despite the recession, restaurants are opening apace and you have to commend people for their enterprise. Indeed, it seems the heat had barely left the kitchen at Conrad Gallagher’s former Salon des Saveurs premises on Aungier Street, than a new boy was
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RESTAURANT REVIEW - CAMPAGNE KILKENNY, VM LONGFORD
20 September 2011
Tabletalk I have always loved watching how the French do Sunday lunch. It is sacrosanct. Extended family and friends of all ages sit around just doing what was intended for the Seventh Day - resting and renewing themselves. Sunday lunch is a great...
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Cakes, Horses, and Photography
20 September 2011
Best friends Sinead Ni Riain and Jacqueline Lanigan Ryan have more than their surname in common. Both were brought up as only girls in families with five and six brothers respectively, and both work using their artistic talents and sensory skills.
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Restaurant Review - Aniar and Kai - Galway
13 September 2011
We can expect to see mini ‘Noma’s’ popping up worldwide faster than High Street copies of Catwalk designs! Rene Redzepi’s Noma Restaurant in Copenhagen, voted the San Pellegrino World’s No. 1 Restaurant for 2010 and 2011, has dazzled chefs as no other....
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MONKSTOWN - THE REVIVAL OF THE CRESCENT
13 September 2011
People not living in Dublin tend generally to think of the City as one big urban sprawl whereas, in fact, the heart and soul of our Fair City are the various villages which comprise Dublin and Co. Dublin. I think of places like Glasnevin, Finglas, Howth,
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ORGANIC WEEK SEPTEMBER 2011
13 September 2011
Shane McEntee, TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with responsibility for Food, Horticulture & Food Safety and Eileen Bentley from Bord Bia (right) presented Kitty Colchester from Second Nature Oils in Kilkenny (ce
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DATE FOR YOUR DIARY - 10TH SEPTEMBER 2011
06 September 2011
Here is the perfect opportunity for a break in wonderful East Cork. Next Saturday 10th September sees Midleton hold its Food Fair.....
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RESTAURANT REVIEW - GREGAN'S CASTLE
05 September 2011
'I'm holding out for two nights and if I don't get them, then I'll take one night," said the man on the other end of the phone at Gregans Castle, Co Clare, as I tried to book a double room with dinner for the recent bank holiday Saturday night.
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UPCYCLING IS THE NEW DECORATIVE THEME
05 September 2011
WHEN Nawel Kouadri and Al Birbeck met doing an interior design diploma course at the Senior College in Dun Laoghaire, they became not only firm friends but business partners too.
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Black 'n' Blue Grill
01 September 2011
Names can sometimes lead you off course but in this case I have to say I was even more pleasantly surprised. Expecting the new Black ‘n’ Blue Grill in Wicklow town to be serving a typical modern grill menu of ginormous steaks, prawn cocktails, and so on,
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Lucinda's Last Rose of Summer Tour of Kerry & West Cork
30 August 2011
Each year, for many years past, I have taken myself on what I call my own ‘Last Rose of Summer’ trip driving from Killarney, through Moll’s Gap to Kenmare, and on over through the tunnels and unparelled mountainous vistas over hill and bay that lead you..
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Restaurant Review - The Herring Gull & Foley's Gastropub
30 August 2011
“No problem, I’ll change it for you” should surely have been “sorry, I’ll change it for you” from the lady in charge in the new Herring Gull Restaurant in Ballycotton, on my pointing out lipstick on a wine glass. Equally mystifying was her whipping away
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - The Vanilla Pod
25 August 2011
Eggs Benedict is one of my favourite breakfast treats and nobody knows this better than Kate O’Sullivan, Derek Breen and Veronica Muresan! How do they know this you might well ask? Well Kate, Derek and Veronica were all in the Brown Thomas Café where I
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FOOD FESTIVALS AUTUMN 2011
22 August 2011
We are winding down in August from what one might euphemistically have referred to as High Summer ever so gently into Autumn. People are getting kids organised for school and college but, for the culinary community and many towns around the country, this
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RESTAURANT REVIEW - MEXICAN EATERIES
22 August 2011
Jonathan Ross devoted the opening chapter of his book “Why Do I Say These Things” to the ‘joys’ of Mexican food he experienced on a trip ‘South of the Border…’. As you might imagine, Mr Ross pulled no punches and in his inimitable way was fully descript
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Bar One
19 August 2011
Mark and Alan Cadden are not newbies when it comes to the game of food for they were brought up in the industry whilst their parents owned the well known Asgard Pub in Westport. Their brother also went into the food industry and owns the very popular Sab
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WHERE TO FIND DUBLIN'S BEST STREET FOOD
18 August 2011
Want to sample food cooked by a chef who worked for the top London Moroccan restaurant ‘Moro’ or authentic dishes from Korea? Look no further than the Food Markets of Dublin where nowadays you will find a huge range of delicious street food from all over
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RESTAURANT REVIEW - BEDLAM
16 August 2011
Is there bedlam at Bedlam - May Frisby's new restaurant in Castle Market, Dublin? Find Out...
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MEET YANNICK & LOUISE FROM THE WORLD'S NO 1 RESTAURANT - NOMA IN COPENHAGEN
16 August 2011
Between them you might say that Yannick Van Aeken and Louise Bannon have captured two of the most sought after jobs in the culinary world. Yannick Van Aeken is Sous Chef at the charasmatic Rene Redzepi’s Noma Restaurant in Copenhagen whilst Louise Bannon
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SCULPTOR NIALL HARKIN EXHIBITION IN THOMASTOWN KAW 2011
09 August 2011
“I gave myself five years from the date of my retirement to have my own one man show devoted to sculpture, and in this ambition I have succeeded” says artist and sculptor Niall Harkin. Niall’s solo exhibition “Votive Offerings”....
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Fallon & Byrne
05 August 2011
It takes real guts and endeavour to set up a business the size and proportion of Fallon & Byrne. Paul Byrne and his wife, the former journalist Fiona McHugh, took an enormous leap of faith when, in 2006, they took over the massive old Art Deco style Tele
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Restaurant Review - The Hen House
02 August 2011
We have all been getting back to basics in Ireland, no where more so than restaurants where the trend is towards the casual, so the new Hen House restaurant at The Pavilions in Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, has you chowing down all American style folksey.
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Markree Castle support Trocaire
02 August 2011
For the first week in August Markree Castle is donating €3 for every booking made to Trocaire's East Africa Emergency Appeal
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TAKE TWO GIRLS
02 August 2011
Although they didn’t meet until College in Limerick when they were 17, Lorraine Heskin and Lorraine Byrne not only share the same Christian names, both are from the West of Ireland, with Lorraine Heskin’s dad having come from Lorraine Byrne’s home village
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Restaurant Review - Lunch French, Italian and Irish style
25 July 2011
Tabletalk “It’s very cold in Perpignan”, said the friendly young French waiter – it was cold here too but I was so delighted to spot Marseillaise anchoiade on the menu, I smiled blissfully back. Surrounded by wine racks in the perfect oasis that is t
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'Relax Me Breaks'
25 July 2011
Travelling around the country quite a lot, as I do, I am seeing that the times we are in has brought about a huge level of innovation and co-operation between people, which was perhaps a quality that was missing in us during those unreal Celtic Tiger Year
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Restaurant Review - Long Room at Doonbeg
19 July 2011
Approaching through the Atlantic mist and haze of the mystical wild beauty of West Clare, the cluster of houses and main building that comprise The Lodge at Doonbeg Golf Club appeared shimmering and inviting like the mythical village of Brigadoon. This
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The Silk Road
19 July 2011
There is more than a touch of drama at Judith O’Sullivan’s stunning Atelier ‘Roisin Cross Silks’ for not only have they supplied the silks for the magnificent costumes of ‘Henry V111’ himself, as played by sexy Jonathan Rhys Myers, and th
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Green Barn Bistro
13 July 2011
The Green Barn Café Bistro is in a lovely building which always reminds somehow or other of the R.D.S. at Simmonscourt with its equestrian style weathervane and perfectly maintained pretty grounds where you can also sit outside, weather permitting, and ha
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RESTAURANT REVIEW - FIRST FLOOR - HARVEY NICHOLS
13 July 2011
Just as I made a reprise visit to the First Floor Restaurant at Harvey Nichols, it was announced that we are in for a revival of TV’s ‘Absolutely Fabulous’. It seems a lifetime ago since Patsy and Edina flaunted themselves around London, Bolly Stolly i
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FOOD TOURISM
13 July 2011
Food Tourism The importance of Food Tourism cannot be emphasised quite enough. It is a huge market which has not been recognised sufficiently in the past in promoting Ireland as a food destination. It only recently that there is even a vague nod to th
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RESTAURANT REVIEW - THE DINING ROOM BY CONRAD GALLAGHER
06 July 2011
A business alliance is like a marriage, and every bit as painful when it comes to the divorce! I think it can be said that the proponents in the latest cullinary alliance, ‘Head Chef’ Conrad Gallagher, and Louis Murray, at The Dining Room at La Stampa...
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SURFING AND FOOD IN COUNTY CLARE
06 July 2011
Lisdoonvarna is not just for matchmaking, surfing and taking the waters, for nowadays you can also eat rather well, as we discovered on a recent visit to the area for the Burren Slow Food Festival. They weren’t blessed with the weather on the day, which
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Restaurant Review - Jamie's Italian
27 June 2011
Cheryl Cole was not the only one returning from the U.S.A. with a flea in her ear for Jamie Oliver has also had his ‘cough softened’ by the Yanks! But then I guess it’s somewhat of a mammoth task for a Brit to land on the shores of the most powerful nati
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'The Restaurant' at The Wineport - John Healy Special Event
22 June 2011
A crowd of 150 foodies and John Healy fans gathered on Mid Summer night for a special fundraising and awareness night at the fabulous Wineport at Glasson....
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RESTAURANT REVIEW - GORDON RAMSAY AT RITZ-CARLTON
20 June 2011
Ramsay was merrily chopping slices off some poor bull’s penis, bound for a soup, attributing each ‘chop’ to English food critics....
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MEET A REAL BEAN AN TI AT BUNRATTY
20 June 2011
This is the brilliant Eileen Clancy who is Bean an Ti at the Golden Vale House at Bunratty Folk Park, who is not only brilliantly entertaining...
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PRINCESS DAISY AT BUNRATTY CASTLE & FOLK PARK
20 June 2011
Having departed the good folks of Sixmilebridge we headed to Bunratty Castle & Folk Park, which I had not visited for many many years and it, was a great experience. Bunratty Castle was built in 1425 and was home to the Earls of Thomond. In 1646 it was
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BERNADETTE CROWE'S BAKERY IN SIXMILEBRIDGE
20 June 2011
I could see that none of the cakes I bought in were as nice as those I could make myself. I always had a flair for baking - big apple tarts, brown wholemeal bread - that’s what we were reared on as a lot of people are – soups and stews, bacon an
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TOTALLY TIPPERARY FOOD FESTIVAL NEXT SATURDAY 25TH
19 June 2011
Give yourself a great break and a great foodie weekend with the good food producers of Tipperary this coming Saturday at Cloughjordan.
