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  • The good, the bad, and who takes the biscuit....

    The good, the bad, and who takes the biscuit....

    31 December 2012

    Lucinda O’Sullivan dishes out the awards for her personal best and worst dining experiences of 2012

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Stay - Hampton Hotel

    Our Latest Great Place to Stay - Hampton Hotel

    28 December 2012

    One of my best friends lives in Co. Wicklow and her favourite treat is to overnight in the Hampton Hotel when she comes into town to the National Concert Hall or to a restaurant.

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  • Book Your New Year's Eve Dinner or Break Away

    Book Your New Year's Eve Dinner or Break Away

    25 December 2012

    The bubbly is flowing, so don your Stetsons for a Dallas night or climb a mountain to mark 2013, says Lucinda O'Sullivan.....

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  • Dublin's Hot Dining Pitstops

    Dublin's Hot Dining Pitstops

    20 December 2012

    There’s a lot of talk about online shopping for gifts this Christmas but, frankly, nothing beats the feel of the ‘real thing’ in your hands, the buzz of choosing those gorgeous gifts, being able to touch or smell them, pondering on whether it should be th

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  • Evan Connon - Stained Glass Artist

    Evan Connon - Stained Glass Artist

    17 December 2012

    The recession hit Evan Connon hard, but out of it, he found himself, and he found love, writes Lucinda O'Sullivan.......

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  • Restaurant Review - Damson Diner

    Restaurant Review - Damson Diner

    17 December 2012

    Adding another vast hip new eatery to what has euphemistically been christened the Creative Quarter, the Bereen brothers have just opened the Damson Diner in premises where they previously ran the South William Urban Lounge. Marc and Conor Bereen also..

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Masterson's Steakhouse & Wine Bar

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Masterson's Steakhouse & Wine Bar

    12 December 2012

    When I was a kid Swords was a small town where we would often go on the ‘Sunday Drive’ and you thought of it as being out in the country. The father would drive around taking in Ballyboughal, the Naul, all of those great places, and of course blackberry

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  • Pods, Pizzas, Pop Ups

    Pods, Pizzas, Pop Ups

    10 December 2012

    'Large streams from little fountains flow, tall oaks from little acorns grow," is an old saying and so it is with the vanilla pod. I, however, speak not of a vanilla pod per se but The Vanilla Pod Eatery at The Park Retail Centre, Carrickmines, which is s

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  • Restaurant Review - Asador

    Restaurant Review - Asador

    10 December 2012

    On its second night, Asador was already awash with bright young things hanging off the cocktail bar, as we rolled up to try it out. With Twitter and Facebook, the drums beat loudly nowadays revving up the hordes who descend like a swarm of mosquitos to p

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Diwali Indian & Nepalese

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Diwali Indian & Nepalese

    08 December 2012

    I remember years ago finding great authentic Asian and South East Asian restaurants in Amsterdam and London that were simple in style and décor, but were relaxed and friendly, and where good food and fun were King.Diwali reminds me of these places...

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Indie Spice - Sandymount

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Indie Spice - Sandymount

    06 December 2012

    I have a passion for Indian food, the spices, the aromas, and the colours, which are rarely seen to the same extent in any other cuisine. In fact, I sometimes wonder why I wasn’t born on the sub-Continent instead of freezing in this part of the Northern

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Sirocco's

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Sirocco's

    05 December 2012

    I don’t know anybody who doesn’t love Italian food, not to mention the lighthearted fun atmosphere to be found in Italian restaurants. We have very fond memories of a little Italian restaurant in Soho that we used visit many years ago, and Sirocco’s..

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Peploe's

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Peploe's

    04 December 2012

    Very few restaurants have the honour of ever being recognized as an institution in Dublin society, but Peploe’s on St. Stephen’s Green achieved that status the minute it opened its doors a decade or so ago. Barry Canny is a foodie himself, he understands

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  • Christmas Markets, Fairs, Fun and Frolics

    Christmas Markets, Fairs, Fun and Frolics

    03 December 2012

    It's that time of year again – the wonderful season of Christmas. And each year more and more Christmas markets, fairs, fun and entertainment are springing up. We are an indefatigable people!

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - 37 Dawson Street

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - 37 Dawson Street

    30 November 2012

    If you want to rub shoulders with the cool and happening people of Dublin, well 37 Dawson Street is where it is at. This is an amazing bar, which is better than any club and where the movers and shakers hang out.The décor is quite brilliant, it is like

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Sandbar Trattoria

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Sandbar Trattoria

    29 November 2012

    I have very happy memories as a child of long summer days in Clontarf – cycling along the front by the sea from Hollybrook Road where my aunt lived, to the famous Clontarf Baths for a swim. It was absolutely magical so anytime I can get over to Clontarf

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  • Peppers at The White Deer

    Peppers at The White Deer

    29 November 2012

    Mallow is a very pretty historic town on the River Blackwater about 20 miles or so north of Cork City. It is a town I have always liked – I always think of it as mellow Mallow with its lush surroundings – I also have to say the same of nearby Kanturk..

