Youthful Léa’s already making a name for itself and creating a buzz in the Glucksman at UCC

Youthful Léa’s already making a name for itself and creating a buzz in the Glucksman at UCC.

Steak!

Léa's, a new daytime restaurant in Cork's Glucksman Art Gallery, is being brought to you by three youthful friends: Colm Liston, Joe Dowling, and Cyprien Jouve. 

The trio, who already have two successful cafes in the city under the Joe's+Bros title, are aiming to create a high-energy hub for people to hang out, drink good coffee, eat better food, and listen to great music (not too much need for music if this level of buzz continues!).

And that buzzy atmosphere, the happy noise of people of many ages enjoying their food and drink, has been there from the August (2023) start. The place was packed when we visited last week and one of the staff told me it is like that every day, seven days a week. So do book here before you go.

We arrived about 12:30 pm and were soon at our table with both the brunch and lunch menus to choose from.

Chicken

As it happened, we picked one from each. My choice from the Brunch menu was the Chimichurri Steak:  Open Rosscarbery steak served on Pana toast with chimichurri, fried egg, crispy onions, hollandaise and dressed leaves. Packed with flavours, on well-oiled bread (a good quality olive oil ensuring the toast wouldn’t break my “old” teeth!). This satisfactory plateful could well be your dinner for the day. Just add a side to be sure!

CL chose the Léa’s Sambo: Grilled chicken or Pulled ham, garlic mayo, crispy shoestring fries and piccalilli (a favourite of hers) served on pana bread with Monterey Jack cheese. The chicken choice was taken and the sambo was superb, again adding a side will make quite a plateful and you have some 11 sides to choose from.

Open from 8.30 am, Léa's offers a breakfast menu of contemporary dishes, such as Chocolate porridge, Cacao granola, and Peanut butter toast. For brunch (from 10.00 am), there's a wider selection to choose from, including Ham hock benedict, Chimichurri steak, and Hong Kong French toast (not too sure about this variation but bound to suit someone!).

Léa's, pictured from the west. That wall is a necessary flood defence
but also acts as a wind barrier to the outside dining area.

The lunch menu, which runs alongside the brunch menu, features a variety of sandwiches, burgers, and bowls. Some of the highlights include the Jalapeño smash burger, Korean fried chicken bun, and Fritter Smuggler. There's also a good selection of sides (no less than eleven) and sweet treats available.

Those sweet treats consist mostly of cake slices though brownies and cookies are also available. We enjoyed the Orange and Almond Tart, nice and moist with excellent Badger & Dodo coffee. 

Léa's has been open for just four weeks, but it's already proving to be a popular spot with students, college staff and visitors. The restaurant is already known for its friendly atmosphere, efficient and friendly service, delicious food, and reasonable prices. If you're looking for a new place to go for breakfast, brunch, or lunch, Léa's is definitely worth a try.

* The menus are based on the best of local produce and this is well handled in the kitchen. There is a list of suppliers on the wall here and they include the likes of Rosscarbery beef and pork, K. O’Connell Fish, Pana Bread, Toonsbridge Dairy, Stonewell Cider and Barry’s Tea.

The Glucksman

* The Glucksman Gallery is a renowned cultural institution, and its unique setting makes it a perfect partner for Léa's. The gallery, with its cantilevered and wood-clad structure, is listed internationally as one of the “1001 buildings you must see before you die”. Léa's plans to offer extended hours to accommodate gallery and university functions.

* Unless you are permitted to use the college lots, parking may be a problem but both the 208 and 205 buses service the area and their stops are just a few steps from the college gates and Léa’s is just a few minutes inside.

Relaxing Sunday Brunch at Bobo

Relaxing Sunday Brunch at Bobo

Weekend brunch is now quite a habit in Cork with many places offering the mix of breakfast and lunch on Saturdays and Sundays. We headed to Bobo Café on a recent Sunday.

