The Menu: Homemade scones, Biscoff waffle cones and superb nut butter

GIY is currently hosting ongoing Guided Nature Walks with head grower Richard Mee every Thursday in Waterford and Baker Boys Cafe is serving up fresh picnic boxes in Sligo

GROW HQ in Waterford, home of GIY, offering weekly tours of their orchards and gardens followed by homemade scones in the herb garden.

Currently ensconced on his West Cork estate, living high on the fat (and a whole host of other wonderful produce) of the land, The Menu brings tidings of edible attractions that deserve attention.

Biodiversity - and homemade scones - in Waterford

There is much to savour down Deise direction and GIY is always at the heart of it with an ongoing Guided Nature Walk with GIY head grower Richard Mee, an expert in biodiversity and horticulture, taking place every Thursday at 10am until August 26, a detailed exploration of the biodiverse ecosystem in the GIY gardens, followed by tea/coffee and homemade scones in the herb garden. Tickets, €10 pp, available to pre-book at GIY.ie

Mmmm, try a Biscoff waffle icecream basket from The Espresso Bar in Kilkee

The Menu’s travels last year took him on an extensive tour of the West of Ireland and a return is definitely on the cards. The Espresso Bar, in Kilkee, Co Clare, is a family friendly cafe on the Wild Atlantic Way that has just moved into a new premises on the pier and is offering a Grab&Go beachside menu serving up breakfast, including a Full Irish sourdough roll, brunch and lunch and specialties include Biscoff Waffle Ice Cream basket, Hot & Steamy Italian Stallion Sandwich and vanilla and salted caramel 99s. 

See espressobar.ie

Baker Boys Cafe and Deli picnic box

Baker Boys is owned and operated by Jane and Myles Lamberth who are also the founding proprietors of Strandhill’s Shells Café. 

Sligo is another favourite spot of The Menu’s and Baker Boys Cafe and Deli, in the town is offering a pre-ordered picnic box suitable for solo travellers, couples and family groups, including freshly made coffees, banana bread, biscuit cake, cookies and sandwiches such as coronation chicken or goat's cheese, cranberry and hazelnut sandwich, along with kids' options. Order all week before 11am. 

See more at bakerboysday.clickandcollection.com

Sligo Summer wine and cheese nights

Baker Boys sister-ship, Shells Cafe, out in Strandhill on the Sligo coast, is offering Sligo Summer Wine and Cheese Nights, from 6pm-8pm on Saturday and Sunday evenings for some gorgeous cheese plates and delicious wines, to be enjoyed al fresco by the sea, with a cracking selection of natural wines available. 

See shellscafe.com

Achill mountain lamb for the bbq

The Menu picked up plenty of fine fare for the BBQ from Calvey’s and can highly recommend their new farm store at their HQ, in Keel on Achill Island, County Mayo, featuring their own multi-award-winning Achill Mountain Lamb, Hogget and Mutton. They have added a range of specialty Irish food products to further tantalise travellers and locals alike. including local jams, breads, sea salt and honey and plenty of Irish farmhouse cheeses. 

Open 8am to 6pm seven days a week. See achilllamb.ie

Kitchen farm shop at Airfield

On the east coast, the very splendid Airfield Estate, in Dundrum, Dublin, a little bit of country in the capital, has opened Overends, a kitchen farm shop ideal for sourcing the evening’s repast after a day out with the family. Overends offers a wide range of local produce harvested from Airfield Estate’s 38-acre farm, gardens and orchards, along with other produce from local food producers and suppliers. 

The offering includes seasonal fruit, vegetables and herbs and dairy products produced from Airfield Estate’s Jersey milk herd, as well as fresh baked goods and food cooked from scratch by the Overends Kitchen culinary team.

See airfield.ie

Design POP food and design festival

Design POP festival (Aug 27-29) is a glorious pile-up of design and food, taking place in various other locations around Cork city, to create seven food-themed pavilions and a series of talks and lectures. Right now, Design POP is seeking volunteers willing to help out with all aspects of the festival. 

See designpop.ie

Today's Special

Harry's Nut Butter is quite superb.

With an anaphylactic child in the house, The Menu very reluctantly said sayonara to peanuts several years ago. Accordingly, quite some time passed between his initial hearing of rave reviews for Harry’s Nut Butter and his own recent first sampling — a bitter-sweet occasion indeed for Harry’s Nut Butter is quite superb, further exacerbating the depth of The Menu’s deprivation.

It is, like all peanut butters, a purée of peanuts and oil (here, a great combo of olive, sesame and sunflower oils), though Harry’s retains texture with the addition of roasted peanut pieces. But it is the other grace notes that elevate the flavour profile from the ordinary to the extraordinary: agave syrup, giving sweetness; paprika and chilli, for gentle heat; and garlic for the je ne sais quois that garlic invariably brings to most dishes.

Despite the ‘savoury’ additions, it still works well as an ingredient for a PBJ sandwich. It is better again with good toasted sourdough bread, and is very nice indeed on same when paired with avocado or banana. But such a premium ingredient merits a far deeper dive into culinary experimentation, The Menu reckoning it would be absolutely superb as a finishing touch to stir fried noodles or better again in the peanut sauce traditionally served with Gado Gado, a wonderful Indonesian salad of potato, egg and tofu.

Or, you could do as The Menu and eat it by the spoonful in all its ‘naked glory’ — although without The Menu’s mournful countenance as he realised with each spoonful just how much he would be missing in the future. 

See harrysnutbutter.com