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Kirby's Korner Bar

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Kirby's Korner Bar

    29 November 2012

    Kirby’s Korner is in Ballinhassig, not far from Kinsale, and on the main road to West Cork. It is a great pub, very much part of the local community, with always something happening by way of sporting occasions, off the cuff sing songs, weekly games of c

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  • Lyon's Cafe The Recipes - New Cook Book

    Lyon's Cafe The Recipes - New Cook Book

    29 November 2012

    Gary Stafford and the staff at Lyon’s Café extend an open invitation to the launch of their cook book: Lyon’s Café, The Recipes. The launch will take place in Lyons café on Saturday December 1st at 3pm with mulled wine, seasonal nibbles and music by the..

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  • Lucinda meets the man who put sole into Kilkenny

    Lucinda meets the man who put sole into Kilkenny

    27 November 2012

    A flair for fabulous footwear is in the family for the man behind the Shoe Box, writes Lucinda O'Sullivan

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  • Restaurant Review - Lady Helen Room

    Restaurant Review - Lady Helen Room

    27 November 2012

    The recessionary tightening of belts has brought about an extraordinary amount of innovation in the foodie world with new small food businesses, and value menus, particularly in Dublin. However it is important too that the spirit, creativity and ambition

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - La Raclette

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - La Raclette

    25 November 2012

    The times we are in have brought about a burgeoning of smashing small and interesting restaurants around the country. People want to be able to eat out at reasonable prices, and have a nice bottle of wine with their friends without it breaking the bank.

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Flanagan's Gastro Pub

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Flanagan's Gastro Pub

    25 November 2012

    When I was a girl, all you could get to eat in an Irish pub was the proverbial butt of many a joke – the ‘hang sangwich’ – with a slice of fluorescent orange cheese slapped in the middle if you wanted it toasted! I was always fascinated then by how good

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Harbour Bar - Rush

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Harbour Bar - Rush

    24 November 2012

    No matter where we all go on holidays, be it in Ireland or Abroad, we are always hoping to find that ideal local pub or simple restaurant, that is friendly and welcoming, yet does cracking 5 Star seafood and steaks – oh yes and it has to.....

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  • Christmas at the Green Barn, East Cork

    Christmas at the Green Barn, East Cork

    23 November 2012

    Here I am in East Cork at the Green Barn Killeagh which has a fab selection of unusual Christmas Decorations..........

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  • Union Square - Terenure

    Union Square - Terenure

    21 November 2012

    Lucinda O'Sullivan looks at a union of restaurant, classroom, design shop and theatre that grabs the imagination....

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  • Restaurant Review - Bamboo

    Restaurant Review - Bamboo

    21 November 2012

    “Do you have a voucher”? Asked the young waiter greeting me at the door of the ‘new’ BamBoo on the corner of Parliament Street facing City Hall....

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Moloughney's

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Moloughney's

    17 November 2012

    I have always been of the belief that good chefs are born not made!Of course they have to be trained but you do really know the difference between food that has been cooked by someone with a gift, and someone who is just doing a job.Two people can cook

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Samphire@ The Waterside

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Samphire@ The Waterside

    16 November 2012

    Samphire Restaurant is in the most stunning location, right on the beach, and is the new restaurant of the Waterside House Hotel. Executive Head Chef Tom Walsh has created a whole new image and theme here delivering classical French cuisine with a Moder

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Saba

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Saba

    15 November 2012

    When Thai food was first becoming popular in Ireland, a man wrote to me from London telling me that we would soon be over-run with airport hanger size restaurants doing bad Thai food. Happily that didn’t happen here....

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Vinos - Greystones

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Vinos - Greystones

    14 November 2012

    There was almost an air of a Greek Taverna or Parisian Café about Vino’s in Greystones as we arrived in to meet four friends who live locally. The place was abuzz including a couple of big family groups celebrating birthdays, and the décor and ambiance g

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Mitchel House Restaurant

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Mitchel House Restaurant

    13 November 2012

    One thing that always gets me off to a good start in a restaurant, apart at all from the food, is the welcome, and that you are always assured of at Mitchel House Restaurant. Michael O’Dwyer is a total professional and really knows what he is about when

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  • Saba: The Cook-book

    Saba: The Cook-book

    13 November 2012

    "Saba: The Cook-book is so beautiful you could leave it on your coffee table - if you could trust your visitors!!" Lucinda O'Sullivan, Food Critic, Sunday Independent.

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Lemon Leaf Cafe

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Lemon Leaf Cafe

    12 November 2012

    As a part time resident of Kinsale for many many years I guess I can claim to know the restaurant scene there better than most.It is a place I have loved all my life and where my kids took their first steps. When the Lemonleaf Café first opened its doors

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Wasabi Japanese Restaurant

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Wasabi Japanese Restaurant

    12 November 2012

    I was never quite sure how I feel about Japanese food. I love sushi and the lightness and crispness of Tempura but, after that, I sometimes flounder around wondering what to have. Wasabi, is a new Japanese eatery on Malahide’s Main Street, so off we se

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  • Billy Morris -

    Billy Morris - "I died smiling as I lived." WW1 Remembrance Sunday

    11 November 2012

    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 t

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  • Restaurant Review - Fade Street Social

    Restaurant Review - Fade Street Social

    11 November 2012

    When the cream of Dublin’s restaurant scene is out in force to check out a new arrival, you know it is major opposition! Such was the turnout to Dylan McGrath’s new Fade Street Social eatery that it even included some of those who had challenged his

