Ideally, any newly-opened restaurant should hit its marks from day one; surely it shortchanges customers to do otherwise? That said, I have always thought it only fair to allow a grace period for ‘bedding in’ before reviewing any new arrival. So why, oh why, am I reviewing Restaurant Chestnut on its opening night? asks Joe McNamee.

THERE’S only been a handful of €500,000+ house sales in the chi-chi coastal Schull area of West Cork since the Price Register started picking up on sales, post 2010.

The first night the owners of this West Cork farm sprawling homestead called Ancaire spent under their newly-acquired roof gave them the realisation they’d have to spend a bit more — a gale blew one of the windows in.