RESTAURANTS AND FOOD

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Paladar in Cork Announced As Top 10 Best New International Cocktail Bar in Europe at ‘Tales of The Cocktail’ 2023 Spirited Awards®

Paladar in Cork has been announced as a 2023 Spirited Awards Regional Top 10 Honoree for Best New Cocktail Bar for Europe.

Cristobal at work

Paladar is a Latin American-inspired cocktail bar and kitchen with a rotating menu of classic and signature cocktails based around rum, cachaça, agave and pisco. The stunning room is vibrant, full of energy and fun as would be expected from the team who brought us Cask on MacCurtain Street. The space is awash with Latin American art, music, and photography, including a dramatic glass installation from Eoin Turner Design. Paladar’s bar manager Oisín Wolfe, who is a finalist in this year's Diageo Reserve World Class Bartender of The Year curates the cocktail menu.

Paladar’s owner Andy Ferreira, says, "Tales of the Cocktail is the Oscars of the bar world. Paladar getting nominated as one of the best new Cocktail bars to open in Europe this year is absolutely mind-blowing. Ireland has a tradition of punching above its weight and this is the second year in a row we have Irish bars featured on this global list. We put together an amazing team in the bar and kitchen with the aim of bringing something new and unique to Cork and this is only the beginning”.

Pisco Sour

Since its founding in 2007, the Spirited Awards, run by the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation, have become some of the industry’s most sought-after awards, celebrating global excellence in the drinks industry and recognising professionals, organisations, and establishments shaping the cocktail community worldwide. The judging panel includes respected bartenders, bar owners, educators, and writers from across the globe who draw on their years of experience to evaluate nominees from far and wide to ensure that the Spirited Awards are inclusive and represent the breadth and diversity of the global drinks industry.

The ultimate winners of the 2023 Spirited Awards will be announced at a ceremony on July 27th in New Orleans later this year.

press release

Superb Dining At Westport's The Pantry & Corkscrew

The Pantry & Corkscrew is a little gem, though hardly a hidden one, right in the heart of Westport. If you want freshly made food using the very best local ingredients, with an interesting bottle of wine or local craft beer, then make this your destination.

Here, you’ll get the warmest of welcomes from Dermott and Janice who take pride in using as much local organic and free range produce as possible from the land, earth and sea.

Arancino

Listed among their suppliers are Joe Kelly Organic Vegetables, Andarl Farm Outdoor Pigs, Kellys of Newport, Starcrest Seafood, Aran Island Goats Cheese, Achill Island Sea Salt, /Mescan Brewery, Killary Shellfish, K&C Norton, Wines Direct, Sysco, The Apple Farm, Coffee.ie, Faherty, Wholesale and Wild Wines.

There’s a tempting range of starters with a couple of specials as well and included Naturally Smoked Atlantic Haddock Croquettes, King Oyster Mushroom, Braised Irish Beef Rib Empanada, Andarl Farm Shredded Ham Hock Cashel Blue Cheese; Puffed Rice Crusted Tofu.

In the end we settled on one of the specials. Glad that we did as the Arancino filled with Mozzarella & Salami Napoli, with Tomato & Basil Sauce and Fresh Rocket, certainly lived up to its special billing. We were up and running with that.

They carry a range of the local Mescan beers and we each had a bottle of the Seven Virtues Lager to start with, full of flavour and refreshment. Later, I would move on to the Mescan Old Brown (thanks to Dermott pulling out the last of the batch). I knew I was on a winner as I’ve had a few over the past year or two. Talking about patience, this is matured in oak barrels for more than two years. Well worth waiting for!!!

I had enjoyed a Schnitzel a month or so ago in Kerry and when I spotted one on the menu here, my mind was made up, especially since I saw the pork was coming from the local Andarl Farm. The full description was: Herb Crusted Andarl Farm Free Range Pork Schnitzel, Pancetta & Parmesan Cream, Potato, Fennel and Butternut Hash. Crispy and tasty, full of flavour and texture and the potato and sauce enhanced the whole dish. A big thumbs up for this one.

Desserts

And it was the same from the other side of the table where CL was delighted with her Oven Baked Herb Crusted Fresh Irish Hake with Killary Mussels, Haricot Beans, and Creamy Tomato Seafood Sauce. Full marks all round here for the fish and all that came with it, all perfectly cooked and presented.

No sharing dessert this time, though there were generous tastings exchanged. One, with a little encouragement from our server, was a Melon Semifreddo (from the specials) and the other, spotted early on, was the Normandy Apple Pie with House Vanilla Ice Cream.

It is a small narrow and comfortable room where the warm welcome is an indication of things to come in this cozy place where good food and drink and chats and smiles are the order of the day. Very Highly Recommended.

It is not just me. Recently, they won the Award for Best Emerging Irish Cuisine at The Regional (Connacht) RAI Awards.

More on the Pantry and Corkscrew on their website here

Also on this trip

Superb Dining At Westport's The Pantry & Corkscrew

Achill Island in the sun. And wind.

