2007-12-01 Philip Horgan has been running The Man Friday since the start of 1978, as near as damn it thirty years. He opened it at the same time that I opened my restaurant, he in Kinsale, me in Annamoe. He bought a going concern and so did I - an interesting parallel. But then I discovered where he worked before moving to Kinsale - in Armstrong’s Barn in Annamoe, the restaurant that I bought and ran. That’s no degree of separation. More>>

2007-11-24 I mention this again because this week I went to visit an old friend, a Kilkenny restaurant called Rinuccini. About fourteen years ago I was running a wine club and I used to meet up with John O’Connell, a wonderful man who wrote about wine in the then Cork Examiner. We used to meet in Kilkenny, as it was a half-way house between Wicklow and Cork, and our preferred meeting place was Rinuccini. It’s still going strong and I was looking forward to a long overdue return visit for dinner. More>>

2007-11-10 We arrived in Shanahan’s a little early for our booking and were shown downstairs to the bar for a pre-prandial drink while we waited for the table. It’s definitely themed - photographs and letters from American presidents line the walls and there are even letters to John Shanahan on White House paper. John Shanahan is the eponymous founder of this restaurant, and editor of a book of maxims called ‘The Most Brilliant Thoughts of All Time‘, which I have in front of me. I found one of John’s own thoughts in it - ‘doors don’t slam open. More>>

2007-11-03 We were off to ’Aubergine’, a restaurant in Longford Town that has figured largely in my postbag of late, many readers telling me that it would be well worth a visit. I was in Longford earlier this year when Brenda O’Donoghue and I were on the road looking for the best chips in Ireland for Derek Mooney‘s show. Back then only chips were on the agenda and we were there to check out ‘Luigi’s’, which has been serving good chips for years. I probably walked right past Aubergine then, because if you weren’t actively looking for it, you could easily pass it by. More>>

2007-10-27 A few months ago I got a tour of the Ritz Carlton while it was still under construction. I walked around the building site wondering how it could possibly be ready by the start of October. Quite how it happened I don’t know, but miraculously not only was the job done on time it actually looks finished. Mature trees stand where a couple of months ago there was building rubble, lawns are in place, the interior is finished to a high standard and the whole gives the impression it’s been there for a while More>>

2007-10-20 I’ve been driving around the country quite a lot for the past couple of weeks, listening to the car radio and the endless ads for banks wanting to lend you money. You know the sort of thing, a soft seductive voice tells you all about the amazingly generous offer and then the voiceover slips into hyper drive, talking slightly faster than you can listen to deliver the small print: ‘Banco Bastardos is a responsible lender, regulated by the financial regulator, share values can go up as well as down, late repayments means we’ll take your home from you, terms and conditions apply, gurriers need not.’ More>>

2007-10-20 be a part of our choices. The menu is quite long and very well priced with enough choices to appeal to most palates. The wine list amazed both of us; it’s a long a some restaurants’ lists and the mark-up is far less than usual - there are bottles of wine on it for €14.90, which seems closer to off-license prices than on-trade prices. A bottle of Sancerre for €29 looked like great value, so we ordered that. More>>

2007-10-13 We had the launch in Cork’s Hayfield Manor Hotel, so when it was over we adjourned to restaurant there, Orchids, for dinner. Before I describe the meal, let me tell you a little about the hotel. It’s Cork’s only five star hotel and it sits in very pretty manicured grounds on the south side of the river. I was surprised to learn that it’s a new building, a replacement for the original manor that stood on this site. More>>

2007-10-06 Indulge me a moment while I wander briefly down memory road. They say that if you can remember the sixties then you weren’t there, and there may be something in that. All manner of things got ingested in those heady days and they probably haven’t helped with recall. Still, through the miasma of substances I can still remember bits of them. More>>

2007-09-29 This week I took a stroll across The Shannon. Not in a miraculous, on the water sort of way, but over the bridge in Athlone, admiring the great river and its boat traffic as I went. It was a warm, vaguely sunny day and Athlone Castle looked imposing enough on the river bank. Some ducks paddled their way slowly upstream adding to the sense of watery leisure. More>>

2007-09-22 I mention this because the strip has a new restaurant called ‘Hugo’s’, which has been open for a few weeks. I went there this week with Gerard and Abigail Carthy to see what the strip’s newest addition had to offer. I learnt from a card that I picked up as we went in that it’s owned by the same people who have Tullamore’s ‘Wolf Trap’, a place I reviewed for lunch last year. I thought the Wolf Trap was well run, so I had high hopes for Hugo’s. More>>

2007-09-08 The Lobster Pot is a long, low building set at an intersection. From where I was sitting I looked across at a nicely kept garden complete with two large palm trees, which must say something about the sunshine hours in this corner of Ireland. Inside it has a distinctly cottagey feel, with painted wood and bric-a-brac ornamentation and the dining area is divided into discrete sections affording privacy should you need it. Cosy and friendly might be two epithets that spring to mind More>>

2007-09-01 My guests began to arrive at eight and while Niall and his helper Michael were prepping in the kitchen, we sat in the drawing room sipping the Orio Russell Brut Cava, a very drinkable sparkler from Catalunya available from Enowine at €16.99. And while we sat and chatted platefuls of dainty canapés kept coming from the kitchen - tiny tasters of foie gras on brioche, little vol-au-vents and sweetmeats of all kinds. More>>

2007-08-25 Maia has been open for a couple of months in Shelbourne Road and already it’s been generating a bit of a buzz. I arrived with my friend Alexis Mitchel early mid-week to find a dining room already nearly full. More>>

2007-08-18 Obviously, given its name, Fishy Fishy’s menu is heavy on the fish, in fact there’s nothing else on the menu except for one chicken dish. Committed carnivores need not apply. More>>

2007-08-11 Cork’s is recently opened and is simply decorated. There’s a bar counter behind which the wine bottles are displayed, the tables and chairs are plain pine, the chairs unpadded. It’s on a corner and there’s glass all around, so it’s bright and well lit. Simplicity is the key word for the menu as well; the laminated card menu lists quick snacks only, main courses change frequently and are on the board daily. More>>

2007-08-04 A couple of years ago I went to Ashbourne in Co. Meath and had a superb Chinese meal in Eatzen. Apart from the beautifully prepared food the dining room itself was lavish with a no-expense-spared interior. When I heard that there was a new Eatzen in Clonee I had to try it. My son, Rocco, has always maintained that he doesn’t like Chinese food, so I thought this was a perfect opportunity to change his mind. More>>

2007-07-28 It wasn’t that long ago that all of this area was green fields. That’s hard to believe looking at all the shiny new buildings that have sprung up. The newly built Blackthorn Road has some architecturally interesting buildings along its length, so it feels more like a boulevard than a road in an industrial estate. South is well signed, but look out for a large red Perspex cube which is pretty well outside the restaurant. More>>

2007-07-21 Paolo really enjoys dinner in Oliver Dunnes Michelin starred restaurant, Bon Appetit. Possibly the most enthuaiastic review of 2007. More>>

2007-07-14 Oliver is the chef who brought Mint to gastronomic attention. Now he’s opened his own restaurant in the long-established Bon Appetit in Malahide. The artist Susan Morley was back in town, so I asked to her to accompany me there. We arrived early enough and chose to go directly upstairs to our table rather than stop for an aperitif in bar downstairs. More>>