The Menu: Taste Cork, Dublin Cocktail Festival, Munster Wine & Dine Circle
Bandon-based Urru up sticks and transport their culinary emporium to Cork’s Bridge St, to one of the original Barry’s Tea outlets for An Edible Story of Cork Food & Drink, Past & Present, a pop-up lunch, each sitting hosted by a featured West Cork producer.
Takashi Miyazaki joins forces with fellow Cork-based chef Ali Honour in her splendid Ali’s Kitchen on Paul St for a keenly-anticipated fusion pop-up while Kevin Aherne, chef/proprietor of Sage Restaurant delivers a CIT demo on Modern Irish Cooking Techniques.
Green Saffron supremo takes to one of Cork’s finest establishments, Isaac’s Restaurant, where he and chef/proprietor Canice Sharkey host an evening supper.
A Memorable Mushroom Hunt is an autumnal tramp through the hinterland of Longueville House followed by a meal of same back in the venerable old country house while Traditional Irish Food and Music at Ballymaloe House may see the to-be-expected fine food near eclipsed by the subsequent traditional offering featuring a superb lineup of fiddler Zoe Conway, the truly sublime Máirtín O’Connor on accordion and maestro Donal Lunny, on guitar and bouzouki.
Brian French reprises his recent pop up dinner/photo exhibition, Give Your Face a Holiday, in Yellow Sub, on the South Mall river boardwalk, while A Celebration of The English Market Dinner, in the Pig’s Back Café Deli, in Douglas, sees Pam Kelly, Executive Chef of Market Lane, joined by Dermot O’Sullivan (GasMarkSeven), in cooking some fine local produce with producers on hand to supply a little background info.
A Tale of Two ‘Chefesses’, sees old school chums and now fellow chef/proprietors, Kate Lawlor (Fenn’s Quay) and Leona Robinson (Nine Market Street, Kinsale) come together for a reunion dinner.
Details of these and other events: www.festivalcork.com
COCKTAIL FEST
The Dublin Cocktail Festival has expanded greatly to become the Irish Cocktail Fest (Oct 10-15) becoming a national event spanning all 32 counties and is a celebration of the absolutely booming native beverage sector with some truly excellent and highly innovative concoctions to be had at a venue near you. (www.greatirishbeverages.com).
Liquid Curiosity offer a comprehensive day-long Craft Beer & Cider introductory workshop (Oct 10) in Bantry, including morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea (www.liquidcuriosity.ie).
TOUR AND TASTE
The Munster Wine & Dine Circle head to Midleton for a Tour & Tasting of Midleton Distillery (Oct 19) followed by 4-Course Dinner at Sage Midleton (email to mwdcircle@gmail.com).
Number 25 Fitzwilliam Place, the uber-salubrious restored Dublin period house host an evening of superb Irish game dishes (Oct 14) cooked by chef Graeme Dodrill and paired with wonderful wines from Ribera del Duero, with live music throughout.
(info@25fitzwilliamplace.ie & 01 6694646)
TODAY’S SPECIAL
The Menu is rather allergic to food fads, most especially when a new foodstuff or eating regime is touted as the latest means of cheating death or some such and failure to incorporate said foodstuff/regime into one’s daily regimen is tantamount to self abuse of the most heinous kind, but long before juicing became a fad.
The Menu very much enjoyed converting fine fresh fruit and vegetables into liquid elixirs, primarily because of taste potential, and, admittedly, as a superior option to sugary drinks in the school lunchboxes.
Galway-based Juicy Lucy’s cold-pressed Bright Root Juice (Sweet Potato, Carrot, Apple, Orange, Lemon and Ginger) is a wonderful example of same: while root veg can sometimes deliver a murky, muddy earthiness, judiciously applied citrus (orange and lemon) beefed up with ginger supplies clarity and essential uplifting zing to this particular draught. www.juicylucy.ie
