Joe McNamara Glebe Gardens Skibbereen, 68 Bridge St, Marsh, Skibbereen, Co Cork, P81 PR20

The Menu has to cast his mind back to the literal and metaphorical dark days of boarding school to recall the last time he regularly ate in total darkness, scoffing biscuits under the covers after lights out, the better to supplement the school canteen’s daily deep-fried offerings of items that may or may not have contained actual food.

Schools are closing, summer holidays are commencing and gardens are blooming.

People are eating, not drinking, their way through the recession, claims the country’s top food and accommodation critic.