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Lyons Cafe
17 June 2011
Sligo is a very busy town traffic wise and if you are not in the know when it comes to where to head for that really delicious bite to eat, or coffee and scone, after you have visited Yeat’s grave, or just been simply shopping, well let me tell you, Lyons
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RESTAURANT REVIEW - BRASSERIE LE PONT
13 June 2011
Brasserie Le Pont is a new restaurant owned by one Michael Kelly and is part of the Fitzwilliam Hall Business Centre. Tucked away in the large basement of a Georgian House on Fitzwilliam Place close to Leeson Street, its entrance belies its size, and it
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FEAR OF FLYING
13 June 2011
Your stomach turns over, your palms sweat, you don’t hear what anyone is saying, you are convinced you have just signed your own death warrant, and that is only when you book your airline ticket! Does that sound familiar to you? I talk of course about
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Crazy Crab
03 June 2011
‘Tis not very often you leave a restaurant awarding it in your own mind 2 Badges of Distinction-Best Seafood platter in Ireland and Best Value seafood in Ireland. This is how we felt having left the new Crazy Crab Seafood Bistro and Café at Kilmore Quay
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Philippe Farineau
01 June 2011
Philippe Farineau Crowned Best Chef in Connaught. Mount Falcon and the “Kitchen Restaurant” scoops Best Hotel Restaurant Award in Connaught + Philippe Farineau crowned Best Chef in Connaught at the Santa Rita/Sunday Independent Irish Restaurant Awards.
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RESTAURANT REVIEW - MULBERRY GARDEN
01 June 2011
In an episode of the TV Show ‘Frasier’, the irrepressible Crane brothers have a stab at opening a restaurant where, midst first night high jinks, the mythical food critic, Gil Chesterton, arrives blathering “I don’t usually review on first nigh
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"WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR..."
01 June 2011
What child and adult does not have magical dreams and memories, a desire to live in the fantasy world of the Disneyland Castle where dreams come true, where frogs turn into Princes, where Cinderella arrives to the ball wearing glass slippers, where Snow W
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'The Restaurant' at The Wineport - John Healy Special Event
27 May 2011
Ray Byrne, Jane English and the team at Wineport Lodge are throwing the bash of the year this June to assist their colleague and friend - the loveable Maitre D’- John Healy of RTE’s ‘The Restaurant’ who is seriously ill and requires a heart transplant.
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Chapter One proves invincible
26 May 2011
Chapter One is to Irish Restaurants what Rafa Nadal is to the tennis courts of the world - invincible! Ross Lewis and his team have done it again with Chapter One winning Best Restaurant 2011. Well done guys!
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Rasam Indian Restaurant wins Best Ethnic Restaurant 2011
26 May 2011
For the second year running Nisheeth Tak's Rasam Indian Restaurant has won Best Ethnic Restaurant at the RAI/Sunday Independent Life Magazine Awards.
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Restaurant Review - Pygmalion Restaurant at Parknasilla Resort
25 May 2011
Parknasilla Resort on the Ring of Kerry has long been one of the jewels in the crown of Irish Tourism. Built in the mid 18thC on a sub-tropical 500 acre estate, overlooking an inlet of the Kenmare River, with the Gulf Stream nibbling at its toes, it has
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WE NEED ACTION TO SAVE OUR HIGH STREET SHOPS
25 May 2011
Just as Mary 'Queen of Shops' Portas has been roped in to help the British government revive the flagging high streets and bring a bustle back to town centres, so too some Bridget Banrion of Boutiques is needed here to put a rocket under local authorities
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SOS - SAVE OUR SHOPS
25 May 2011
British Prime Minister David Cameron has taken the unprecedented step of appointing a retail expert, 'Queen of Shops' Mary Portas, to save the British high street. Ireland has a host a retailers and business people who could do a similar job for the mo
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Burren Slow Food Festival This Weekend
18 May 2011
There will be lots of fun and activity at this weekends Burren Slow Food Festival in Clare. Check it Out.
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Kinsale Chowder Cook Off this Sunday 21st May
18 May 2011
Join celebrity chefs Martin Shanahan (RTE'S Martin's Mad About Fish) and Paul Flynn, along with broadcaster Derek Davis for a truly entertaining day at the Kinsale National Chowder Cook Off this Sunday.
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A Great Irish Silversmith
18 May 2011
Aidan Breen – Silver and Goldsmith. Every now and then we hear of wonderful historic precious metal Celtic artefacts being discovered, buried since time immemorial, from torcs to bowls, coins to amazing objects like the famous Ardagh Chalice,discove
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RESTAURANT REVIEW - CODA
18 May 2011
Arriving for dinner with Houston based Paul, who spends his life flying from New York to Naples,Peking to Paris,Seoul to Sydney,he felt quite at home striding through the vast Hemidemisemiquaver Bar and on to the section that is Coda Eatery.“Good Airport"
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Restaurant Review - Downstairs
10 May 2011
‘Downstairs’ is a new restaurant at Gilbert & Wright in Clontarf on sea, located where the old Hollybrook Hotel once stood. Gilbert & Wright have hip ‘1970’s style bars also in Malahide, Swords, and Dun Laoghaire. ‘Downstairs’, as you may gather, is a sub
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Mervyn Stewart & Her Majesty
10 May 2011
Having ‘Met the Middletons’ in all their glory in recent weeks, and with the Queen coming to grips with new additions to the family tree, it occurred to me that she might care to meet her long lost cousins, the Stewarts, when she comes to Ireland...
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RESTAURANT REVIEW - ELECTRIC
04 May 2011
I guess it’s quite some time since a restaurant of size and import has opened in the centre of Cork, and on The Mall to boot. In recent times the focus for such openings had centered on Lapps Quay, with The Boardwalk Bar & Grill and Augustine’s joining t
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San Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants
04 May 2011
Last week saw the announcement of the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2011. What is quite extraordinary is not the fact that Rene Redzepi’s ‘Noma’, the much lauded restaurant in Copenhagen, has been voted No. 1 Restaurant in the World for the
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Meet Kanturk's Foodie & Business People
27 April 2011
One of the longest standing businesses and best known characters in the town is Jack McCarthy of the eponymous McCarthy’s Butchers. Jack is a very pro-active artisan food producer, and a great public relations man for Kanturk. He is the fifth generation
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Restaurant Review - Global Village
27 April 2011
Hopefully all of you on this Easter are basking somewhere nice around the country. Basking leads me to Fungi’s home territory of Dingle and the Global Village Restaurant whose chef patron, Martin Bealin, along with his wife Nuala Cassidy, is also very mu
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Easter & May Bank Holiday Breaks Part 2
21 April 2011
THIS IS PART 2 OF MY ARTICLE ON EASTER AND MAY BANK HOLIDAY BREAKS AROUND THE COUNTRY - THIS SECTION COVERS THE WESTERN HALF OF OUR LITTLE GREEN ISLE.
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Restaurant Review - Black & Blue Grill
21 April 2011
Names can sometimes lead you off course but in this case I have to say I was even more pleasantly surprised. Expecting the new Black ‘n’ Blue Grill in Wicklow town to be serving a typical modern grill menu of ginormous steaks, prawn cocktails, and so on,
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Easter & May Bank Holiday Breaks
21 April 2011
This year with Easter so late that it runs into the May Bank Holiday weekend – not to mention a certain wedding across the water – it looks like this could be a really great opportunity for a ‘Festival of Fun’ for all the family around the country.
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Pielows Restaurant
14 April 2011
Pielow's is a discreetly located smallish restaurant in a first floor premises in Cabinteely village where, even though it hadn’t advertised its presence, it appeared word had already spread for devotees of Colin and Teresa Pielow’s classic cuisine were f
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - JC's Brasserie at The Wyatt Hotel
12 April 2011
They have a great atmospheric brasserie at The Wyatt Hotel called JW’s which is very popular with people hopping in for morning treats such as scones, muffins, cakes and cookies. Lunch kicks off at 12.00 noon and runs until 5 pm and Head Chef Eoin McDonn
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Our Latest Great Place to Stay - The Wyatt Hotel
12 April 2011
I have a soft spot for the pictueresque charming Wyatt Hotel which is located at The Octagon, the real heart of Westport. It is particularly pretty and you could just image the old coach and horses drawing up in the days of yore. The hotel is named aft
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Restaurant Review - The Fatted Calf
11 April 2011
It’s a case of the two ‘Fs’ this week in two parts of the country – lunch in both The French Table in Limerick and The Fatted Calf in Athlone. Taking time for a proper lunch is a very civilized thing which unfortunately many of us do not have time to do
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Restaurant Review - The French Table
11 April 2011
It’s a case of the two ‘Fs’ this week in two parts of the country – lunch in both The French Table in Limerick and The Fatted Calf in Athlone. Taking time for a proper lunch is a very civilized thing which unfortunately many of us do not have time to do
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Lucinda as Guest Critic on RTE's The Restaurant TV Show
11 April 2011
See how Lucinda and the other critics found Ian Dempsey's food on The Restaurant
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - The Rising Tide
05 April 2011
As a part time resident of Kinsale and a regular visitor to East Cork I guess you could say we are always on the whirl around looking for different places to eat in both areas. Nowadays too we really like to dine in a more informal fashion than years ago
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Restaurant Review - Dylan Restaurant
04 April 2011
The Dylan Hotel opened its hip 5 Star doors at the height of the boom years in a great location close to town, yet out of it just enough to be very handy too for all the happenings around D4 and the Aviva Stadium as well as D2. It was the talk of the tow
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Galway Store to open in Dundrum Town Centre
04 April 2011
“This building was supposed to be occupied by Solicitors and Accountants but, when that fell through, we turned it into retail”, said Annette Curley of Home Gallery at Newtownsmith, Galway.
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Brasserie One at 1 Pery Square
31 March 2011
Take one great Georgian Quarter, a great Georgian House, a lady with a great eye for style, detail and elegance, and you have No. 1 Pery Square, undoubtedly one of the coolest destinations in the country. Patricia Roberts recognised the potential of th
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - O'Connells in Donnybrook
29 March 2011
The well known restaurateur, Tom O’Connell, who was previously in Ballsbridge, came up with a fantastic location for his new restaurant O’Connells in Donnybrook – in the former Madigan’s pub on Morehampton Road and corner of Belmont Avenue. Madigan’s was
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Mulberrys
29 March 2011
I have always maintained that if you do good honest seafood without mucking it around too much, a restaurant will always do well for people love it. Add to that the other most popular cuisine, a taste of Italy that is, and you are really on a winner. Ad
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Gilbert's Restaurant & Townhouse
28 March 2011
On a recent visit to East Cork we headed for Gilbert’s Restaurant & Townhouse in Cobh. Now, Cobh is a really beautiful little town, with its neo Gothic Pugin Cathedral, and poignant nautical history. What it has lacked, until now, has been a decent res
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Restaurant Review - Matt The Threshers Dublin
28 March 2011
We were impressed walking into the smart new D2 version of the Tipperary based Matt The Thresher’s eating and drinking emporium, in what was the former Pembroke Pub on Lower Pembroke Street. Billed as a Seafood Bar & Grill, MTTD2 is urban chic gastropub
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Galway Artisan Producers at the G Hotel
28 March 2011
We used all hear of the old Wartime spirit in the U.K. and how everyone pulled together, we may not be in that type of war but in our economic war we are seeing this happen here too, people are not as pushy or dismissive of your business as they were in t
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OUR LATEST GREAT PLACE TO EAT - CAFE NOIR
23 March 2011
In a short three years Pat O’Sullivan has created one of the most dynamic Café restaurant chains in Limerick and happily intends expanding far and wide. Pat O’Sullivan is no newcomer to the food industry so he really knows what he is about and what his cu
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RESTAURANTS REVIEW - MONSOONS AND INDIAN NIGHTS
21 March 2011
The Monsoons had hit Dublin and for us it was the night of the 3 R’s - Rain, Rasa, Radhuni. I received a Press Release inviting me to the opening by the Lord Mayor of Dublin of the new Rasa Indian Restaurant and Cookery School in St. Jame’s Place, Inchic
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The Many Colours of Adare
21 March 2011
The village of Adare in Co. Limerick with its extraordinarily picture postcard pretty thatched roofs has long been a destination for tourists and home visitors alike. At the heart of Adare is a very hard working and enterprising business community who..
