Appetite for good times at Kinsale gourmet show

"Kinsale doesn’t really do austerity," declared one fashionable lady, holding a glass of champagne as she nibbled on a dainty morsel of pâté de fois gras.

Standing in the lobby of Acton’s Hotel watching the happy antics of another throng of Gourmet Food Festival revellers this weekend, it was hard to disagree with her sentiment.

With the pianist belting out another verse of My Way, waiters pouring the bubbly with liberal abandon, chatter all about house prices and ski trips, it felt — just for a moment — like Boom Time 2006 all over again.