FOR ME it was a wonderful surprise that my latest book 30 Years at Ballymaloe won the Avonmore Cookbook of the Year award at the Bord Gáis Irish Book Awards — and it really was a surprise.

A scouting trip to France led to a eureka moment for Paul Flynn when he abandoned crispy pancakes for fancy chicken. He tells Joe McNamee about a new challenge

PAUL FLYNN, chef-patron of the Tannery Restaurant in Dungarvan, bounced into the cookery school last week looking every inch a mischievous little boy in a chef’s rig-out.