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Royal Spice
19 March 2011
Two of the great loves of my life are my ancestral home, the amazing Marble City of Kilkenny, and the rich spices and food of the Sub-Continent, and they have happily come together in the new Indian restaurant, Royal Spice, conveniently
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Dylan Hotel's Chef Richard Carmody recipes
17 March 2011
Richard Carmody, Head Chef at the Dylan Restaurant at the Dylan Hotel is renowned for his mouthwatering scrumptious comfort food. Here he gives you two recipes...
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Bleu Bistro Has New Chef
16 March 2011
Eamonn O'Reilly's popular Bleu Bistro on Dawson Street has new Head Chef Eric Mooney ex Chapter One and Bon Appetit. They have a new Spring Menu and 2 course lunch at €16. Check it out.
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Cava Spanish Restaurant & Tapas Bar
16 March 2011
There is no doubt but the colour, vibrancy, drama, and romance of Spain has held a huge attraction for the intellectuals and artistic of this world from the great American writer Ernest Hemingway to movie star Rita Hayworth, who both adopted it as their h
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PAINTING COURSE AT McWILLIAM PARK HOTEL
16 March 2011
Well known Irish Artist Frank Clarke will be returning to the McWilliam Park Hotel at Claremorris to give a fantastic 4 day Art Course...
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RBS 6 NATIONS AT DAX CAFE BAR 19TH MARCH
16 March 2011
Why not have lunch and watch the RBS 6 Nations at Olivier Meisonnave's new Cafe Bar at his Dax Cafe Restaurant on Upper Pembroke Street.......
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The Foodie Folk of Cabinteely Village
14 March 2011
People sometimes forget, in the great urban sprawl that is the Dublin of nowadays, that at the heart of many suburban areas are the old villages that once made up the very distinctive villages on the outskirts of Dublin. I think of places like Raheny..
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RESTAURANT REVIEW - GILBERT'S IN COBH
14 March 2011
Somewhat subdued on the second evening, we headed for Gilbert’s Restaurant & Townhouse in Cobh. Now, Cobh is a really beautiful little town, with its neo Gothic Pugin Cathedral, and poignant nautical history.
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - City Bar & Grill
10 March 2011
There are lots of restaurants in Kilkenny but the food in the Hibernian's City Bar & Grill is considered by many to be one of the best around. You can expect maybe to feast on delicious seafood chowder to start or sauteed Dublin Bay prawns in garlic oil w
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - The West End House
08 March 2011
Sandra and Peter Dunlea are a charming couple who have a particular gift for creating atmosphere, nostalgia, and style, in each of their restaurants. They are behind the fabulous Miss Courtney’s Tearooms in the centre of Killarney
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A Hennessy Returns to Ireland to visit Monart
07 March 2011
A Hennessey returns to Ireland. This time it’s not about Cognac!Philippe Hennessy who is founder & CEO of Pevonia International arrived at Monart from Florida. Phillipe came to congratulate Monart and its team on their recent Conde Nast Traveller award
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Restaurant Review - Mitsuba
07 March 2011
We are not, it seems, the only ones with a Shamrock, the Japanese have one called Mitsuba! However they make better use than us poor Paddies, who only drown it! Known also as Japanese wild parsley, Honeywort San Ip and San Ye Qin, the flavour, the menu
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Via Firenze - New Stylish Gallery in Bray
07 March 2011
There may not be as much money around these days but despite that, or because of that, the recession has blossomed forth an extraordinary amount of new small business involving creative skills, from small food producers to services, but also there is a gr
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - No 35 Kenmare
01 March 2011
Kenmare has a really special place in tourism in Ireland, it is pretty, friendly, offers a myriad of things to do and see not only in the town but as a base for working out around Kerry. We all go there for great weekends and holidays. It offers also a
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RESTAURANT REVIEW - CAFEBAR H - PORT HOUSE DUNDRUM -TAPAS TAPAS
01 March 2011
February is the month of the Seville Tapas Festival but, whatever about that, Ole! Ole! Ole! was alive and well in Dublin when we arrived on a Friday evening to the new Cafébar H at Grand Canal Plaza. The place was heaving with 20-somethings – mainly gir
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Casey's Bistro
24 February 2011
When it comes to food, their Casey’s Bar and Bistro produces excellent modern cuisine, both Irish and International, using and best of local and seasonal produce. Having perhaps just done the Ring of Kerry you will be hungry so for dinner you can start th
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Surviving the Recession - Dublin Artist - Gerard Byrne
24 February 2011
One of the good things that came about during the Celtic Tiger years was a great increase in art across the spectrum. Galleries boomed. Everybody wanted art on their walls be it massive paintings or massive prints. In essence whether or not it was origina
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Restaurant Review - Pielow's
21 February 2011
Pielow's is a discreetly located new smallish restaurant in a first floor premises that formerly housed a Chinese restaurant in Cabinteely village where, even though it hadn’t advertised its presence, it appeared word had already spread for devotees of Co
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RESTAURANT REVIEW - THE SUSSEX
16 February 2011
I was on the receiving end of a very irate letter a while back from a lady who told me that she had visited Oliver’s Eatery, over O’Brien’s Pub on Upper Leeson Street, and had a disappointing experience. Apparently it was my fault, as she had convinced
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BEAUTY BY THE BIT
16 February 2011
If Kate Browne of BeU Beauty Clinic, in the Dublin suburb of Kimmage, was a small food producer she would be described as a Food Hero. She is a small individual trader working her guts out to keep a business she loves, and the staff she employs, on the
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THE WONDERS OF IRISH STAINED GLASS
14 February 2011
There is an old expression “he didn’t lick it off the ground” and that certainly applies to stained glass artist Evan Connon. Indeed, the talent for stained glass skipped a generation in his case from his Grandfather to himself, but still came through..
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HERE TODAY GONE TOMORROW - RESTAURANT REVIEW
14 February 2011
Market Square was a rather nice little bistro in the heart of D2 at Castlemarket but due to a break up between the owners it closed shortly after it opened....
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CASTLE MURRAY HOUSE HOTEL & RESTAURANT IN WORLD TOP 50
07 February 2011
Castle Murray House Hotel at St. John's Point, Dunkineely, Co. Donegal has been listed in World's Top 50 Most Romantic Destinations....
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - The Box Tree Restaurant & Wild Boar Inn
05 February 2011
Whilst a number of long standing top of the range restaurants have been in trouble it is good to see one, Eamonn O’Reilly of One Pico and Bleu Bistro, expanding with the opening of his brand new Box Tree Restaurant and Wild Boar Pub in Stepaside, Co. Dubl
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RESTAURANT REVIEW - DAKSHIN INDIAN RESTAURANT
01 February 2011
The Irish love affair with the delicious colourful spicy food of the Sub-Continent continues apace with the opening of yet another Indian Restaurant which, judging by our visit in its first week of operation, is really rather good.
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TIPPERARY FOOD PRODUCERS
01 February 2011
A really nice bunch of people gathered together to meet me and show me their produce at Nora and John Egan’s fine Georgian Mansion, Inch House Country House and Restaurant, just outside Thurles in Co. Tipperary, which not only has a lovely restaurant but
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Restaurant Review - Indie Spice Sandymount
27 January 2011
Sandymount has recently had the addition of a new Indian restaurant in the form of Indie Spice. When I say ‘new’ it is not a totally new concept but rather a new branch of a long established group. Indie Spice started out with a restaurant in Belfast
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Michelin Stars & Bibs 2011
24 January 2011
Last Tuesday morning, it was a case of synchronise your watches for, at 11.40 a.m. precisely, not a second earlier not a second later, Michelin announced on its website the recipients of its stars and bib gourmands for Great Britain and Ireland 2011. I g
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LOBSTER STARTER AT RASAM RESTAURANT
22 January 2011
Lobster flesh playing piggyback on lobster shell whilst still attached at tail...
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Huntsman Inn
22 January 2011
This was a fairly last minute trip to Galway – not like a long planned holiday – we were going to the Galway Film Fleadh in which our animator son had a film showing. We were six, parents, sons, girlfriends, and the concensus of opinion demanded somewhere
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Restaurant Review -The Box Tree Restaurant & Wild Boar Pub
19 January 2011
Whilst a number of long standing top of the range restaurants have been in trouble it is good to see one, Eamonn O’Reilly of One Pico and Bleu Bistro, expanding with the opening of his brand new Box Tree Restaurant and Wild Boar Pub in Stepaside, Co. Dubl
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Blairs Inn
17 January 2011
When it comes to Blairs Inn at Cloghroe, just outside Blarney in Co. Cork, it has it all in spades. It is the quintessential Gastropub at its best, loaded with atmosphere, and set in very pictueresque surroundings.
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Ashford Castle Conde Nast's Travellers Choice No 1 Resort in Europe
16 January 2011
Ashford Castle has long been regarded as the jewel in the crown of Irish Tourism and it was recently voted No 1 Resort in Europe by Conde Nast Traveler, 2010 Readers’ Choice Awards.
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Locks Brasserie
12 January 2011
“11 out of 10” said a departing diner to the Maitre d’ in the new Locks Brasserie overlooking the Grand Canal at Portobello and its gliding swans. He was right and, from the cross table conversation he had been enjoying with another solo gentleman, it ap
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THE BUTCHER'S GRILL - RESTAURANT REVIEW
10 January 2011
As restaurants are closing so too they are opening – mainly by players already in the field. The Butchers Grill in Ranelagh is a case in point. It is the sister restaurant of Dillinger’s, located nearby in Dylan McGrath’s erstwhile ‘Mint’. McGrath of
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Open All Hours!
10 January 2011
Well we all know the old joke “when the going gets tough the Irish go on holidays.” So it struck me was the case over the Christmas/New Year period.We have had a couple of years of restaurants telling us how much they have been suffering with the dow
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THE LIFE AND LOVES OF MIRANDA, COUNTESS OF IVEAGH
05 January 2011
We have all been watching with fascination the romantic happenings of life in the fictional Great House, Downton Abbey, but it would be true to say that life in the real world of Farmleigh and Wilbury Park, former homes of Miranda, Countess of Iveagh..
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'THE LUCINDAS' 2010
05 January 2011
You might have thought that 2010 was a dull year for restaurants but life on the restaurant scene is never dull as chefs and restaurateurs vie for business. My Awards 2010 reflect the good, the bad, and the ugly, of a Restaurant Critic’s year!
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O'Connells Donnybrook - Restaurant Review
04 January 2011
Tom O’Connell, who previously had his eponymous O’Connell’s restaurants in Bewley’s of Ballsbridge and the D4Berkeley, has recently opened his latest venture located in the former Madigan’s pub, on the main drag on the corner of Belmont Avenue and Moreham
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New Years Day 2011 - Swans on Grand Canal
01 January 2011
It was good for the soul to see hordes of beautiful swans and cygnets on the Grand Canal today....