The Bobo Sunday brunch begins at noon. No problem finding parking on Donovan’s Road that day but that might not apply on weekdays. One solution would be to get the bus and get off at the stop to the west of the UCC gates. Here, you’ll find another gate into the college grounds and then a narrow footbridge over the river will take to within 200 metres or less of the entrance to Bobo which is in the Glucksman Gallery (opens on Sunday afternoons, by the way).

Bobo serves Golden Bean coffee, homemade treats, craft beers and fine wines and is open on Tuesday to Saturday 10.00am to 5.00pm and on Sunday from noon until five. Local suppliers include O’Mahony Butchers English Market, Ballycotton Seafood, Colin Wolfe Macroom (eggs), Greenfields Farm Glanmire, and My Goodness.

We joined a few “early birds” a couple of minutes after the café opened and got one of the many tables that look out onto a green area to the west of the cafe, between the internal road up to the UCC quadrangle and the riverside walk. The view is slightly spoiled by the big concrete barrier necessitated by the tendency of the river to flood. The apron before the barrier is used for dining al fresco during the good weather.

There were nine separate dishes on the well-priced brunch menu plus three sides. Fancy something on the smaller side? Well you may pick from their Granola with Yogurt, Mixed Berry Syrup and Fruit, or the Poached Eggs with Guacamole on Sourdough, or the Eggs en Cocotte with red Chard and cream.

The French Toast with Maple Syrup and Berries (bacon optional) was seriously considered as was the Jack McCarthy Blackpudding, chard, cherry tomatoes and poached eggs. The Bobo Hash Browns, salsa, scrambled eggs and mixed leaves also caught the eye as did the Tostada Andaluza (Jamon Serrano, tomato and garlic on toasted baguette).

Pedestrian bridge to and from Western Road

In the end though, I went for the Shakshuka, a Middle Eastern Tomato Salsa with baked eggs and chorizo. A cracking bunch of leaves from Greenfield plus a few slices of toasted sourdough enhanced this already delicious dish.

Our other plateful, the Chilli Tempeh with beans, patatas bravas and beets (also €10.00) was full of colour and flavour. I got a few bites of that one and we each gave it the thumbs up. Service was friendly here as are the prices!

If you come here during the week (and indeed on Sunday afternoon), you’ll be able to visit the Glucksman Gallery, and/or take a stroll over that little bridge I mentioned to access the Mardyke, including Fitzgeralds Park, and see the north channel of the river. 

By the way, there are guided walking tours of UCC. Run by UCC Visitors' Centre, this is an opportunity to discover the great history of the university in the setting of the beautiful campus grounds. More info on their Facebook page here. 

As it happens, Bobo have just announced their new lunch menu and it features tempting dishes based on Beef Cheeks, Wild Prawn, Ras Al Hanout Cauliflower and more.

Bobo

Lewis Glucksman Gallery, University College Cork,

T12 V1WH

(021) 490 1848 

This Summer's Dessert Destinations. The Sweetest Things.

 This Summer's Dessert Destinations 

The Sweetest Things.

Pier 26 (now CUSH) Ballycotton: This flower enhanced Pavlova with fresh strawberries, blackberries, poached apricots and Chantilly Cream (and a bit of rhubarb too) was a beauty, just the ticket to finish off an excellent meal.

The finalé at Killarney's Malarkey. Toffee Apple crumble with smoked treacle ice-cream.
Might not be the best photo but a cracking dessert.

A classic at Crackpots Encore in Kinsale: Poached Pears in mulled red wine. And it was a terrific version.

 Apple and Berry Crumble wasn’t the bravest of picks but it turned out to be a gem, beautifully made and presented - at Tramore's Copper Hen.

Friendly Henry's in Ennis served us this lovely Pear Tart with caramelised walnuts and ice-cream. 

Jammy Dodger (coconut and raspberry compote) by Bobo at The Glucksman, UCC. You don't see these too often nowadays.

 Mocha Choca Indulgent Cake at the Garden Café Truck by the Ballymaloe Cookery School.
You could say they know how to bake around here. Quality guaranteed.

From The Oar Restaurant in Doolin: Passionfruit Soufflé with a Passionfruit sorbet.

