The menu: Galway Food Festival
Among the usual mélange of demos, talks, events, and myriad dining opportunities is a trip to Oscars Seafood restaurant (March 27) where chef/proprietor Michael O’Meara recreates some of the dishes from his recently published Sea Gastronomy: Fish & Shellfish of the North Atlantic, one of The Menu’s cookbooks of 2015.
Also highly promising is the Festival Table Quiz, at the King’s Head (March 28), the annual festival wrap-up that sees the great and good of the Galway food world compete for the winners’ ‘Plate’.
www.galwayfoodfestival.com
Stock up on chocolate
It is of course Easter weekend and The Menu shall naturally be up to his oxters in fine chocolate.
He can especially recommend a trip to the Chocolate Shop in Cork’s English Market for last-minute Easter bunnies needing to replenish their stocks — the Dalys host one of the country’s finest selections.
Failing that, fine Irish chocolate is readily available all over the country and well deserving of your support.
www.chocolate.ie
Booking for bespoke events
The Library Dining Series at Dublin five-star boutique hotel Dylan is an exclusive three-night culinary experience as the library is transformed into an intimate 16-seat restaurant for several intriguing dining experiences, the first covering fish and seafood (April 1), the second (April 22), truffles and the third (May 13), a gastronomic feast entitled Ten Things to Eat Before You Die. ( www.dylan.ie ).
The Lodge at Ashford Castle offers a Menu of Mischief (April 1) on April Fools Day in its Wilde’s Restaurant.
An evening of fun, theatre, and intriguing menu options that include : Sweet in a Wrapper Part 1; Guess the Flavour (No Peeking); MOO – Twenty Ways to Eat a Cow; and BOOM’ ( www.thelodgeac.com ). The Cornstore in Cork is offering a diner-friendly two-course early bird option for €24 ( www.cornstorecork.com ).
Another long-held resolution of The Menu’s is to make a trip to Gregan’s Castle, sited in the glorious Burren and now open once more for the new season. Check for any last-minute Easter availability at gregans.ie).
And anyone looking for a last-minute dining option for today in Limerick might enjoy the Alice in Wonderland-themed Vintage Mad Hatter’s Afternoon Tea, at the Secret Garden, in the Strand Hotel, pre-booking essential.
www.strandlimerick.ie
TODAY’S SPECIAL
When Andreas Haubold was a boy in Germany and pfennigs weren’t overly plentiful, a humble pretzel bun, straight from the oven and slathered in butter, could widen his eyes and set his belly a-rumbling as if it were the greatest gateau from the world’s finest patisserie.
Though his West Cork Baking Emporium these days produces a range of superlative breads and cakes so fine they’d cause the little boy’s head to spin in wonder, Andreas has still found room to include that former childhood treat.
The Menu followed Andrea’s dining prescription to the letter, tearing open the salty ‘skin’ of the oven-hot bun, applying great gobs of Irish butter to melt over the soft, steaming, doughy interior, and only stopped eating when he near swallowed his own elbow.
www.bakingemporiumltd.com