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Vaughan's Eatery

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Vaughan's Eatery

    09 November 2012

    Vaughan’s Eagle House Pub has always been a landmark pub at the crossroads in the center of Terenure Village but in the last couple of years it has also become a landmark eatery - Vaughan's Eatery. It is a place that combines the wonderful old historic

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Brennan's Lane

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Brennan's Lane

    07 November 2012

    Keith and Siobhan Brennan are really on the nose of how people like to dine out and enjoy themselves nowadays. They know what good food is and they have really put Brennan's Lane on the foodie map,as well as it being a great contemporary pub and nightclub

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Ashtons Gastropub

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Ashtons Gastropub

    05 November 2012

    Long before the word Gastropub was ever dreamt up in the nether regions of London’s ECI at The Eagle on Farringdon Road, Ashtons in Dublin’s leafy Clonskeagh had a reputation for good food that would give anyone a run for their money..

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - The Purty Kitchen

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - The Purty Kitchen

    03 November 2012

    Living in the Borough of Dun Laoghaire, I am but a veritable stone's throw from the famous Purty Kitchen. The Purty Kitchen has been around since 1728, not in its present form I hasten to add, but it is the oldest pub in the great seaport of Dun Laoghaire

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - The Step Inn & Stone Grill

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - The Step Inn & Stone Grill

    01 November 2012

    The Step Inn in Stepaside has long been a destination for good food and drink. Built in the style of an old Coaching Inn, The Step Inn in the old days was outside the 3 mile city limits, and consequently known as a ‘bona fide’ pub, which meant it was no

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - An Sugan

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - An Sugan

    31 October 2012

    Clonakilty is a fantastic town, full of colour and atmosphere, from its long narrow streets lined with interesting shops and houses all painted in different colours, to its interesting, elegant and historic Georgian squares. It is a very open and welcomi

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  • Slender Choice

    Slender Choice

    30 October 2012

    PEOPLE all over the country have been coming up with wonderful ideas and new businesses over the past couple of years, but 36-year-old Karen Daly and her husband Frank entered a market that is normally reserved for the big boys -- the corporate food world

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  • Restaurant Review - Vie de Chateaux

    Restaurant Review - Vie de Chateaux

    30 October 2012

    We were in the north of France recently where I was struck yet again at how seriously the Frnech take lunch. In fact, everything seems to stop for lunch at noon; shopkeepers drag in their displays and close up shop on the button whilst workers descend on

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  • Restaurant Review - Wasabi

    Restaurant Review - Wasabi

    24 October 2012

    I am never quite sure how I feel about Japanese food. I love sushi and the lightness and crispness of Tempura but, after that, I sometimes flounder around wondering what to have.

    Read more »

  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Eala Bhan

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Eala Bhan

    18 October 2012

    Some people just have the knack of getting things right and that can certainly be said of the team behind Eala Bhan. Anthony Gray and Cedric Roussilhe, along with Head Chef Julian Regneres, have long since put Tra Ban in Strandhill, Co. Sligo.....

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  • Greta Garbo at Newbridge Silverware

    Greta Garbo at Newbridge Silverware

    15 October 2012

    Lucinda O'Sullivan grabbed the chance to view items once owned by Greta Garbo on display at Newbridge Silverware.........

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  • Restaurant Review - Jamie's Italian

    Restaurant Review - Jamie's Italian

    15 October 2012

    With his new Dundrum Town Centre eatery, Jamie Oliver follows a list of U.K. based chefs into Dublin, most of whom hightailed it in jig time back to London. There is no point in pretending anymore that any of these guys are going to stir a pot in Dublin,

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  • Restaurant Review - Vino's Greystones

    Restaurant Review - Vino's Greystones

    11 October 2012

    There was almost an air of a Greek Taverna or Parisian Café about Vino’s in Greystones as we arrived in to meet four friends who live locally. The place was abuzz including a couple of big family groups celebrating birthdays, and the décor...

    Read more »

  • A Booze Cruise to France

    A Booze Cruise to France

    08 October 2012

    With the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness upon us it is time to think like the farmers, harvesting and squirreling away goodies for the dark winter evenings, and the Christmas store cupboard. It is also Booze Cruise time, which, along with...

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  • Enjoy an Indian Feast at Savour Kilkenny Festival

    Enjoy an Indian Feast at Savour Kilkenny Festival

    07 October 2012

    Enjoy A Journey Across India this October Bank Holiday Weekend! As part of the Savour Kilkenny Food Festival, Royal Spice Indian restaurant will be treating its guests to an extensive five-course "Taste of India" dinner.........

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  • Muckross Park Hotel Gourmet Weekend

    Muckross Park Hotel Gourmet Weekend

    05 October 2012

    Celebrity Chef, Martin Shanahan joins awarding Winning Head Chef at Muckross Park Hotel, Mike Hayes for the hotel’s Autumn Gourmet Weekend on Friday 19th October.