 From the Springboard Restaurant in Cork's Kingsley Hotel comes this delicious Lemon meringue éclair (choux pastry éclair, lemon curd filling, Italian meringue, mango sorbet)

Bobo Café at the Glucksman

Bobo Café at the Glucksman

Cajun Pork

For over a year now, Bobo, the café in the Glucksman Gallery in UCC, has been serving breakfast, lunch, weekend brunch, while all the time superb coffee by local roaster Golden Bean, along with a tempting host of baked delights, are available.

Miso

About time I called, I said to myself the other day. And off we went - by bus. The number 8, sorry 208, takes you to the Western Road entrance, just a few steps away from the gallery.

Bobo is also the venue for food related events, once a month. Recently, they held a cheese and also a fermentation workshop. And, if you’re in for brunch on Sunday, you’ll more than likely have live music to add to the atmosphere.

Risotto

The breakfast menu is very tempting but, on this particular day, lunch suited us better. The menu is not the longest but choices are good, usually with a few to suit vegetarians.

Last week, they had two soups on offer. Miso (4.50), with toasted sesame and seaweed, was my choice while CL enjoyed her daily special, carrot, ginger and squash (5.50) with an excellent brown bread. By the way, a few crackers came with mine.

There were five main courses on offer, one with fish, another with meat. CL chose Cajun pork fillet, butternut squash purée and mango salsa (13.50). This was well Cajun-ed! Well cooked actually and a lovely dish, good flavour, colour and texture.

Dodger

Glucksman. Bobo is bottom right.

My Shiitake mushroom and Artichoke Heart Risotto (12.50) with an olive tapenade mightn’t have looked so well - it was tidily presented - but it was another very enjoyable dish. The main ingredients, the mushroom and the artichoke, could well have turned this into a bowl of blandness but the tapenade and the salad helped to balance it.

They do have a short wine-list, most available by the glass, and a few craft beers but we stuck with water on this occasion. Had some of that excellent Golden Bean coffee though with our dessert.

Very few desserts on the menu, but there’s quite a spread of sweet things on the counter. Hard to choose! But we did enjoy our Jammy Dodger (coconut and raspberry compote) and Warm Apple Cake with Vanilla Ice cream (6.00).

They are very much into supporting local producers here and you’ll see some mentioned on the menu. A blackboard lists O’Mahony’s English Market (meat), Ballycotton Seafood (fish, seafood), Colin Woulfe  Macroom (eggs) Greenfields Farm (leaves, veg) and My Goodness (kefir and vegan treats).

Bobo 

at The Glucksman

Lower Grounds, UCC,

Western Road, Cork

(021) 490 1848

bobocafecork@gmail.com

Hours: 10am - 5pm, Tuesday to Saturday;12pm - 5pm, Sundays

Fresco and the art of Food

Fresco and the art of Food

 Fresco, the Bistro attached to the Lewis Glucksman Art Gallery in UCC, officially launched yesterday evening with an event titled "What Does Art Taste Like?" Music, chat and, of course, food and wine, featured.

 This was the menu for the evening, a mixture of hot and cold tasters. Head Chef Prakash Sivakumar was a little nervous as the first of the guests arrived. But Kash had no need to worry as his tasters were brilliant and spectacularly presented. Hard to pick a favourite from the menu (above) but my tops were probably the Duck, the Tuna and the Sago Pudding.

Brian Casey, one of the principals at Fresco, told me that they have been open for over a year and that their Fresco Curry is the favourite main dish, never off the menu. That must be a good recommendation. I thought the favourite salad might be the stunning Nicoise Salad Grilled marinated fresh ahi tuna that we enjoyed there a few months back but Brian tells it is the Teriyaki of Salmon Salad, another excellent dish that I sampled at the recent food fest in Fitzerald's Park.

So well done to Brian, to Kash and to all the lovely and helpful staff at Fresco Bistro and best of luck for the future. Oh, by the way. What does Art Taste Like? Just brilliant is the answer!