The Menu: St Patrick's Day lunch at Fleming's Restaurant, Cork
Naturally, parades take place on March 17 but such is our great national pride and an exceeding reluctance to call time on anything remotely resembling fun, many festivities extend on into the weekend and the Cork festival offers a series of family-friendly events along with the traditional street food market while Fleming’s Restaurant serves up a special Paddy’s Day menu along with performance from harpist Connie-Rose Dawson ( www.flemingsrestaurant.ie ).
Dublin’s Teeling Whiskey Distillery, illuminated in green for the week, hosts its own mini-festival, including spontaneous storytelling from comedian Colm O’Regan, with audience members invited to prepare a five-minute story on a given theme to battle it out for a spot in the Dublin ‘GrandSlam’ championship.
Also available will be many of the Teeling food collaborations with other excellent Irish producers and there’s a free flat cap for anyone booking the Whiskey Tour during festival week ( www.stpatricksfestival.ie/events/love-my-city ).
The Irish Breakfast (March 19) aims to discover the past, present and future of breakfast in Ireland with a tasting/talk event in the divine Georgian setting of No 63 Merrion Square, with speakers including Birgitta Hedin-Curtin (The Burren Smokehouse) and Jack Cotty (The Rocketman/East) and craft butcher Ed Hick along with Chef Clare Anne O’Keefe (The Science Gallery/Masterchef) and social historians Sam McGrath and Ciaran Murray ( www.stpatricksfestival.ie ).
The Irish Beer and Whiskey Village at the RDS (March 16-19) is an excellent opportunity to celebrate with the very finest Irish craft beers and ciders along with a wonderful selection of Irish whiskey, spirits and cocktails and for those of a mind to take the sensible option, there will be plenty of excellent food stalls to sate all hungers. ( www.irishfest.ie )
The Padraig Pearse Bakeoff, at Cill Rialaig Art Centre, in Co Kerry, is a competition to bake a ‘freedom-inspired’ cake in celebration of the impending Easter Rising centenary, Entry applications have to be in before March 15 and judging takes place in the centre on Easter Sunday ( crsiopa@gmail.com ).
Down Syndrome Ireland is a charity very dear to The Menu’s heart so he is very happy to mention the family-friendly Bunny Hop Tea Party in aid of Down Syndrome Kerry (March 20) in Killarney’s Malton Hotel ( www.themalton.com ) while the Olivo restaurant at the re-launched Cork Airport Hotel are offering children the opportunity to choose a ‘dream’ jelly and ice-cream dessert, part of the hotel’s 2016 commitment to Down Syndrome Cork as their charity of the year ( www.corkairporthotel.com ).
The Menu is a great man for a good falafel though they are extremely thin on the ground but the indefatigable Rocketman, Jack Crotty, appears to have cracked the code.
His version features the classic mix of chickpeas, spices and fresh green herbs deep-fried before your very eyes to yield crispy little croquettes with a molten heart.
Sandwiched between feather-light flatbreads cooked on an authentic Lebanese saj and, though there are a variety of fillings on offer, The Menu opted for the original served with salad leaves, slaw, tahini, hummus and a truly impertinent zhoug (a wickedly spicy condiment), an eating experience that had The Menu on the verge of trading in Neidín for a camel and setting his tent right outside the new East By The Rocketman outlet in Cork’s Winthrop Arcade. www.therocketman.ie
