“WE’VE enough on our plate for the moment,” says foodie Conrad Howard, one of an entrepreneurial trio that opened its third Cork eating house this week.

To mark the Irish Examiner Food Festival, Bridgestone Guide Contributing Editor and our own food columnist Joe McNamee unveils his inaugural food awards. Read on for the best in fine dining, bar grub, afternoon tea and much more in Cork and Dublin

FOOD has almost replaced soccer as the unavoidable presence on television.

IT was a day made for picnics and eating outside.

SOME of the country’s top chefs will serve up their signature dishes on the banks of the Lee next month as the southern capital celebrates its renowned food culture.