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Washed Up
01 January 2011
I saw this painting today at Blackrock Market and thought it was really rather nice...
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Panettone Posh Bread & Butter Pudding
01 January 2011
Christmas in Italy is not complete without Panettone. We made this bread and butter pudding last eve.... We got our Panettone from Dunne & Crescenzi..
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Salt & Chilli Prawns
31 December 2010
After all the rich meats and game, salt and chilli prawns went down well on New Year's Eve...
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NEW YEAR'S EVE 2010
23 December 2010
Check out the very many Restaurant and Hotel New Year's Eve happenings around the country....
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Ashford Castle Venison Recipe
23 December 2010
Head Chef, Stefan Matz, shares with us his superb recipe for loin of venison with star anise and scented beetroot
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Seafood Bar@Galway's Kirwan's Lane Restaurant
22 December 2010
A touch of Barna’s award winning, ‘O’Grady’s on the Pier’, opened in Galway City centre last Saturday as Kirwan’s Lane Restaurant in the Latin Quarter launched their new seafood bar on the lower level of the existing restaurant.
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Ashford Castle Christmas Recipes
19 December 2010
Stefan Matz of Ashford Castle shares with us his recipes for Christmas....the ultimate turkey with maple syrup.....
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Farm to Fork at Knockranny House Hotel Mayo
14 December 2010
We are seeing more and more the tremendous importance of buying local and seasonal produce and getting back to the old Irish meitheal method of doing business and supporting one another. The Farm to Fork policy linked with this is becoming widespread wi
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Capri Bay La Trattoria
08 December 2010
The Italians have a gift for creating atmosphere, sometimes it may be a bit kitsch but always confident. We were sitting in the Capri Bay Trattoria in Youghal, but it felt like we could have been in a side street in Sicily or the eponymous Capri.
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CHRISTMAS MARKETS COUNTRYWIDE 2010
08 December 2010
Christmas Markets are the buzz this year and there are lots around the country be they one day events or weekly in the lead up to the big day.In Dublin there is a new Christmas Market at Fitzwilliam Square this year with over 70 stalls lit up by more tha
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How to Paint a Cow
07 December 2010
Artist Deborah Donnelly famous for those big soft eyed oil paintings of cows will be in Green Lane Gallery Dingle on Saturday 11th 2-6 pm showing you how to paint a cow.
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NO. 41 RESTAURANT AT RESIDENCE - RESTAURANT REVIEW
07 December 2010
The past couple of years have led to a lot of changes in the restaurant industry and for many this has just meant survival – the survival of the fittest – or those offering the best deals! What has happened, also at all levels, is that there..
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Early Bird Phenomenon
07 December 2010
There was a time when the Early Bird Menu in restaurants was the zone of tightwads or older folks but there is no doubt now that it is an ever increasing phenomenon, a force to be reckoned with on the dining scene.
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Conrad's Kitchen - Restaurant Review
02 December 2010
Visiting the restaurant of a so called celebrity chef is what I term ‘destination dining’. They are not usually the sort of places that one goes to for a casual night out - or that bite to eat on the way home – unless you are in NAMA!
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Kenmare Has More Than Restaurants!
02 December 2010
When it comes to boutiques there is a gorgeous shop in Kenmare called O’Sullivan-Ford. John O’Sullivan is a young man who is the 3rd generation of his family to run O’Sullivan-Ford, a ladies, children’s, and homeware shop, on The Square in Kenmare.
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Sean Kelly's Black Pudding Christmas Cake
01 December 2010
Dont you just love the humour of Sean Kelly of Newport and his 3-tier black pudding Christmas Cake
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SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND
25 November 2010
Jean Marc Tsai shares with us his fantastic recipe for real Sesame Prawn Toasts from his great Shanghai Express in Kinsale. A glass of Gewurztraminer....and the X Factor...
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Locks Brasserie - Restaurant Review
22 November 2010
“11 out of 10” said a departing diner to the Maitre d’ in the new Locks Brasserie overlooking the Grand Canal at Portobello and its gliding swans. He was right and, from the cross table conversation he had been enjoying with another solo gentleman, it ap
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FARMERS MARKET AT GREEN BARN, KILLEAGH, YOUGHAL, CO. CORK.
22 November 2010
Every Friday morning there is a lovely INDOOR Farmer's Market,at The Green Barn Garden Centre & Lifestyle Store on the N25 between Youghal and Killeagh....
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MANUELA GOEB'S 'THE BREADCRUMB'
21 November 2010
Manuela Goeb has not only been running The Breadcrumb in Kenmare but has just taken over the reins from Sligo's Noodle House organic pasta and is moving it to Kenmare....
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VANILLA GRAPE AT EUGENE'S KENMARE
17 November 2010
In Henry Street, Kenmare, Christine and Alain Bras run the most gorgeous shop called Vanilla Grape selling specialist wines and the most amazing range of greeting cards and other specialties. Vanilla Grape may be the company name over the door but, accor
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Restaurant Review - Le Cafe des Irlandais
16 November 2010
The former Bewleys/Cafe Bar Deli in South Great George's Street is now Le Cafe des Irlandais...
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"I Died Smiling as I Lived" - Billy Morris Story WW1
11 November 2010
When Lucinda O'Sullivan was given a cache of letters, sent by her uncle Billy Morris from Kilkenny while he served with the British army in World War One, it set her off on a wonderful, and deeply moving journey of discovery that ended with Billy's final
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LUCINDA IN FLANDERS FIELDS
11 November 2010
Two years ago coincidentally the 90th Anniversary of the Armistice, I wrote here in Life magazine the story of my uncle, Billy Morris, a young man from Kilkenny who like many other young Irish men of his generation had felt honour bound to go off to war
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Markree Castle's Wine Tasting Dinner
10 November 2010
Expert wine blender and importer Anthony Tindal, founder of Tindal Wines will be your host and tutor and Markree Castle's Wine Tasting Dinner on November 27.
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Restaurant Review - Kinara Kitchen
09 November 2010
Indian food is as popular in Ireland as it is in the U.K. where Chicken Tikka Masala is reputedly the U.K’s most popular dish. Despite the recession there are a number of new Asian Restaurants opening in areas around Dublin right now, including Rathmin
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Eithne Fitzptrick Scott-Lennon talks to Lucinda
08 November 2010
Good hoteliers are solicitous and welcoming, unflappable, discreet and charming, as is required on the particular occasion. No one fits this description more than Eithne Fitzpatrick Scott-Lennon of Fitzpatrick’s Killiney Castle Hotel in County Dublin.
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Something For the Weekend
06 November 2010
Jean Marc Tsai's fantastic Asian food at his Shanghai Express Restaurant in Kinsale is unbeatable..... He shares with us a fab simple recipe...
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AA Courtesy & Care Award for Dunraven Arms Hotel
03 November 2010
The glorious Dunraven Arms Hotel in Adare, Co. Limerick has recently been awarded the AA Courtesy & Care Award - well deserved.
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Crazy Crab - Restaurant Review
01 November 2010
‘Tis not very often you leave a restaurant awarding it in your own mind 2 Badges of Distinction-Best Seafood platter in Ireland and Best Value seafood in Ireland.This is how we felt having left the new Crazy Crab Seafood Bistro and Café at Kilmore Qua
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What Comes Around Goes Around
01 November 2010
Meitheal is an old Irish word which basically denotes a group of people who get together and co-operate in perhaps helping each other with farming work such as harvesting crops or supporting one another in business – one hand washes the other!
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Hargadons Sligo
26 October 2010
Gastropubs have been proving hugely popular in the last year or two particularly in Dublin and many of the people opening them have been taking a look at those in London. However, they need not have left our shores at all for we have the very best exampl
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Deer, Wild Boar, Hungarian Wine Cellar.....in Mitchelstown
25 October 2010
Patrick and Miriam Mulcahy’s gorgeous Ballinwillin House, tucked away at the end of a cul de sac on the outskirts of Mitchelstown,is an absolute oasis for not only nature lovers but lovers of artisan food and wine.The house is set on 80 acres in the heart
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SPOOKS GALORE - HALLOWEEN BREAKS
18 October 2010
Spooks Galore – Halloween Breaks The October Bank Holiday and Mid-Term break is upon us and a great opportunity to get away with or without the family before it gets cold. Memories are made of times like this, be it kids jumping in and out of a hotel
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THE CLIFF TOWN HOUSE - RESTAURANT REVIEW
18 October 2010
Since inception in Georgian times No 22 St. Stephen’s Green has probably seen more incarnations over the last decade than its previous couple of hundred years. Formerly home to the Order of the Friendly Brothers of St. Patrick, whose mission was to stamp
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Countess Markiewicz
18 October 2010
A lovely painting by Constance Gore-Booth - Countess Mariewicz - during her time in Holloway Prison on view in The Model Sligo
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Our Latest Great Place to Stay & Eat - The G Hotel
14 October 2010
Le Tout Irelande never mind Le Tout Galway was all agog when it emerged that Philip Treacy, probably the world’s most famous milinery designer, was involved in the Interior Design at the new G Hotel in Galway as Design Director.
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CAPRI BAY - YOUGHAL - RESTAURANT REVIEW
11 October 2010
The Italians have a gift for creating atmosphere, sometimes it may be a bit kitsch but always confident. We were sitting in the Capri Bay Trattoria in Youghal, but it felt like we could have been in a side street in Sicily or the eponymous Capri.
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NEW DINGLE WILDLIFE & SEAL SANCTUARY
11 October 2010
A great new addition to the amenities of Dingle is the newly set up and burgeoning Dingle Wild Life & Seal Sanctuary on the Lispole to Dingle Road close to Dingle Town. Here there are 22 acres of wetlands just ideal for the purpose. Carpenter Ciaran O’Sul
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Heaton's of Dingle add new restaurant
11 October 2010
Cameron and Nuala Heaton's son David has returned to their wonderful Heaton's Guesthouse overlooking the water where he has opened his new Seashore restaurant
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Castlewood House Dingle
11 October 2010
Brian and Helen Heaton of the wonderful Castlewood House in Dingle met and fell in love whilst they were both working at the fabulous Ashford Castle in Co. Mayo - what a backdrop for a romance....
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Fat Ladies Rule
10 October 2010
A great picture hanging on the walls of the Vegetarian Cafe in Kenmare of a real woman....!
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Visitors From Singapore
10 October 2010
It is always interesting to know why visitors choose to come to Ireland for their holidays
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34th Kinsale Gourmet Festival Kicks off....
08 October 2010
This evening saw the kick off of the 34th Annual Gourmet Festival at a Champagne Reception at the White Lady.
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Shanghai Express - Restaurant Review
08 October 2010
Read all about Jean Marc Tsai's fantastic little Shanghai Express which does an amazing range of dishes from all over South East Asia..
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Eudora O'Connor - Horse Trainer & Breeder
06 October 2010
Horses are a disease,said Eudora O'Connor, at her Tallow based Lough na Solis Stud Farm....