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  • October Food Festivals

    October Food Festivals

    01 October 2012

    October promises to be a month of gastro bliss for food and fun-lovers as Lucinda O'Sullivan serves up some highlights THERE are now more food festivals in Ireland than ever before -- from Westport to Donegal, Macroom (which is happening today), to Dun

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  • Restaurant Review - De Ville

    Restaurant Review - De Ville

    01 October 2012

    There is nothing like a discount to disarm and sweeten the punters when you open a new restaurant. This was the tactic taken by the new De Ville’s Restaurant in Dalkey. A good idea perhaps for other restaurateurs who try out their new restaurants...

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Basilico Italian Restaurant

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Basilico Italian Restaurant

    26 September 2012

    What you get at Paolo Sabatini and Fabiano Mulas’ Basilico Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria is the best of Italian and Irish food delivered with panache and style in their cool restaurant in the old stone building that is also the 16 bedroomed Coach House...

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  • The Quiet Man Behind Dublin's Favourite Institution

    The Quiet Man Behind Dublin's Favourite Institution

    25 September 2012

    ONE of Ireland's most successful and longstanding restaurateurs never seeks the limelight for himself. While John O'Sullivan is very well known and respected in the hospitality industry, it is the name of the restaurant that he co-founded in 1992 -- Roly'

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  • Restaurant Review - Foodworks

    Restaurant Review - Foodworks

    25 September 2012

    I’m on about service again this week. Maybe I am just having a bad run of it but staff and restaurateurs should remember that a restaurant only gets one chance to make a first impression. Is there anything worse than feeling you are getting the cursor

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  • Restaurant Review - NSquare

    Restaurant Review - NSquare

    18 September 2012

    “Am I in an Italian, Moroccan, Thai or a Steakhouse & Grill”, I asked of the waitress in N Square, a new restaurant under a block of apartments, by the River Lee, just over the bridge from Cork Opera House. Keeping things simple here was certainly not..

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  • Love Antiques - Adams Blackrock

    Love Antiques - Adams Blackrock

    18 September 2012

    From the fictional roguish Lovejoy of the 80’s, to the Antique Roadshow and mahogany tanned ‘Duke’ David Dickinson’s ‘Real Deal’ and Bargain Hunt of today, our TV screens have been lit up with antique finds, from Great Granny’s chest in

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  • RESTAURANT REVIEW - EASTERN SEABOARD

    RESTAURANT REVIEW - EASTERN SEABOARD

    18 September 2012

    I decided on one of those few recent fine days to take a ‘Thelma and Louise’ type spin up the coast to the Eastern Seaboard Restaurant at Drogheda with friend Rena. It seemed the perfect opportunity for a late lunch, or an early evening supper....

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  • A Touch of Salt

    A Touch of Salt

    04 September 2012

    Lucinda O'Sullivan meets a savvy Cork businesswoman who's proven that she's worth her salt (and pepper)

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  • Restaurant Review - Farm - Leeson Street

    Restaurant Review - Farm - Leeson Street

    04 September 2012

    It’s funny how some niche areas seem to mushroom organically creating a cult zone for dining with a vibe. Generally it revolves around a good pub where ‘the crowd’ likes to hang before moving on to eat.Ranelagh and Cabinteely villages spring to mind,

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  • Restaurant Review - Eden Bar & Grill

    Restaurant Review - Eden Bar & Grill

    29 August 2012

    Restaurants are opening apace in Dublin. The bigger enterprises tend to be by long term restaurateurs who, although they may have had a couple of bumpy rides, get back in the saddle and keep going. The latter, I guess, could...

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  • The revivial of the Conynham Arms, Slane.

    The revivial of the Conynham Arms, Slane.

    27 August 2012

    A magnificent hotel in Slane, Co Meath has been brought back to life -- to the joy of the community, says Lucinda O'Sullivan

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - La Reserve

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - La Reserve

    17 August 2012

    Ranelagh may well be over-run with eateries of varying standards, but the addition of La Reserve Brasserie in the center of the village raises the bar. I had noticed this little spot, which had “Soft Opening this week” chalked’ on its window and....

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat

    15 August 2012

    There’s a very thin line in this country between ‘Al Fresco’ dining and what is basically the strung together Smoking Area. Scant effort goes into providing real designated outdoor dining options in comparison to the Continent, and I refer particularly t

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  • Knockdrinna Cheese - Another Winner

    Knockdrinna Cheese - Another Winner

    14 August 2012

    Charles de Gaulle famously asked how anyone could govern a nation that had 246 different kinds of cheese. That was many years ago, when Ireland knew only processed cheese of the luminous variety, and perhaps a simple cheddar. I know, I know, someone ....

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  • Restaurant Review - Ananda Indian Restaurant

    Restaurant Review - Ananda Indian Restaurant

    14 August 2012

    There are some restaurants and chefs that feature again and again at the top of list when it comes to Restaurant Awards and there is sound reason – simply because they are consistently good. Ananda in Dundrum Town Centre is one of them and received the

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  • Restaurant Review - Rigby's Deli Dame Street

    Restaurant Review - Rigby's Deli Dame Street

    08 August 2012

    Chefs are a mercurial bunch. Some are dour, some are gregarious, some are vain, some are prima donnas, some are bitchy, some are namby pambies, some are showmen, some are shit stirrers, some are delightful, but, provided it is on their own terms, all of..

