I went on a three-week odyssey to dine at contenders for our recent and highly successful inaugural Ireland’s 100 Best Places to Eat.

Young chef James Vaughan, third generation in the family business at Vaughan’s Anchor Inn, can cook and assemble flavours well.

Reflecting on last week’s column about the perilous state of Ireland’s food security, I am conscious that I offered a lot of shit and very little sandwich.

When you’re crossing the road, holding the adult’s hand, you’d like to imagine they carefully look both ways. Not only is the Irish state refusing to look but, worse again, continues to blithely act as if there is no danger at all in leading us across the road blindfolded

Home-grown wild garlic is the gift that keeps giving

Lignum's chef-proprietor Danny Africano’s cooking harks from the minimalist school: ‘bass notes’, those deep, plangent flavours, are used sparingly; mid-range and treble, his most preferred area of expression

“The way it’s looking, it’s hard to imagine there’ll be many independent fishmongers in 10 or 20 years, and the only complaints we’d get is that the price is not what it used to be.”

The only lesson those English chefs absorbed was Bullying 101.

I know too well the allure of ‘dishes’ crafted in labs, combining high-sugar, high-fat and excess salt to hit that sweet spot driving dopamine-dense addiction.

Brilliant 1826 boasts skill and substance