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Blas Na hEireann Food Awards 2010
06 October 2010
As a Judge I got to taste Sauces, Soups, Black Pudding, Confectionary, and Conserves for the 4th Blas Na hEireann Food Awards 2010 held over the weekend
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Confrérie des Chevaliers du Goute-Boudin visit Rosscarberry
29 September 2010
Avril Allshire of Rosscarberry Recipes tells us of the visit from France of Le Confrerie des Chevaliers du Goute-Boudin to Rosscarberry to present her husband with a silver medal.....
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Fern House at Avoca - Restaurant Review
28 September 2010
Undoubtedly one of the great Irish business success stories of our times has been that of Avoca Handweavers, which started life in 1974 when Donald and Hilary Pratt bought an old mill in the County Wicklow village of Avoca. That followed with a shop and
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Autumn Courses
27 September 2010
Guess what? The traditional Aran sweater, a la Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers, is back in high fashion and on the catwalks of Europe. When I say traditional, I mean traditional, and not in the funky funky revival way of 10 or 15 yea
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J.G'S Restaurant at the McWilliam Park Hotel
27 September 2010
Not only is there a helluva lot to see when it comes to touring the magnificent West but the team at the McWilliam Park organise events and happenings for leisure breaks from Painting breaks to Cookery demos with Celebrity Chefs, and of course there are l
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Miss Courtney's Tearooms
23 September 2010
What a fantastic place in the middle of Killarney is Sandra Dunlea's Miss Courtney's Tearooms. Sandra’s great-aunt, Miss Margaret Courtney, first opened the doors of her confectionery, tea and grocery shop at No. 8 College Street in 1909.
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Matz at the G
22 September 2010
Philip Treacy created an extravaganza of contemporary design and colour, luxury and glamour, yet combined with extreme comfort and functionality that is required of any hotel never mind a 5 Star Hotel like the G.....
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RUSTIC STONE - RESTAURANT REVIEW
21 September 2010
Chefs who sniggered at the thought of Dylan McGrath cooking on ‘hot stones’ might be smiling on the other side of their faces, for the Dashing Dylan, who dazzled and mystified the Dublin dining public with his apparent arrogant attitude, is off and runnin
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Our Latest Great Place to Stay - McWilliam Park Hotel
21 September 2010
Claremorris in Co. Mayo is an ideal place to base oneself for touring the Western and North Western Counties of Ireland because it sits fairly and squarely as a pivotal point in what one might describe as South East Mayo between Galway and Sligo....
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Ruhama - Come Dine At Mine
20 September 2010
Dinner parties and the sex trade are not what one would necessarily think as obvious bedmates – if you will forgive the pun! However, this Autumn, during October and November, Ruhama, a voluntary organisation, who work with women affected by prostitution
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Las Tapas
17 September 2010
Tapas and vino appeals to girls big time on the night out but sometimes these morsels on which Spaniards graze in bars from Barcelona to Marbella can be expensive and bad value. Happily such is not the case at Las Tapas,
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Midleton Food & Drink Festival
17 September 2010
The crowds were out in abundance for Midleton Food & Drink Festival where the streets were lined with food stalls.
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Waterford Castle's Historical Feast Menu
15 September 2010
Waterford Castle held a fantastic Historical Feast last Friday night with Chef Michael Quinn recreating a menu from a dinner party held by Princess d'Ardia Caracciola
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L. MULLIGAN GROCER - RESTAURANT REVIEW
15 September 2010
Stoneybatter is an inner city area north of the quays which historically embraced a solid working class community employed by the nearby Guinness Brewey, Jameson’s Distillery, and the old Cattle Markets on the NCR. In recent years this community was.
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Jimmy Murakami - Film maker & Artist
14 September 2010
“I didn’t ever want to the a Sunday painter, I wanted to drop everything and be a serious painter but up to now I have been so busy with films I didn’t have the time!” So said Jimmy T. Murakami, as we sat drinking tea in the cool garden room of his home
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Booze Cruise 2010
09 September 2010
With the kids firmly ensconced at their school desks this is the time when dedicated booze cruisers set sail for La Belle France to stock up the cellars for autumn. There is no doubt but that you save an awful lot of money on wine in France.
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Autumn Food Festivals 2010
08 September 2010
Waterford, Midleton, Taste of West Cork, Galway Oyster Festival, Dingle, Kinsale Gourmet Festival, and Kilkenny....Get the lowdown here.
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We Are Eating More Vegetables
06 September 2010
Bord Bia consumer research highlights an increase in consumption of fruit & vegetables in the Irish diet. 45% are consuming a minimum of 5 a day, compared with 25% in 2006
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Slow Architecture and Place - Floating Exhibition
04 September 2010
Contained in 107B courtesy of the Heritage Boat Association,– ‘Slow Architecture and Place’ – is a travelling exhibition that will follow the Grand Canal from the Shannon to Dublin from 9 September (launch) to 21 October. On its evocative journey, the b
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SAVOUR KILKENNY 2010
01 September 2010
The 4th Kilkenny Food Festival to be the biggest and best yet with a mouthwatering line up of events. The majestic walls of Kilkenny Castle - where last year's Banquet was held - see photo - will form a spectacular backdrop to this year's Festival....
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Get Back to Cooking
30 August 2010
For the past fifteen years our TV screens have been literally awash with cookery programmes from the sublime to the ridiculous. We have had the Two Fat Ladies, doling out colonial style ‘receipts’ with Jennifer dipping her grotesquely painted finger
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Canal Cafe by Clodagh - Restaurant Review
30 August 2010
It seems you are nobody nowadays unless you reach the status of single monicker fame – Elizabeth, Charles, Posh, Becks, Armani, Delia, Nigella, Darina, Rachel, …and now ‘Clodagh’…… Some might say its a tad cocky and pretentious until you have achieve
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Wild Honey Inn
26 August 2010
In anyone’s terms it has to be a fantastic achievement to take on a new premises, refurbish it, launch your business, and within 12 months be awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand.
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Leitrim, Explore, Experience and Enjoy
26 August 2010
A new tourism brand for county Leitrim was launched today to act as a one stop information shop for visitors to the county supporting the county’s thriving tourism industry. The new entity ‘Leitrim – explore, experience, enjoy’ is aimed at reaching out an
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Gourmet Greystones Big Day - 5th September, 2010.
26 August 2010
Celebrate food this September at the Gourmet Greystones Event ~ a celebration of the restaurants, cafes and gourmet food outlets in the award winning coastal town of Greystones, Co Wicklow.
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Boardwalk Bar & Grill Wine Tasting Evening
26 August 2010
The Boardwalk Bar and Grill will be having their next Wine Tasting Dinner on September 14 with wines from Montgras, Chile.
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Support Your Local Restaurants & Food Suppliers
24 August 2010
Some restaurants have that happy knack of really slotting in to community life and almost feel like a home from home! Two restaurants which I re-visited recently spring to mind, one is relatively new, the other has been there for the long haul. Both give
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For Pet Lovers
23 August 2010
I have two adored Siamese Cats - Bobby Dazzler and Bruno - and I am lucky that when I travel my two sons who live at home also adore them but not everyone is so lucky and they have to find a good place to board them....
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ROUGH GUIDE TO TEAROOMS
19 August 2010
Whilst in recent years we have all been overwhelmed with Lattes and Skinny Lattes, Cappuccinos, and Mochas, the fact of the matter is what do we really want when we are tired and stressed, or when something suddenly happens, but that old refreshing and r
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Wolfe's - Restaurant Review
19 August 2010
The foodie buzz words are organic, local, seasonal, and artisan produce, and that is all very admirable, but it all depends on what you do with it! Wolfe’s Wine & Food Store is on Capel Street.
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - The Elm Tree
13 August 2010
Whizzing along the motorways around the country it is very easy to miss some really great places to eat if you are not a local. In this case I am talking of the N25 Waterford to Cork Road which in the old days went along through Glounthaune. Remarking
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PINOT'S - RESTAURANT REVIEW
12 August 2010
The restaurant scene in Beacon South Quarter in the Sandyford Industrial Estate is perking its head up again! At the tail end of the Tiger, there was a rush of young blood to open restaurants and interior design shops there. However, the walls came tum
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Margaret Browne's Green Barn
10 August 2010
The last three years of Margaret Browne’s life was absorbed, with her usual incredible determination and fighting spirit, in the setting up of her Green Barn Garden Centre, Life Style Store and Café Bistro, on the N25 between Youghal and Killeagh in East
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Woods Restaurant
04 August 2010
Roundwood is a pretty village, high in the hills of Co. Wicklow, much loved by Dubliners and walkers for a day out. We took a trip out recently to visit a new restaurant called Woods, just opened by Marino Monterisi who operates the very successful Bates
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TAPAS, TAPAS, TAPAS - REVIEWED
04 August 2010
Tapas I was getting really tetchy by the time I departed the new Mauzac Tapas Bar in Greystones. Tapas and vino appeals to girls big time on the night out but, at Irish prices, and as a dining concept, these morsels on which Spaniards graze in bars..
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Are You Being Served
03 August 2010
“Are you being served?” was the British TV sitcom, which ran from 1972 to 1985, set in the fictional department store of Grace Brothers, featuring the ultra camp John Inman as Mr. Humphries, Mollie Sugden as Mrs. Slocombe ‘Head of the Ladies Department’,
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Celtic Rising at the Burlington Hotel
03 August 2010
So folks, Ireland is getting back to pre-Tiger normality – the Irish Cabaret is back in Dublin with a swing! For nigh on 45 years no visit to Ireland by an American Tourist was complete without a night at the Irish Cabaret but then post milenium we lost t
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LIST OF FARMER'S MARKETS
01 August 2010
Farmers Markets are hugely popular and growing in size and number of venues week by week. Not only will you find lots of goodies but maybe get a good day out too.
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The Brown Bear is Brilliant
26 July 2010
It was a warm busy Friday evening setting off for The Brown Bear at Two Mile House south of Naas, and so, avoiding the M7, we travelled the ‘old road’ passing the lakes of Blessington, through Dunlavin village, and affluent looking stud farms. As to fi
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Pacino's
26 July 2010
Pacino’s is one of those places which, like the Godfather, has all angles covered. Located just around the corner off Grafton Street, at Pacino’s you can start the day with your wholesome bowl of porridge, come back for lunch, or for dinner, and even be
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Tankardstown Monthly Farmer's Market
25 July 2010
Once every month, give the supermarket a miss and sample local produce at its freshest. Starting on Saturday 31st July (10am – 3pm), the lovely setting of Tankardstown Estate in Meath will hold a Farmers’ Market.
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Jacques Bistro
21 July 2010
We had one of the best dining experiences of the year so far in a French Bistro in Wexford Town.
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Memories of France
21 July 2010
The French may think they are very chi chi but they have yet to cotton on to decent beds – that is unless you are staying in the Ritz! We now take for granted our high off the floor superking beds with orthopoedic mattresses and it is only after a night
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Jacques Bistro at Greenacres - Restaurant Review
20 July 2010
We had one of the best dining experiences of the year so far in a French Bistro in Wexford Town.