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Ocean Bar & Grill -

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Ocean Bar & Grill -

    08 August 2012

    I love sitting in places like Cancale and Saint Malo on covered decks, which abound all over the place and can’t be that expensive to construct. I was reflecting on this whilst breakfasting one Sunday morning recently on the fantastic enormous terrace...

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  • An Overview of Last Minute August Family Breaks

    An Overview of Last Minute August Family Breaks

    06 August 2012

    It's now or never if you want to make the most of summer breaks Fabulous hotels are offering great deals for the August getaway, so start booking, says Lucinda O'Sullivan....

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  • Blackwater Open Farm

    Blackwater Open Farm

    30 July 2012

    Lucinda O'Sullivan discovers how an innovative couple managed to marry hen parties with kids' activities -- a plan well-hatched!

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  • Restaurant Review - Sassy Summer Suppers Dublin

    Restaurant Review - Sassy Summer Suppers Dublin

    30 July 2012

    There is an almost insatiable appetite for al fresco dining on the Capital’s streets, not dispelled by the thoughts of either, bad weather, quaffing back exhaust fumes, or indeed being hassled with fellas rattling begging bowls! So, here are a few idea

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  • The Grand Old Lady of Eyre Square

    The Grand Old Lady of Eyre Square

    23 July 2012

    Lucinda O'Sullivan visited the City of the Tribes -- and rekindled teenage memories of afternoon tea in the iconic hotel on Eyre Square.....

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  • Restaurant Review - Summer Dining

    Restaurant Review - Summer Dining

    23 July 2012

    Lucinda O'Sullivan visits 3 different eateries which offer a Summer ambiance....

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Eastwood & Mays

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Eastwood & Mays

    17 July 2012

    One of the great things about cities like Paris, Rome and Madrid, has always been that, once you stepped out of your hotel and went off down some side street, you would stumble on some little gem of a Bistro where you wined and dined at inordinately.....

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  • Hound's great leap leads from the Wirral to Achill

    Hound's great leap leads from the Wirral to Achill

    16 July 2012

    A chance encounter led to a change of scenery for artist Deborah Joyce, writes Lucinda O'Sullivan WHEN you take your dog for a walk, you don't think that it will lead to a total career change, let alone moving to another country. Such was the case

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  • HOLIDAY PIT STOPS

    HOLIDAY PIT STOPS

    16 July 2012

    So here we are, at the height of the holiday season, maybe travelling to, or already arrived at, that west Cork rental, or Sligo yurt. You are defo out of the home-comfort zone, and looking for a decent reliable bit of nosh. Here are a few ideas.

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  • Restaurant Review - Find That 'Seafood Shack'

    Restaurant Review - Find That 'Seafood Shack'

    11 July 2012

    The ‘Mission’, more dedicated than Tom Cruise, and sometimes equally ‘Impossible’, of many city folk when on the family holiday, is to find that great mythical ‘seafood shack’ by the coast , just waiting to ply you with crab claws the size of your fist..

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Konkan Indian Restaurant Dundrum

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Konkan Indian Restaurant Dundrum

    11 July 2012

    Konkan Indian Restaurant started out a few years ago in the somewhat simple surroundings of Dublin’s Upper Clanbrassil Street but it wasn’t long before fans of Indian food discovered it and the really rather good authentic traditional and regional Indian

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  • Follow the Summer Festival Route

    Follow the Summer Festival Route

    09 July 2012

    Roll up, Roll up, Ireland has become a Nation of Festivals! Festivals are great for local areas, they not only bring a great verve and excitement, bonding and getting together of local communities, but they bring people in to spend money and keep..

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  • Lucinda in the Kitchen at Rasam Indian Restaurant

    Lucinda in the Kitchen at Rasam Indian Restaurant

    04 July 2012

    Twitter followers will know that I spend a lot of down time in Indian restaurants loving the aromatic spices, herbs,and their wonderful way with vegetables.In fact, I guess I am almost the perfect candidate to have joined the group who took off to India

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - The Waterloo Bar & Grill

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - The Waterloo Bar & Grill

    29 June 2012

    I love Gastropubs of all sorts; provided that is that they live up to the ideal of the Gastropub, which is cracking restaurant style food in informal surroundings. The Waterloo Bar & Grill certainly meets those criteria with knobs on. The original Wate

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Randaddy's - Lahinch

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Randaddy's - Lahinch

    28 June 2012

    Isn’t Randaddy’s just the perfect name for a café restaurant in the home of Ireland’s surfing world? It’s so very Beach Boys, so perfect in every way to convey a light fun atmosphere but, as well as that, chef proprietor Randy Lewis also dishes up ..

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  • Pat Whelan Butchery Skills Demo at Avoca Monkstown

    Pat Whelan Butchery Skills Demo at Avoca Monkstown

    28 June 2012

    On Tuesday 10th July, renowned craft butcher Pat Whelan is holding an evening butchery demonstration class in Avoca Monkstown, where he'll show you how to use knives safely, butcher pork and beef and give you a new found confidence and understanding ...

