Great Irish Beverages, a leading promoter and producer of Irish made drinks just completed running its first nationwide festival in 3 years - Irish Food & Drink Month. It was a celebration of pairing Irish foods with Irish drinks for the hospitality sector. Any licensed bar, restaurant or hotel was able to register for free and in order to get involved, they had to create and sell a signature Irish food & drink pairing for the whole month of October. By working alongside a number of different Irish drinks brands across many sectors, they were able to bring on 140 different venues from 16 different counties. Each of which was listed on the Great Irish Beverages website for the public to see and each of whom created a signature Irish food & drink pairing! Among the venues taking part were Michelin star fine dining hot spots, gastro pubs, hotels and local restaurants.
There was a public vote for which of the 140 participating venues had the best pairing. This was done on Instagram using the #EatDrinkIrish hashtag as a means to cast a vote. The winning venue was from Dublin, Dash Burger. They have two outlets, one on Capel Street and another on Kevin Street. Their pairing was a delicious Double Smash Cheeseburger basted with Allta Restaurant's Shiitake Miso Butter matched with O'Hara's IPA.
The beef for Dash Burger is 100% Irish Beef supplied by Pat McLoughlin of McLoughlins Butchers and is all grass fed. They use an aged beef mix of secret cuts that keep their burgers crispy yet juicy. Coughlans Bakery supply their equally Irish potato buns and their cheese is from Kerrymaid.
O'Hara's Irish Pale Ale is a Contemporary style IPA with an Irish twist. Zesty and refreshingly bitter, the finish is long. With a copper toned body topped with a lightly carbonated head, the dry hopping brings an intense aroma and lasting array of fruit and floral notes - the perfect contrast to bring out the richness from the Double Smash Cheeseburger!
As part of the prize for winning Best Irish Food & Drink Pairing, Barry Wallace of Dash Burger nominated Dublin Simon Community to receive a €1,000 charity donation paid for by Great Irish Beverages.
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