The Menu: Kenmare on fire and Ali Honour's return to the Cork food scene  

Plus, a young Donegal chef to keep an eye on 

Ali Honour is the new Executive Head Chef at the Imperial Hotel, on Cork’s South Mall,

Sketch’s Honour

The Menu was far from the only hungry soul on Leeside to regret the passing of Ali Honour’s Ali’s Kitchen, a delightful little cafe on Rory Gallagher Plaza, which had many devoted fans, not least for its fine brunches and sweet baked treats.

And so, it gives The Menu great joy to announce the return of Ali to the local hospitality scene in a new guise, as executive head chef at the very splendid Imperial Hotel, on Cork’s South Mall, as the gorgeous, glittering establishment seeks to carve out a niche for itself as a dining destination in its own right under enlightened manager Bastian Peyraud. 

Ali Honour is the new Executive Head Chef at the Imperial Hotel, on Cork’s South Mall,

Coinciding with the first birthday of the hotel’s still new cocktail bar, Sketch, Ali will be unveiling a very special brunch menu which, like all good brunches is laden with sinful sweet delicacies to go along with delicious savoury and comforting offerings. 

And, if you want to go straight to heaven altogether, there’s even a Stretch at Sketch which comprises Yoga Class, health shot, a three-course brunch and an energy ball to bring home.

www.imperialhotelcork.com

Kenmare on fire

Chef James Coffey in the sparkling new kitchens at the Park Hotel, Kenmare, Co Kerry. Picture: Dan Linehan

The Menu recently enjoyed yet another wonderful visit to Kenmare so the prospect of a return always has great appeal and, as the nights draw in, and the prospect of a roaring fire becomes increasingly attractive, the notion of an entire month celebrating fire-themed events and experiences in the Brennan Brothers’ troika of hospitality establishments, Park Hotel Kenmare, The Lansdowne Kenmare, and The Boat House Bistro in Dromquinna Manor, is especially appealing.

For the entire month, all three will offer a special fire-themed programme of activities and menus, that sees the day begin with fitness classes, such as HITT it Hot, Abs on Fire and Belly Burn, followed by heat-based wellness treatments in the Samas Spa. 

Chefs James Coffey, Mark Johnston and Paul Walsh present Food on Fire demos for cooking over wood and charcoal, while the legendary John Moriarty, of the Park, offers peat-based whiskey tastings and very excellent cocktail mixologist, Bryan O’Connor, bar manager of the Lansdowne, conducts Some Like it Hot Cocktail demos.

Other daily activities in the locality include Off the Beaten Track, an excursion into The Black Valley with views and stories to take the breath away and a snifter to heat the body back up. 

And, of course, don’t forget roaring open fires and beautiful fire-themed evening dining menus and there is a special package of three nights with a fourth free at the Park, or two nights with a third free at the Lansdowne.

www.parkkenmare.com 

www.lansdownekenmare.com

www.dromquinnamanor.com

Pining for The Burren

The Burren Pine tree (which is genetically similar to Scots Pine) in the beautiful Burren, in Co Clare, was thought to have been extinct for 1,500 years, until a small stand of same were discovered in a remote corner of the Burren four years, the same tree that once covered the entire area. 

The Burren Pine Project, managed by Burrenbeo Trust, is devoted to its revival and Gregan’s Castle Hotel are donating a plot of land to the project and inviting guests, past, present and future, to sponsor the planting of a Burren Pine and for every one planted, three other companion native trees will also be planted. 

You don’t even have to visit one of The Menu’s most favourite hotels of all to participate, though The Menu will always advise any discerning diner also in need of a splendid bed to never pass up such an opportunity.

www.gregans.ie/the-burren.html

Young contender

Euro-Toques Young Chef of the Year 2022 winner, young Donegal man Calum Falls from Aimsir, in Celbridge, Co Kildare,

Finally, a belated congratulations to the Euro-Toques Young Chef of the Year 2022 winner, young Donegal man Calum Falls from Aimsir, in Celbridge, Co Kildare, who prevailed with original dishes based on a brief of Blackface Irish lamb and offal with grains and spices and an original Irish raspberry dessert.

Be sure and remember Calum’s name as one to watch into the future for the accolade is indicative of real talent, past winners including Neven Maguire, Gráinne Mullins and Mark Moriarty, who went on to represent Ireland and win the overall San Pellegrino World young Chef of the Year.

www.eurotoques.ie

TODAY’S SPECIAL

The Menu recently consumed the last fresh strawberries he’s likely to eat this season, some way off their peak season prime so he instead macerated them in vanilla sugar and ate them with Gloun Cross Chantilly cream for a fine and final farewell-to-summer feast. 

But a day or two after the strawberries met their demise, a diktat was issued to The Menu from La Daughter Menu for a
gossamer light sponge with whipped cream and strawberry jam and he had to agree said diktat sounded like a most splendid proposition.

So off he went to the larder in search of an unopened pot of jam and alighted on an old favourite, Wexford Home Preserves very excellent Organic Strawberry Jam. 

Made with organic strawberries, Irish Bramley apples and sugar, it is bursting with juicy sweet strawberry flavour but the tart Bramley’s arrest any descent into overblown saccharine excesses and it was quite delicious in the sponge - mind you, it was equally good, slathered on hot, buttery toast the next morning, all washed down with a milky mocha coffee.

www.wexfordpreserves.ie