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  • RESTAURANT REVIEW - EASTERN VALUE EATERIES

    RESTAURANT REVIEW - EASTERN VALUE EATERIES

    26 June 2012

    There is a lot of good value to be had out there on the general eatery scene if you look around. I don’t mean the Internet ‘cheap deals’, which are often not that cheap in the end. The greater value, however, does tend to be in Dublin,a factor that isnt

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  • The Antique Gems on Francis Street

    The Antique Gems on Francis Street

    19 June 2012

    Lucinda O'Sullivan was heartened to discover talents of all sorts busily engaged in a thriving city antiques quarter

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  • Restaurant Review - Ard na Sidhe

    Restaurant Review - Ard na Sidhe

    19 June 2012

    Tucked away on a height, overlooking the glorious Caragh Lake in Co. Kerry, just outside Killorglin, lies one of the most beautiful houses, and most perfect of romantic and magical escapes, in the country. Set on 32 acres of spectacular garden

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  • A Magical Kingdom To Be Explored

    A Magical Kingdom To Be Explored

    12 June 2012

    Kerry is a place that is extraordinarily good for our souls. Sunshine or rain, it somehow doesn't matter, because we are always blown away by the.....

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  • Restaurant Review - The Weir

    Restaurant Review - The Weir

    12 June 2012

    God be with the days when the culinary experience in many hotels was universally described in one sweeping, dismissive, statement “hotel food.” It is a term that said it all - dreary ‘bad mammy’ food embellished with commercial gravy .....

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  • Accents - Anna Young's

    Accents - Anna Young's "Sober Pub"

    04 June 2012

    THERE are very few places in this country where you can just get a cup of coffee and a cake in the evenings. It's a poor state of affairs. Cafes tend to shut up shop anywhere between 4pm and 6pm, or alternatively they swing into restaurant mode. Option

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  • RESTAURANT REVIEW - BRIOCHE CE SOIR

    RESTAURANT REVIEW - BRIOCHE CE SOIR

    04 June 2012

    Laissez faire was rampant during the CT years, nowhere more so than in the restaurant industry, with many chefs churning out anything they felt like in the name of 'contemporary' food at ridiculous prices.

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - The Greenhouse

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - The Greenhouse

    31 May 2012

    Long long ago the legendary Dick Whittington left his rural homestead for London, with his cat, to make his fortune and ended up becoming the City’s Lord Mayor. I don’t know whether Finnish chef Mikael Viljanen has a cat, or whether he wants to be Lord M

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  • Restaurant Review - Gastropub Grub

    Restaurant Review - Gastropub Grub

    29 May 2012

    I love gastropubs; their ethos is to offer restaurant-standard food in a casual atmosphere, as opposed to bog-standard pub grub. We were in a few places recently, starting off with lunch in the new hot, hip Black Sheep on Capel Street

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  • Restaurant Review - La Reserve - Ranelagh

    Restaurant Review - La Reserve - Ranelagh

    23 May 2012

    Ranelagh may well be over-run with eateries of varying standards, but the recent addition of La Reserve Brasserie in the center of the village raises the bar. I had noticed this little spot, which had “Soft Opening this week” chalked’ on its window..

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  • Gourmet Greenway

    Gourmet Greenway

    22 May 2012

    EVERY second person I meet tells me they have done, or are off to do the Camino -- the pilgrims' route in northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. It seems to have captured people's imagination in a big way. Many people walk sections of it each year..

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  • Restaurant Review - Lucinda at BITE

    Restaurant Review - Lucinda at BITE

    14 May 2012

    Renowned Town Bar & Grill founder Ronan Ryan is back with Bite, a new fish, chips and cocktails venue, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, who found finger-licking good food, al fresco dining and friendly service

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  • World's 50 Best Restaurants 2012

    World's 50 Best Restaurants 2012

    07 May 2012

    The world's best restaurant awards have taken place in London. Panel judge Lucinda O'Sullivan reports The World's 50 Best Restaurant Awards 2012 took place last Monday night in the Guild Hall in London, following a lead-up hoopla to beat the band.

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  • Restaurant Review - A Brace of D6 Dining

    Restaurant Review - A Brace of D6 Dining

    07 May 2012

    We recently had two outings to Ranelagh’s big sister - Rathgar! Ranelagh is awash with restaurants so restaurateurs are moving outwards to the fresh fields and affluent red-bricked D6 roads of Rathgar. We had set forth on a Tuesday night to the new

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Red Earth

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Red Earth

    02 May 2012

    Red Earth is a new Lifestyle Store & Café which has added a new dimension to both shopping and eating in Mullingar. It is located in a former industrial building in Mullingar Business Park which is absolutely ideal for a day out shopping ‘til you drop

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  • Restaurant Review - The Greenhouse

    Restaurant Review - The Greenhouse

    23 April 2012

    Long, long ago the legendary Dick Whittington left his rural homestead for London, along with his cat, to make his fortune and ended up becoming the city's lord mayor.I don't know whether Finnish chef Mickael Viljanen has a cat, or whether he wants...

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  • Greystones - a Great Place for a Day Out

    Greystones - a Great Place for a Day Out

    19 April 2012

    Greystones has had a renaissance, with new and more established businesses staying afloat, says Lucinda O'Sullivan THE once sleepy Edwardian holiday town of Greystones, Co Wicklow, has seen a burgeoning of new businesses from fashion to food and wine..

