Eating, Reading & Travelling | March 2024

Another edition of our free monthly digest, jam-packed with deliciously satisfying suggestions for all subscribers

Though Ireland was plunged into snow, sleet and ice right as March hit, the daffodils dancing in the wind beaming in yellow and green tell us Spring is here!

We’re on a short work week this week as we hightail it to Stockholm for the first of this year’s trips to our second home, of sorts, Sweden. Before we gorge ourselves on kardemummabullar here’s another edition of our FREE monthly digest shining a light on some of the best things we’ve eaten, cooked, listened to, watched/streamed or read recently that we hope will inspire you. Think of it as a massive monthly highlights reel, packed full of suggestions…

Travelling

We’ve been making our way around the country of late, from a trip to Belfast to last weekend in Clare, we’re also heading to Galway with a friend from London for Paddy’s weekend! In Patrick’s ‘I Know The Perfect Place’ column in the Sunday Times Ireland (in print and online weekly) he’s shared the expertise of Bart Pawlukojc of Arán in Kilkenny on Gdańsk in Poland; Sheena Dignam on the historic city of Tours in the Loire Valley; Margaret Jeffares of Good Food Ireland on Fuertevenura; and Maire Flynn of The Tannery on Zürich.

We travelled to Kraków at the beginning of last month and in case you missed it we’ve begun a new travel series on Chip Paper that’s like a bullet journal. Every single place we ate and drank in a destination, whether good or bad. Every cocktail, coffee, brunch, lunch, breakfast, dinner, bakery or snack; listed for your convenience. Krakow below and L’Isle-sur-La-Sorgue was the second.

Eating

• A fab family catch-up in Hang Dai as a table for 14 enjoying their set menu

• The Pepper Pot Cafe in the Powerscourt Townhouse for a solo lunch, that bacon, pear and cheddar on doorstep loaf is a true love of our lives

• OX in Belfast on a recent stay in the city, not quite as wow as it once was..

• Hugo’s in Lahinch, a stunning bakery and provisions store with top quality flattes and enough sourdough, focaccia and pastries to last us a week!

• Forbes Street at Anantara The Marker for a cheeky pre-theatre with family before catching Sister Act: The Musical at the Bord Gáis.

• You know we die for a carvery –– latest in our arsenal: Man O’War.

• A couple of our own dishes at home of late: 🇲🇽 a huevos rancheros situation; 🇸🇪 top tier crisps, smoked crémè fraîche and trout as a weekend start with sparkling wine; 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 a month beyond Burns Night, haggis, neeps ‘n’ tatties.

In our Sunday Times Ireland restaurant review column, we’ve taken you for authentic Thai at Nightmarket in Ranelagh, classic French in Niall Duffy’s new bistro Marcel in Belfast, a Sunday service at 777, the Mexican hot spot and Georges Street stalwart, and nipped by wine bar/bureau/bistro Note for Essa Fakhry’s new set lunch menu on weekends.

This coming weekend -🚨EXCLUSIVE ALERT🚨- we’re at Dede at The Customs House, the two Michelin-starred kitchen from Ahmet Dede set in Maria Archer’s unlikely dining room in Baltimore. Does it live up to its stellar reputation?…

For Russell’s Dublin Delish escapades on 98FM (while settling into his new role as producer at the station!) he’s taken on the Wrappo at Swords’ Summer Inn (you need to see to believe), dropped into Korean-owned Cookieboy and found an epic brunch spot in Southbank.

ICYMI –– Condiment Curiosity: Part 5!

Fifth in the series of deep dives into iconic condiments went live last week. This time it’s the turn of Marmite and its Antipodean cousin, Vegemite. Paid subscribers can read below if you missed! Don’t miss the other four, either: Aromat; Branston Pickle; Salad Cream & Sriracha.

The Business of Food: Restaurant Failure

We try to be book-readers and book people in general but in all honesty we’re not. Podcasts are preferred as we’re forever on-the-go. Every second month in this free mailer we like to shout out some podcasts whose episodes have caught out attention. As our bread and butter is writing about restaurants we’ve been tuning in a lot of late to stories of restaurant failure. It’s an emotional and often difficult subject but that neither detracts from the importance nor the opportunity to learn lessons from others, particularly at a time when hospitality as a whole sinks further into crisis with little government support.

As has been often uttered of late, if hospitality was the banking sector there would be an immediate bail-out –– why is such an important industry being overlooked and a blind eye thrown to the ongoing struggle? Some interesting listening we’ve been doing of late includes the five below…

• Michel Roux JR on closing Le Gavroche and ending its legacy, plus answering to some pretty targeted questions from Stephen Sackur about his own business’ conduct over the years on BBC World Service’s HARDtalk

• Drivetime on RTÉ Radio 1 reports from Sligo and talks to Anthony Gray (Eala Bhan, Hooked) and Jane Lamberth of Shell’s following the closure of Baker Boys

• Toast (a spin-off of Sliced Bread) on BBC Radio 4 on the downfall of the Jamie’s Italian brand in the UK

• Ross Lewis on the Mick Clifford Podcast by the Irish Examiner on current issues and the future of the restaurant model

• Saltie Girl founder Kathy Sidell talking to Kerry Diamond on Cherry Bombe about the opening (and closing) of the London branch

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