The Menu: Milan at the Mardyke
The Menu has espied the first speed-bump in the road, threatening new year resolutions to re-consecrate his body as the renowned temple of yore and lore — a splendid weekend of food and wine at the delightful Knockranny House hotel, in Westport, Co Mayo (Feb 1-2). The Menu’s monastic discipline cannot be questioned, but when faced with a tasting dinner cooked by legendary chef, Seamus Commons, and wine pairings by sommelier, Nick Faujours, The Menu foresees a grave crumbling in his resolve.
The knowledgeable sommelier is also hosting a wine clinic the same weekend. Attendees should bring along a bottle of their favourite wine and Faujours will expand their horizons, suggesting other wines on the basis of their original bottle. The Menu’s only salvation lies in taking his running shoes to the nearby, recently opened Great Western Greenway walking and cycling route. Better still, he may persuade Mrs Menu to take the running shoes along for him, while The Menu pops back into ‘Dr’ Faujours’ clinic for another restorative transfusion. www.knockrannyhousehotel.ie
In the weeks leading up to Christmas, The Menu could hardly keep up with himself and his bewilderingly frequent excursions into Cork City, specifically into the new coffee temple, Filter, a fine and funky little establishment on George’s Quay that brings the consumption of the Leeside cuppa joe to new levels. Featuring the wondrous beans of Mark Kingston’s Golden Bean and Brock Lewin’s Badger & Dodo, delivered via a myriad of magical methods of production, The Menu and his willing accomplice (and daughter) began each day in splendid style from their high-stool perch, sipping on Eoin McCarthy’s superlative brews — a keeper.
There is a new spirit of adventure in the culinary ether. Another opening before Christmas was Rico Vallebella’s Italian restaurant, Rico’s, in the Mardyke Entertainment Complex, Sheare’s St, Cork. A family-friendly menu, heavy on the pizza and pasta, it should soon be a favourite if any of Vallebella’s previous food ventures are anything to go by, and with all manner of entertainment-related shenanigans afoot in the same building, The Menu will be found with pepperoni slice in one hand, Ping Pong paddle in the other. www.ricos.ie
The Menu has rather a thing about marmalade, and though he makes a fine quantity each year from fresh Seville oranges, is forever on the lookout for innovative takes on the classic concoction, but a recent slather of the Blue Haven Food Company orange marmalade on toast was a good reminder that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it: perfectly poised, on the cusp between the tart and the sweet, neither too runny nor too set, and a lingering orange tang — the perfect winter rendition of a quintessentially summer fruit. www.bluehavenfoodco.com