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Total Immersion Chef & Restaurant Management Courses
19 July 2010
Shortly after I started my working life I remember my mother saying to me that she had read an article from the U.S.A. saying that in the future people should be prepared to change their career path every 7 years. That was in the time when most people w
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - The Purple Onion
14 July 2010
Being a Taurean myself, I love colourful people who love art, and who love food, and who love wine, it always displays a generousous of spirit and an appreciation of the finer things of life and fun. This could undoubtedly be said of Paul Dempsey and
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NISHEETH TAK OF RASAM TALKS ABOUT HIS LIFE
14 July 2010
WINNER OF RAI/SUNDAY INDEPENDENT BEST ETHNIC RESTAURANT AWARD, NISHEETH TAK OF RASAM INDIAN RESTAURANT TALKS ABOUT HIS CAREER AND HIS LIFE
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Manifesto Restaurant
09 July 2010
Either the recession is over or they are doing something very right here at Manifesto, we thought, and they are!
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The Green Hen - Restaurant Review
06 July 2010
You know, we are a terrible crowd of snobs here really. We only have to hear the words “new French Bistro or Brasserie” and there’s a rush of Mrs Bouquets from Foxrock to Howth to try out their ‘Snail Pithivers’ and plonk, and be able to drop the word in
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Gotham South - Restaurant Review
06 July 2010
“A smile wouldn’t go amiss” I commented of the Meeter Greeter at the new Gotham South Restaurant & Café in Stillorgan, the request for a table for which was being handled as though it were the hottest ticket in town.
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Indonesian Spicy Summer Dressing
26 June 2010
Chameleon Restaurant's Kevin O'Toole shares his fantastic recipe for a summer dressing with a difference.....
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MANIFESTO RESTAURANT REVIEW
24 June 2010
Foodie types tend to be a tad sniffy of ‘ordinary’ Italian restaurants unless they are of the “new Italian” variety. However, go to any Italian restaurant and you will find them packed with people who just want good heartwarming grub sans any pretensions
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ZANNA COOKHOUSE
23 June 2010
Owen Mullins spent nearly 30 years in the transport business, but always had a passion for cooking, which he attributes to his mother “who used sell her home baking from the door in the summertime when visitors from Dublin would flock to the beach at Carn
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STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL - ALL IRELAND FARMERS MARKET COMPETITION
22 June 2010
When Enniscorthy Market running about a year, Fiona Phelan enveigled her father Jim Whelan, a beef and sheep producer, to do the beef stall at the Market. “The nice thing about markets is that you meet so many nice people.” says Jim.
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ENNISCORTHY MARKET
22 June 2010
Wilton Mills is the place and the name under which Fiona and Tim Phelan, and also Fiona’s father, Jim Whelan, produce and market their produce. Fiona and Tim both trained as chefs at Ballymaloe Cookery School some fifteen or so years ago and Fiona conti
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CAMDEN KITCHEN - RESTAURANT REVIEW
22 June 2010
A gaggle of twittering birds, fags and bags in hand, were laughing and waving in at one of the chefs through the shop fronted new Camden Kitchen, as we pondered on the merits of coffees.
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CORK IS BUSTIN OUT ALL OVER
21 June 2010
June is bustin’ out all over and sees the kick off of a great series of festivals and fun in the Rebel County – and you don’t have to risk the ‘plume’ to get there. Music, poetry, art, food, wine, comedy, and a brand new road to Cork that wi
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - L'Officina Dundrum
21 June 2010
L’Officina Dundrum, centered in a triumvirate of eateries with outdoor tables overlooking the Mill Pond fountain in Dundrum Shopping Centre, is part of their stable of restaurants with David Izzo and it is just perfect for collapsing into after you have b
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WOODS RESTAURANT - REVIEW
10 June 2010
Roundwood is a pretty village, high in the hills of Co. Wicklow, much loved by Dubliners and walkers for a day out. We took a trip out recently to visit a new restaurant called Woods, just opened by Marino Monteresi who operates the very successful Bates
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The Ultimate Hotelier
08 June 2010
We all remember in the movie Pretty Woman how the suave Hotel Manager came to the aid of “Vivian”, played by Julia Roberts, when she needed a special gown for the ball with Richard Gere’s character “Edward”. He had been somewhat disapproving initially of
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ARTY FARTY
08 June 2010
Anne Merrins Pryce opened her beautiful Whitethorn Gallery in April 2009, and is absolutely delighted that she has done so.
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LOVE VINTAGE!!!!
08 June 2010
CarolAnne Joyce is a woman with a larger than life personality and style that captivates the moment you walk through the door of her new Love Vintage shop in Clifden.
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Il Divo
03 June 2010
Our Latest Great Place to eat in Dublin 6 but we found it well worth travelling to from Dun Laoghaire......
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Aubars Limerick
31 May 2010
During the Celtic Tiger years we became a Dine Out Nation, which is something our continental cousins have enjoyed for decades, and there is nothing wrong with that but to be a Dine Out Nation we need good places, doing well produced food at good prices.
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A PASSION FOR BIRDS OF A FEATHER
30 May 2010
Daniel and Eoghan Hennessy, aged 14 and 11, were first introduced to hens when Daniel was about six years old. Their Dad got an incubator and a half dozen eggs and started hatching them out which was the start of a whole new world of birds of a feather.
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BOILED EGG AND SOLDIERS
30 May 2010
We are going to be hearing an awful lot more of “here, chook, chook chook chook, chook” in urban back gardens judging by the high amount of chicken coop sales of late. It’s really cool nowadays to have your own hens producing eggs, a trend triggered by
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HENPECKED
30 May 2010
We are going to be hearing an awful lot more of “here, chook, chook chook chook, chook” in urban back gardens judging by the high amount of chicken coop sales of late.
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BANG CAFE - REVIEW
29 May 2010
Walking into the Dragons’ Den, the RTE TV programme, is not for the faint hearted for, as we have seen in many an episode, the Dragons take no prisoners, filleting and disecting their prey without mercy. So, walking into the lair of one of the toughest D
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TODAY WITH PAT KENNY SHOW AL FRESCO DINING
27 May 2010
LUCINDA CHATS WITH MYLES DUNGAN ABOUT AL FRESCO DINING OPPORTUNITIES AROUND THE COUNTRY
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Ananda's Sunil Ghai Writes for us
26 May 2010
Sunil Ghai of Ananda writes about winning the 2009 Food & Wine Chef of the Year Award, his food philosophy and developing his new menu.
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - L'Officina Kildare
24 May 2010
I for one was more than glad to find that Eileen Dunne & Stefano Crescenzi had a branch of their brilliant L’Officina at the Kildare Outlet Centre – and I am sure I am not alone. Part of a good day’s shopping is having a bite to eat as well – or maybe ev
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Seamus Commons of La Fougere Shares a Recipe with Us.
22 May 2010
Seamus Commons, Executive Chef,at La Fougere at Knockranny House Hotel in Westport shares his recipe for Goat's Cheese Gnocchi with Confit Tomatoes with us. Deliciously seasonal.
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Our Latest great Place to Eat - La Fougere
20 May 2010
Chef Seamus Commons is a man who is rapidly making La Fougere Restaurant at Knockranny House Hotel into a foodie destination
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Theatre of Restaurants
19 May 2010
I know we always want what we can’t have but is the cost of your meal out in the future going to depend on what seat you want to sit at or what day or time you eat? Booking a seat in a restaurant a la the Dress Circle in a theatre seems to be the new t
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VALUE MENUS AROUND THE COUNTRY
17 May 2010
Despite the ridiculously high prices to which we were subjected throughout those Celtic Tiger rip-off years, we became a dine out nation. This, as I constantly preached, was a privilege enjoyed by our continental cousins, as a matter of course, but with h
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Pat O'Neill's Dry Cure Bacon
17 May 2010
In Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, Pat O’Neill produces and wholesales old style artisan dry cure bacon which is not only deliciously tasty but what you get is solid meat per kilo for your money with none of that old water seeping out on the pan! Dry curing is
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The German Butcher's Shop
17 May 2010
In 1958 the German crane manufacturing company, Liebherr, opened a factory in Killarney, giving not only local employment but also bringing in many German people to work over the years. One of these was Armin Weise who came to Ireland some thirty years.
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - The Strand Inn
15 May 2010
I don’t know anybody who doesn’t love Dunmore East, that sweet little fishing village in County Waterford. For years and years it has been the perfect haven for weekends away in its pretty environs. Right down overlooking the beach, with wonderful view
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L'Ecrivain Restaurant Review
14 May 2010
At the height of the Celtic Tiger madness in 2006, following a disenchanting visit to Derry Clarke’s L’Ecrivain Restaurant,I wrote of my experience. It was a review I am sure that went down like a lead balloon in the Clarke camp...
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Rasam's Head Chef Shares New Recipe With Us
14 May 2010
Rasam Indian Restaurant's Head Chef, Sanjay Vishwakarma, shares his recipe for Tandoori Duck Tikka with us
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - One Pico
12 May 2010
I first wrote about Eamon O’Reilly’s cooking when in 1997, aged just 25, he opened his original One Pico Restaurant in what was a former convent at the top of Camden Street. I wrote about him again in 2001 when he moved to his current premises when his f
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COLIN O'DALY TALKS TO LUCINDA
12 May 2010
Without any F-words, tantrums, or attention seeking antics, one of the best known, most talented and, above all, most respected names in the Irish culinary world undoubtedly has to be Colin O’Daly. Most would associate Colin O’Daly with Roly’s Bistro..
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Cornstore Cork
10 May 2010
During the Celtic Tiger years we became a Dine Out Nation, which is something our continental cousins have enjoyed for decades, and there is nothing wrong with that but to be a Dine Out Nation we need good places, doing well produced food at good prices.
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Cornstore Limerick
05 May 2010
During the Celtic Tiger years we became a Dine Out Nation, which is something our continental cousins have enjoyed for decades, and there is nothing wrong with that but to be a Dine Out Nation we need good places, doing well produced food at good prices.
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Restaurant Review - One Pico
03 May 2010
I first wrote about Eamonn O’Reilly’s cooking when in 1997, aged just 25, he opened his original One Pico Restaurant in what was a former convent at the top of Camden Street. I wrote about him again in 2001 when he moved to his current premises when his
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ChocOneill
03 May 2010
I read a report recently that said Ireland ranks 3rd highest after Switzerland and Austria when it comes to chocolate consumption – you also apparently live longer if you nibble a bit every month!
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Red Apron Company
03 May 2010
Sally Stone is from Dun Laoghaire and eight weeks ago she launched The Red Apron Company producing a most attractive range of food condiments, sauces, marinades, relishes and pickles. There are quite a few people in this area already but what struck me a
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Fun Flowers
03 May 2010
If you could only bottle the enthusiasm of Glasnevin chap, Philip Walsh, you would make a fortune! Philip is a young man whose friendliness and warmth belies a very together entrepreneurial skill. Educated at Belvedere College, he is just 20 years old,
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TODAY WITH PAT KENNY SHOW VALUE MENUS PART 2
28 April 2010
Lucinda tells listeners to Today with Pat Kenny Show of Value Menus around the country
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MAY BANK HOLIDAY BREAKS
26 April 2010
Volcanic escapes came to mind immediately on hearing of the air chaos. Fly Away around Ireland instead.....there are great places all over the country at great prices...
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CHAPTER 40
26 April 2010
On our second night on a stay in Killarney we visited Chapter 40, a popular local restaurant, where Brendan started with a delicious vegetable soup (€5.95), topped with a cheese stick and foam. I had a Tapas Board (€11.95) sporting six nice little bites.
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BRASSERIE AT EUROPE HOTEL, KILLARNEY.