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  • Restaurant Review - Street Food

    Restaurant Review - Street Food

    19 April 2012

    The passion for Asian Street Food rages away and there is no denying its satisfying and seductive attractions as new eateries open apace. Emmet Daly of Café Sol has entered the market with his new Neon Asian Street Food on Dublin’s Camden St....

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  • Breakfast Like a King

    Breakfast Like a King

    09 April 2012

    EASTER Sunday is the perfect day to indulge in a super- duper breakfast to fortify you for all that Easter egg hunting with the kids! "Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dine like a pauper" is sage advice.

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  • Restaurant Review - The Kitchen Restaurant Mount Falcon

    Restaurant Review - The Kitchen Restaurant Mount Falcon

    09 April 2012

    Irish produce and French heart combine at Mount Falcon to create a piece of 'Upstairs Downstairs' bliss, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, who revels in some of the country's finest food amid Gothic splendour

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Seven Social

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Seven Social

    05 April 2012

    There are people who just have the knack of creating a really good eatery and make it seem like it is no bother. They dish up really good food that has flavour and taste, is satisfying and filling, good and delicious. You know it involves a lot of hard

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  • RESTAURANT REVIEW -  A BRACE OF CORK GOODIES

    RESTAURANT REVIEW - A BRACE OF CORK GOODIES

    03 April 2012

    The restaurant that undoubtedly made the overall biggest impact on the face of Cork dining is this year celebrating its 20th Anniversary in May.

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  • SPRING FOOD FESTIVALS

    SPRING FOOD FESTIVALS

    02 April 2012

    WE are facing into a spring / summer of more food festivals around the country than ever before. This is really fantastic for many reasons...

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Las Rada

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Las Rada

    30 March 2012

    If there is one thing that Jules and Joanne Bradbury know how to do really successfully it is to create a relaxed casual restaurant with great atmosphere that people feel they are part of and want to return to time and time again for their regular nights

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  • River Restaurant at Limerick Strand Hotel - Tasting Dinner

    River Restaurant at Limerick Strand Hotel - Tasting Dinner

    29 March 2012

    The River Restaurant at Limerick Strand Hotel and Nash Wines have teamed up for an exclusive dining experience showcasing local produce matched with amazing wines by Gregory Barbet from Loron et Fils in Beaujolais, France. All produce used will be source

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  • Restaurant Review - 777

    Restaurant Review - 777

    28 March 2012

    Some so-called hip eateries have a real attitude nowadays. Many of them have a list of conditions before they agree to accept my dosh, and it certainly never gets me off to a great start to be told, as I was when I went to book 777...

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat

    24 March 2012

    Isabel’s is a bijou in a bijoux less world these days. Tiny and classy, it is located in the basement that first housed Derry Clarke’s L’Ecrivain many years ago and also saw off the start of

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  • Restaurant Review - Bear

    Restaurant Review - Bear

    23 March 2012

    Restaurant review: Lucinda O'Sullivan is accused of being 'bizarre' after complaining to Joe Macken Restaurant trendsetter Joe Macken should spend less time tweeting and more time training his staff, says Lucinda O'Sullivan, who is accused of being 'biza

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat

    16 March 2012

    The Dining Room at La Stampa has had a number of celebrity chefs featuring there over the past few years,

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  • Dave's Pizzas

    Dave's Pizzas

    12 March 2012

    Dave's Wood-Fired Pizza Co will be a familiar sight to many who frequent the lunchtime food markets of Dublin. These are not the great big lumpy doughy pizzas that have been slammed of late as being one of the biggest sins of all when it comes to calori

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  • Restaurant Review - El Toro Bravo & The Black Cat

    Restaurant Review - El Toro Bravo & The Black Cat

    12 March 2012

    Antony Worrall Thompson hit the headlines recently for all the wrong reasons, a far cry from thirty years ago when he started Ménage a Trois, a restaurant serving only starters and desserts, which became a favourite eatery of the ménage a trois..

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Stay & Eat

    Our Latest Great Place to Stay & Eat

    12 March 2012

    We got married in St. Mullin’s, a tiny village in South Carlow, and spent the first night of our honeymoon in White’s Hotel in Wexford. That was in the old days, and the funniest part of the whole event was that the Bridesmaid got a double bed, the Best

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  • Niamh Browne knows the score when it comes to both people and hostel management, writes Lucinda O'Sullivan

    Niamh Browne knows the score when it comes to both people and hostel management, writes Lucinda O'Sullivan

    06 March 2012

    WITH a music teacher for a mother, music has been Niamh Browne's life since she was a child, and has been her saving grace in difficult and tragic....

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  • RESTAURANT REVIEW - ISABEL'S

    RESTAURANT REVIEW - ISABEL'S

    06 March 2012

    She may have needed her trusty torch to make out what was on the menu at Isabel's, but, low lighting aside, Lucinda O'Sullivan was utterly charmed by this sparkling new treasure on Baggot Street

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  • Black Pig in Donnybrook

    Black Pig in Donnybrook

    27 February 2012

    I think we could safely say that from the start of the package holiday in the 1960’s holidays to Spain were best known for sun, sea, sand and sex! Food and fun to the tourist was limited in their mind to paella, Sangria, followed up with a good belt of..

