Restaurant review: Green Man Wines, Terenure, Dublin

THE tree is up, Santa letters are in the post and the kinder-spawn fret endlessly as to whether the man himself will pony up on their extensive list of demands, but it is only on hitting Dublin that I begin to feel the first stirrings of Christmas spirit. The town is delightfully en fete: enough lights to humble the milky way, pine forests in every window and streets packed with grimly determined shoppers.

I am here for a Yuletide gathering of professional peers, extended lunch in Chapter One; by the time I arrive, Christmas and I are linking arms, both calling for a glass. Though not the subject of today’s review, as always, dining here is a splendid treat: superb, uniquely Irish hospitality allied to great cooking and I get my first taste of Christmas with a course of Goose Sausage, Smoked Bacon and Red Cabbage. When we leave, dusk is falling and I’m ready to sing carols for Ireland.