26 April 2010
It is difficult not to be gobsmacked by the the magnificent ever changing views over Killarney’s biggest lake, Lough Lein, not to mention the sleek décor and facilities of The Europe Hotel on its shores. Formerly known as Hotel Europe, it was the talk of
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Lennons @ Visual
21 April 2010
Having a Kilkenny background, and relatives in Carlow, I have known the Carlow dining scene, it could be said, almost intimately! I spent much of my childhood summers in nearby Tullow and in later years we were very frequent visitors to visit my elderly
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TOM YAM THAI RESTAURANT REVIEW
20 April 2010
I suppose the cuisine best associated with our Celtic Tiger years has been Thai – it almost put the erstwhile Asian favourite Chinese on the back boiler. A man in England wrote to me at one stage to say we could shortly expect to see U.K. style aircra
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Our Latest Great Place to Stay - Luxury Randles Court Hotel
19 April 2010
Killarney has dozens of hotels, but not dozens of wonderful hotels that have people going home to various points around the world talking about the fabulously luxurious and comfortable place they stay, and not just about the luxury and comfort, but above
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My Thai Cookery Event
17 April 2010
The award winning My Thai restaurant in The Beacon is sexy and sultry, with a ‘wonderful buzz’ and oodles of style matched by assured cooking. The Asian Pacific menu balances taste, texture & presentation superbly and proudly displays its team of chefs th
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Greene's Restaurant Cork
17 April 2010
French Chef Fred Deformeaux is back in Greene’s Restaurant at Hotel Isaacs in Cork. This is great news for anyone who likes delicious rustic French style food with a twist. When I first wrote about Greene’s many years ago I couldn’t wait to go back be
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Magical May Ball at Coolbawn Quay
16 April 2010
Don't miss out on a fabulous evening over the May Bank Holiday weekend at the amazing Coolbawn Quay....
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Ashford Castle Scoop Awards
16 April 2010
The fabulous Ashford Castle Scoops a trio of Awards including Conde Nast, Tripadvisor and Irish Hotel....
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Our Latest Great Place to Stay - The White House
15 April 2010
Our latest great place to stay is The White House - not in Washington but in Kinsale - Obama couldn't find better than this place...
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FLAVOUR OF ITALY TRIP TO AMALFI COAST
14 April 2010
The Dublin based Flavour of Italy, who own Pinocchio in Ranelagh, are organising a trip to Amalfi....
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - The Arch Bistro Churchtown
10 April 2010
As we all know, the restaurant scene, and every other scene, has changed beyond comprehension in the past twelve months. Fine dining went out the door with the bankers and wankers who had been puffing up prices for a decade – on our money. During this
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VALUE MENUS
09 April 2010
As featured on Today with Pat Kenny, Lucinda recommends a number of Early Bird and Value Menus Countrywide....
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The Boardwalk Bar & Grill, Cork.
08 April 2010
Our Latest Great Place to Eat is the fantastic Boardwalk Bar & Grill on Lapp's Quay, Cork, owned by witty radio presenter Neil Prendeville and John Gately
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MICHELIN BIB GOURMANDS 2010
07 April 2010
A Michelin Star was once the accolade that every chef wanted outside his door but, in recessionary times, one begins to question whether the prestigious star isn't more of a hindrance than a help to business as they denote exclusivity and expense.....
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Tenors Grill Room Donnybrook
06 April 2010
Everyone wants great value eateries these days and Tenors Grill Room in Donnybrook D4 has been giving just that...
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EASTER BREAKS
02 April 2010
As featured on RTE's Today with Pat Kenny, Lucinda gives a rundown of countrywide value breaks over the Easter period....
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Il Divo Rathgar
30 March 2010
“We’re booked out”, said the waiter with a grin, as I looked at empty tables at Il Divo a new Italian restaurant over Coman’s Pub in Rathgar. It was a bleak Monday night but the Maitre d’ and waiter brought a warmth and welcome to the place that was a
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Killarney - Recession Proof?
30 March 2010
Walking around the streets of Killarney and looking at the gleaming windows and shopfronts, it almost struck me that Killarney was somewhat cocooned from the dreaded word ‘recession’. The shops were packed with fresh Spring stock and there was an
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - The Lodge at Doonbeg
29 March 2010
The Lodge at Doonbeg is set in one of the most glorious locations in Ireland - sea, sand, golf, and good food....
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MONART AN ACE EXPERIENCE
25 March 2010
Before the joys of Spas ever hit our shores, I took a trip to a top place in the U.K. It was very enjoyable drifting from one pampering treatment to the next but at dinner each night one guest looked more miserable than the other as they faced a thimble
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Avenue Cafe Restaurant
24 March 2010
There was a time in Ireland that every good town or village had to have a decent pub as its focal point. Happily now, more like in France, every good town or village here needs a decent restaurant at its heart. Maynooth in County Kildare got its “decen
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LA FOUGERE AT KNOCKRANNY HOUSE HOTEL
23 March 2010
Chef Seamus Commons is really making a name for himself as a force to be reckoned with in the foodie stakes....
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MANORHAMILTON FARMER'S MARKET
22 March 2010
There is one thing pretty well guaranteed about Farmer’s Markets, you will always meet a bunch of interesting and colourful people, from a cross section of life. Such was also the case at the Farmer’s Market at Manorhamilton, County Leitrim. Not a large
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The Weir Bistro & Bar
22 March 2010
Our newest Great Place to Eat is The Weir Bistro & Bar at the spanking new Jurys Cork Hotel under the baton of Head Chef David Roache
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Ashford Castle Brown Bread Recipe
17 March 2010
Chef Stefan Matz shares the secret of Ashford Castle Brown Bread for St. Patrick's Day
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Sheridans on the Docks Galway
16 March 2010
Galway is a city that has quite a lot of restaurants, but it also has quite a lot that are not up to much in many ways. Some have undeservedly survived purely on the custom of unknowing visitors to the City of the Tribes. However, the locals do know
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Il Vignardo
13 March 2010
Our latest Great Place to Eat is Il Vignardo Italian Restaurant in a former wine vault in the center of Dublin...
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Jurys Cork Hotel
09 March 2010
The fabulous new Jurys Cork Hotel overlooking the River Lee on the Western Road is our latest Great Place to Stay
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Our Latest Great Place to Eat - RED Brasserie & Wine Bar
06 March 2010
Bertie Ahern is a man who likes his grub, although he likes to keep himself trim and watches his diet. He certainly knew where to go when he was in Newry on his book signing tour for he chose the RED Brasserie & Wine Bar. RED is a rather clever name...
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The Ormond Wine Bar
05 March 2010
“You can sit anywhere”, said the Latin looking chap in the stripey jumper and Hugh Grant floppy hair, cursorily giving the unset table, we had hesitated beside, a brush down with his hand. We were in the Ormond Wine Bar, close to Capel Street Bridge.
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DANU AT THE BREHON HOTEL, KILLARNEY.
04 March 2010
Danu Restaurant at The Brehon Hotel is our newest Great Place to Eat check it out....great food, great breaks
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A Poulet Au Pot - Regan Organics
01 March 2010
In the 16th Century, King Henry 1V of France, a very popular figure, espoused the desire that all of the people of France would be able to have a ‘poulet au pot’ on a Sunday for lunch. Indeed many of us have memories of the flavours and ..
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The Fairway's Bar & Orchard Restaurant
27 February 2010
The Fairway's Bar & Orchard Restaurant at Kilruane, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary is our latest Great Place to Eat. Read all about it in our restaurant section.
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The Club Brasserie, Cork.
24 February 2010
The super stylish Club Brasserie on Lapp's Quay, Cork, is our latest Great Place to Eat
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The Old Stand is our latest Great Place to Eat
23 February 2010
The Old Stand is one of Dublin's great iconic Pubs which does great grub in a great atmosphere
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DANU AT THE BREHON HOTEL, KILLARNEY.
23 February 2010
‘Danu’ was the oldest Celtic Goddess and apparently a worshipped mother figure to The Tuatha de Danann, a race of people in Irish mythology. Actually, it is a rather nice name and was chosen for the newly tweaked restaurant Danu at the Brehon Hotel in Ki
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The CastleCourt Hotel, Westport.
19 February 2010
The CastleCourt Hotel in the lovely town of Westport is our newest Great Place to Stay & Eat 2010
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JUST FOOD COMPANY COBH
19 February 2010
Whilst walking the aisles in Hurley's Supervalu in Midleton, East Cork, I spotted a row of organic soups by the “Just Food Company” and succumbed to a ‘Sweet Potato and Lemongrass’ soup which proved delicious.
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El Vino Cork
17 February 2010
El Vino Restaurant & Wine Bar at the Elysian Tower offered friendly service and decent grub.
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CALVEY'S RESTAURANT ACHILL ISLAND
15 February 2010
Calvey's Restaurant on magnificent Achill Island is our newest Great Place to Eat. Think of delicious Achill Mountain Lamb, Local Lobster, prawns.....
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The Poachers Inn Seafood Bar & Restaurant, Bandon.
11 February 2010
Our newest Great Place to Eat is Barry & Catherine McLaughlin's gorgeous Poachers Inn Seafood Bar & Restaurant in Bandon, West Cork.
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Olive Cafe & Deli Skerries
11 February 2010
Deirdre and Peter Doherty's Olive Deli and Cafe in the fabulous north Dublin seaside town is our newest Great Place to Eat.....
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CONRAD GALLAGHER'S SALON DES SAVEURS
09 February 2010
So what was our first real ‘boy wonder’ celebrity chef giving us in 2010 everyone wanted to know - including every chef in Dublin! It seems a helluva long time since the mid 90’s when a fledgling Gallagher first opened Peacock Alley in a basement in Bag
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Les Gourmandises Restaurant Cork
04 February 2010
Patrick and Soizic Kiely's superb chic Les Gourmandises Restaurant is our newest addition to Great Places to Eat.
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Bleu Bistro Moderne
04 February 2010
Eamonn O'Reilly's Blue Bistro Moderne is the latest addition to Great Places to Eat - read all about it in the restaurant section of the website.
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Kites Chinese Restaurant
03 February 2010
Read Lucinda's account of her visit to Kite's Restaurant which is now featuring on Great Places to Eat.
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EARLY BIRDS ARE CHIC
02 February 2010
I have always believed that in life you get what you pay for across the board so, when it comes to the old Early Bird and Value menus, is it pay peanuts get monkeys? Pre-recession there was the sneaking feeling that Early Birds attracted those who were a
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Abbeyleix Advances
02 February 2010
Abbeyleix, a Heritage town, on the main N8 road to Cork, was founded in the 18th century by Viscount de Vesci. The de Vesci family lived in Abbeyleix up to very recent times, when the Estate was sold, and the present Viscount moved to London. People te
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The Chop House Gastropub
31 January 2010
Chef Kevin Arundel was originally with L’Ecrivain before doing his own thing in No 10 Restaurant in Longfields Hotel, Lower Fitzwilliam Street, which is currently closed. Arundel then moved to the Schoolhouse Bar and Restaurant on Northumberland Road fo
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THE PIG'S EAR GETS A MICHELIN BIB GOURMAND
25 January 2010
Our newest Great Place to Eat, Stephen McAllister and Andrea Hussey's Pig's Ear Restaurant gets a Michelin Bib Gourmand....
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Davy Byrne's - Dublin's Iconic Literary Pub
22 January 2010
Dublin's iconic Literary Pub is now featured as a Great Place to Eat in Dublin so read all about the history of this great stylish original gastropub in the Restaurant Section.