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  • EDIBLE AT SCIENCE GALLERY TCD & MODERNIST CUISINE

    EDIBLE AT SCIENCE GALLERY TCD & MODERNIST CUISINE

    22 February 2012

    EDIBLE/MODERNIST CUISINE Did you know that in Ireland we consume on average over 400 grams per day of beer against the world average of around 80 grams per day. On the good side we apparently also consume over 200 grams per day of oranges against the

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  • Restaurant Review - Two Little Crackers

    Restaurant Review - Two Little Crackers

    22 February 2012

    I am writing this review on a Saturday evening, having failed to secure a table in a number of Dublin restaurants. Well, perhaps I could have had a table if I was prepared to play the two-sittings game -- 6pm or 9pm -- or sit in the upstairs function r

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  • Designing Women Are Jewels of the Downturn

    Designing Women Are Jewels of the Downturn

    13 February 2012

    FROM time immemorial jewellery has always had a fascination for people. It is the ultimate declaration of love, as we saw recently with the auction of Elizabeth Taylor's fabulous jewels, including the famous 33.19-carat diamond ri

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  • Restaurant Review - Pearl Brasserie

    Restaurant Review - Pearl Brasserie

    13 February 2012

    'How would you like to be, down by the Seine with me? Oh what I'd give for a moment or two, under the bridges of Paris with you." So goes the romantic song crooned by the sultry Eartha Kitt. We can't all be under the bridges of Paris at the drop of a hat

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  • Two Industrious Self Starters -A Soapmaker & Linen Producer

    Two Industrious Self Starters -A Soapmaker & Linen Producer

    06 February 2012

    I never cease to be in awe of the number of brilliant people who have the 'get up and go' to start their own business. As seen at the recent Showcase

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  • Restaurant Review - Cinnamon, Ranelagh

    Restaurant Review - Cinnamon, Ranelagh

    06 February 2012

    How difficult can it be to process an order for two starters and two main courses? It seemed all too much, says Lucinda O’Sullivan, for the staff at Cinnamon. A shame, as the food was good

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Stay & Eat - Trim Castle Hotel

    Our Latest Great Place to Stay & Eat - Trim Castle Hotel

    03 February 2012

    The lush wonderful lands of Co. Meath are aptly named the Royal County for they have attracted the great and the good down through the centuries including Empress Elizabeth of Austria, a noted beauty about whom the romantic movies ‘Sissi’ were made....

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  • Born of the Earth but Heavenly in Inspiration

    Born of the Earth but Heavenly in Inspiration

    31 January 2012

    Tony and Jackie Collins were not deterred in any way by the times we are in when they developed and opened their big new Red Earth Lifestyle....

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  • Restaurant Review - I Return to the China Sichuan

    Restaurant Review - I Return to the China Sichuan

    31 January 2012

    When you return to a place where you have previously had a bad experience and reported on it, there is an element of stepping into the dragon's den. You know that they are on edge when they see you, and I guess it is not a very comfortable experience a

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  • Restaurant Review - Pop Up Pyg

    Restaurant Review - Pop Up Pyg

    27 January 2012

    Sex and the City seemed alive and well at Pop Up Pyg in the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre as I observed a pair of Carrie Bradshaw lookalikes engrossed in themselves and one or 10 cosmopolitans each. There was nothing for it but for Mary and I to enter i

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Brasserie Le Pont

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Brasserie Le Pont

    20 January 2012

    Brasserie Le Pont is a new restaurant tucked away in the large basement of a Georgian House on Fitzwilliam Place close to Leeson Street. Its entrance belies its size, and a lot of dosh has been spent converting it into a modern brasserie of the neutral

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Bedlam

    Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Bedlam

    19 January 2012

    Bedlam is the name of May Frisby’s fabulous ‘happening’ in Castle Market. I guess if I said her restaurant was bedlam she mightn’t be too happy but, as she has named it so herself, let me say it is organised buzzy bedlam with rather good food and a fun

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  • Restaurant Review - San Lorenzo's

    Restaurant Review - San Lorenzo's

    17 January 2012

    Temple Garner is the Godfather of New York style Modern Italian food! Having been originally at Il Primo, and the defunct Mermaid Café on Dame Street, Garner opened the New York style Modern Italian cuisine restaurant Town Bar

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  • MY NEW WHEAT FREE REGIME

    MY NEW WHEAT FREE REGIME

    16 January 2012

    A lot of people have expressed interest in my wheat free regime and what I am eating. I don’t call it a diet because I am eating plenty of other foods. There is no simple answer to giving up wheat – it’s a bit like an addiction and you just have to go ‘

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  • Restaurant Review - Salt@ Avoca - Monkstown

    Restaurant Review - Salt@ Avoca - Monkstown

    09 January 2012

    The much-awaited opening of Avoca's new Food Market and Cafe in Monkstown came to pass in time for Christmas, and had the denizens of the borough eagerly jostling for parking places in fear of Dun Laoghaire Corporation's dreaded team of parking wardens..

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  • MY NEW WHEAT FREE LIFE

    MY NEW WHEAT FREE LIFE

    09 January 2012

    Having tried all kinds of weight-loss regimes, Lucinda O'Sullivan found giving up her morning toast worked.

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  • Our Latest Great Place to Eat - Corfu Greek Restaurant

    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

    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

    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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