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Paolo Fresilli, President Italian Chefs Federation in Ireland, Announces Professional Italian Cooking Courses
21 January 2010
Paulo Fresilli,President of the Italian Chefs Federation in Ireland (FIC),and the fab Via Veneto in Enniscorthy,tell us FIC is proud to announce Professional Course Schedule on Italian Cuisine in 2010 in Dublin at the Italian School of Cooking.
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Augustine's at the Clarion Cork
21 January 2010
Augustine’s was a topping little restaurant in Washington Street which appears to have gone all to sea at the Clarion and they need to get it back on course rapidly. It was like a Pantomime. Scene 1 was fine,Scene 11 was dreadful,and Scene 111 was a farce
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O'Connell's Restaurant
21 January 2010
O’Connell’s Restaurant is now in situ at the BC occupying the two rooms which comprised the original Berkeley Court restaurant and café. We heard they had a reasonably priced menu – they do - but don’t expect sophisticated fare. Approaching the door of
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GASTROPUBS GASTROPUBS GASTRO PUBS
14 January 2010
THE EXCHEQUER - Ian Tucker and Peter Rock, who have created an urban front bar, a relaxed lounge with vintage sofas, and a proper dining area.
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Sandra Dunlea's Miss Courtney's Tearooms Killarney
14 January 2010
The old fashioned Afternoon Tea is proving very popular in Killarney of late, thanks to the arrival of “Miss Courtney’s Tearooms” in the town. The custom of Afternoon Tea goes back to the early 19th century and is generally attributed to Anna, 7th Duchess
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RONAN RYAN OF TOWN BAR & GRILL WRITES FOR US
06 January 2010
Ronan Ryan of Town Bar & Grill writes of his trials and tribulations in 2009 and is looking forward to moving forward in 2010
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LUCINDA'S NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS/REVOLUTIONS
06 January 2010
Lucinda talks about vegetarianism, her love of animals, food critics, art classes, fear of flying, and others....
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LUCINDA'S QUICKY SPICY SWEET POTATO SOUP
06 January 2010
We are all freezing at the moment and need something colourful spicy and warm with an instant hit - but always quick and simple is my motto.
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JennyLynd's Taste of the Caribbean
05 January 2010
I came across JennyLynd James and her Taste of the Caribbean food at the Food Market during Kinsale Arts Week last Summer.....
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THE ARCH BISTRO REVIEW
04 January 2010
Chef Stephen McArdle, who “formerly headed up the kitchen in Alexis”, has just opened The Arch Bistro in Churchtown. Armagh born McArdle trained under Paul Rankin and has worked in Chapter One, One Pico......
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Amy Caviston Talks to Lucinda
04 January 2010
Amy Caviston tells Lucinda about growing up in the Caviston Fish and Deli Dynasty and of setting up her own fab shop and cafe in Greystones
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THE LUCINDA AWARDS FOR 2009
29 December 2009
Every year in the Sunday Independent, Lucinda recalls her dining experiences throughout the year by giving her unmissable hot and cold Awards!
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NUDE FOOD'S LOUISE CLARK TALKS TO LUCINDA
29 December 2009
I first came across Louise at a Farmer’s Market in Kinsale a couple of years ago, where she had a stall selling preserves and all sorts of interesting food. However, since then, Louise has taken more than a step or two forward for she now has a lovely
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Merry Christmas to All
24 December 2009
Thursday 24 December 2009 Christmas Eve As we batten down the hatches on Christmas Eve, as you can see in the background my kitchen is still in chaos. At least the stuffing is made for each end of the bird!! The ham is boiled, the cranberry, apple
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Indian Cookery Classes - perfect for foodies.
20 December 2009
The Punjab Balti Restaurant in Ranelagh are running four week Indian Cookery Demonstration Courses at €220 per course
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NEW YEAR'S EVE BASHES
15 December 2009
Want to know where to ring in 2010 in style - cant promise the CanCan girls but lots of bubbles and fun - read on
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Hayfield Manor's Christmas Party
15 December 2009
Hayfield Manor's Joe and Margaret Scally host the Christmas Party of the Season...
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LISLOUGHREY'S WADE MURPHY GIVES US APPLE BRINED TURKEY - WOW!
14 December 2009
Chef Wade Murphy of Lisloughrey Lodge at Cong, gives us Apple Brined turkey - a most unusual method of cooking the bird!
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CHRISTMAS RECIPES FROM FITZPATRICK KILLINEY CASTLE
11 December 2009
KILLINEY CASTLE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A GREAT CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR DESTINATION, CHEF SEAN DEMPSEY, SHARES HIS TURKEY AND STUFFING RECIPES WITH US.
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RENVYLE'S CHEF TIM O'SULLIVAN'S PLUM PUDDING RECIPE
07 December 2009
CHEF TIM O'SULLIVAN OF THE GORGEOUS RENVYLE HOUSE HOTEL IN CONNEMARA SHARES HIS RECIPE FOR PLUM PUDDING WITH US ALL....
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CHRISTMAS SHOPPING LUNCHES
07 December 2009
‘Tis that time of year again folks when we hit the streets for the Christmas pressies. Memories are made on such family days out to see the Christmas windows and lights in Grafton Street. And where else would you get the likes of the traders in Henry St
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CHRISTMAS MARKETS 2009
02 December 2009
We are constantly being teased and tempted with the thought of Christmas Markets in Prague, Vienna, Berlin, and other ‘exotic’ locations but in truth, apart from the fact that one might fancy a skite abroad, there is absolutely no need to jet off because
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BRAMLEY LODGE CAFE AND FOOD STORE
02 December 2009
Starting out on an exciting new foodie career is Gillian Kearney with her new Bramley Lodge Café & Food Store.
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DILLINGER'S RESTAURANT REVIEW
01 December 2009
“Dillenger’s” – what a name for the times we are in – depression, bank robbers or, some might now say, Dillinger was the good guy and the banks the robbers!
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KELLY'S RESORT HOTEL - CHEF AHERNE RETIRES
01 December 2009
After 35 years reigning supreme at Kelly's Resort Hotel in Rosslare, Executive Chef Jim Aherne retires...
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PUNJAB BALTI CHARITY EVENTS
27 November 2009
The Punjab Balti Restaurant is holding two fantastic Charity Nights in aid of Make a Wish Foundation and St. Vincent de Paul on 3rd and 10th December. Make this your Christmas night out, have fun whilst helping children and those in need.
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CHARITY CELEBRITY RESTAURANT NIGHT
26 November 2009
Fancy having celebrities such as George Hook, Lisa Murphy, Pat Kenny, Glenda Gilsen et al serve up your dinner in aid of the "Laura Lynn Children's Hospice" then put the 8th December at Ouzo's Restaurant in your diary.
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ATHENAEUM HOTEL'S ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
25 November 2009
Mailo Power Mailo Power is a very interesting Waterford based artist who, along with her husband Stan, owns and runs the Athenaeum House Hotel on the banks of the river Suir.
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EASY EATERIES
24 November 2009
Everyday eateries, casual dining, and special offers, is what the restaurant world is all about at the moment. We all still want to be able to eat out as a matter of course, but even those who can still afford to splash out are not prepared to go mad any
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RASAM'S NISHEETH TAK WRITES ABOUT INDIA
17 November 2009
Nisheeth Tak of the superb Rasam Indian Restaurant in Sandycove tells us all about his early career in the Taj Hotel Mumbai. The very young Nisheeth is second from left in photo!
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LOUGH RYNN CASTLE SCENE OF 2010'S WEDDING OF THE YEAR
17 November 2009
What have a rugby player, an actress, and a Castle in County Leitrim got in common? A date for the hottest social event of 2010 is the answer - the wedding of Ireland’s golden boy, Brian O’Driscoll and Amy Huberman at Lough Rynn Castle.
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DANIEL MATTHEWS WILL COOK IN YOUR HOME
14 November 2009
Daniel Matthews, ex Head Chef at Fitzwilliam Hotel, launches new Catering Company called Relish Cuisine......
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NORA EGAN LAUNCHES NEW BLACK PUDDING
14 November 2009
Nora Egan of Inch House, Tipperary, has just launched a new black pudding to an age old recipe.
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SAGE RESTAURANT MIDLETON CO. CORK.
10 November 2009
Value is what the punter wants across the board nowadays and, happily, we certainly got our money’s worth at Sage Restaurant in the busy market town of Midleton in East Cork. It was nice too to be told, having already committed to a reservation on the ph
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AN OLIVE GROVE IN TUSCANY
09 November 2009
Mark Shannon is a well known Dublin restaurateur who owns the popular Bistro One in Foxrock Village.
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NEW BUTCHERS AT FRASCATI SHOPPING CENTRE
09 November 2009
David Doyle is 25 years old and was educated at Blackrock College and UCG where he took a B.Comm degree. He then went into a Accountancy Firm but after a few months decided that life at a desk was not for him.
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Bellagio Italian Restaurant Terenure
09 November 2009
We all have a neighbourhood restaurant to which we might go and are quite pleased to be recognised by the boss as a regular customer. Maybe we have a favourite table or a favourite dish that draws us back. Bellagio’s Italian Restaurant in Terenure fal
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LA SERRE AT THE VILLAGE AT LYONS
09 November 2009
“Sorry about that”, was the only joy I got from “the suit” at Restaurant La Serre in the Village at Lyons, on saying I had phoned to book a table but only got a message minder – and no call back! Indeed I also emailed – no reply. Further annoyed at the
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'PICHET' IS NOT HELL'S KITCHEN
09 November 2009
Nick Munier is the smooth talking Franglais Maitre d’ on the TV Show ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ - it was he who turfed out four difficult diners - who were later reprieved by Marco Pierre White! Munier commenced his career with the famous Roux Brothers and in 1991
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OCHOS TAPAS BAR RANELAGH
09 November 2009
As fast as Juice Bars are closing down, Tapas Bars are opening up. Are we now less concerned with health benefits and more into burying our heads in vino and inexpensive grub instead? Mind you, tapas can also work out pretty expensive as, with a few gla
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BROTHER ANSELM'S GLENSTAL COOK BOOK
27 October 2009
We have had cookery books by the score over the past number of years written by everyone from celebrity chefs, to food writers, to TV personalities, to actresses, but the latest is that by a Benedictine Monk, Brother Anselm of Glenstal Abbey in County Li
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SAVOUR KILKENNY FOOD FESTIVAL
21 October 2009
SAVOUR KILKENNY FOOD FESTIVAL KICKS OFF THIS BANK HOLIDAY FRIDAY EVENING 23RD OCTOBER AND RUNS RIGHT THROUGH UNTIL MONDAY 24TH OCTOBER.
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NEW BLUE HAVEN FOOD COMPANY RANGE
20 October 2009
Ciaran Fitzgerald of the Blue Haven Collection, launches their new Blue Haven Food Company range, "Fresh from Kinsale".
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KINSALE GOURMET FESTIVAL 2009
19 October 2009
"No recession at The Kinsale Gourmet Festival 2009" say the organisers, "it was a whopping success story!"
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NEW LUCINDA O'SULLIVAN WEBSITE
14 October 2009
Wednesday 14 October 2009 We're delighted to announce the launch of the revamped, primped and preened LucindaOSullivan.com, my online Little Black Book of not only Great Places to Stay and Eat, but also Great Restaurants to Eat in too.