Sipping Mescan Beer. Doolough Valley.

Ballycroy National Park

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Sipping Mescan Beer and Smoke on the Water. CorkBillyBeers #24

Sipping Mescan Beer and

Smoke on the Water.

CorkBillyBeers #24

Began a two day trip to Mayo with a call to a micro brewery under the gaze of Croagh Patrick and the smoke on the water came later as we drove toward the lakes in the beautiful Doolough Valley as it was drifting high into the sky from a fire blazing on the slopes at the left hand side.

We had long made attempts to get to see the Mescan Brewery, makers of Belgian style craft beers and based in Cartoor, well off the road between Westport and Louisburgh. We got there eventually and met up with Cillian for a couple of sips and a chat.

Mescan beers are highly rated and rightly so. Amazing attention to detail and casks full of patience are required. He explained that his beers take a minimum of 4 months with the heavy ones getting 6-8 months where your normal craft beer takes just a few weeks from start to counter (can vary from brewer to brewer). While the extra time makes the Mescan more expensive, Cillian reckons it is very important for the quality of the beer. And it is indeed a premium product.

The beautiful Doolough Valley

New beers here are tried out in 50 litre batches but he said you can never be sure, the results are never totally accurate and can be different when brewed in bulk!

But yes, the patience is well worth it as we found out when we sipped their Special Reserve (8.6% ABV). The famous Chimay Blue was the inspiration for this recipe and it is fantastic. Another superb special is the Baltic Porter, brewed with a lager yeast.

And later that evening, I was on the strong stuff again, this time thanks to Dermott of the lovely restaurant called The Pantry and Corkscrew in Westport. It was his last bottle of the Old Brown (delivery was due the next day) and it was absolutely enjoyable and I loved it as I knew I would - I did have a few over the past year or two. Talking about patience, this is matured in oak barrels for more than two years. Worth waiting for!!!

Flames spreading

Not all the Mescan beers are super strong. Take the lager for instance. That weighs in at 4.5% and is one of the very best around. Had one of those as well in the Pantry and Corkscrew.

Cillian is a busy man. A few days earlier he had been in Dublin doing a collaboration with Whiplash. In March, he was in the capital for the “Me Auld Flower Festival” in a historic building that used to be home to the Dublin City Fruit, Veg and Flower Market.

Smoke rising from the water in the valley

It was emotional for Cillian, a Dub himself: ”My great great grandfather, Patrick Moran, took the first stall in those markets after they were opened in 1893. He moved into Arran House on the corner ….. and our family lived there for over a 100 years. I remember growing up there and the Warden letting me and my older brother Paddy ring the end of market bell each day - 50 years ago.”

And if you want to try out Mescan beers and much more then head to the Grainne Ale Festival on the Saturday and Sunday of this Bank Holiday weekend - 29th & 30th April 2023! "Come choose from a range of beers from local independent breweries in the beer garden of Gracy’s Pizzeria and Bistro at Westport House."

Our sips and chats over, we said goodbye to Cillian and to Theo (a Frenchman doing the work while we were talking) and, with directions, headed off cross country to Doolough.

This is one of the most beautiful corners of the country but loaded with sadness too because of what happened here during the famine, such sadness among such beauty. Disappointed to see the smoke rising though as we got closer but there were fireman and helpers on the scene and they soon got it under control though it left a nasty black scar on the slopes.

With the smoke cleared we got a great view of the lakes and the mountains, probably the clearest day we’ve enjoyed here. A highly recommended drive and just a few minutes from Louisburgh (check out its lovely Portuguese café TIA).

On our way back to the hotel in Westport, we made a stop at the Croagh Patrick carpark. No, not to climb the famous mountain but to cross the road and reflect as we looked at the marvellous National Famine Memorial, the Coffin Ship by sculptor John Behan. More sadness.

Detail from the Famine Ship (above)

* If you'd like to visit Mescan, they are open to visitors most Friday afternoons through the summer - online booking required here.

Also on this trip

Superb Dining At Westport's The Pantry & Corkscrew

Achill Island in the sun. And wind.

Sipping Mescan Beer. Doolough Valley.

Ballycroy National Park

Paradiso: Recipes & Reflections by Denis Cotter

A new cookbook from Denis Cotter celebrates the beauty of vegetables while paying homage to 30 years of popular Cork restaurant Paradiso

Strawberry & elderflower pavlova, recipe from Paradiso, Recipes & Reflections
(Pics Ruth Calder-Potts)

Chef, restaurateur and author Denis Cotter is pleased to announce his latest book, Paradiso: Recipes & Reflections, a beautiful 216-page hardback cookbook featuring a collection of over 160 recipes, on sale at ninebeanrowsbooks.com and at Paradiso in Cork City, €39.

When Denis Cotter opened Paradiso in 1993, his hope was to create a modern, vegetable-based cuisine that could stand with ‘normal’ restaurants, a place where people went to eat pleasurable, exciting, modern food. Thirty years later, Paradiso has become a beloved part of Cork’s food culture. Paradiso: Recipes & Reflections is a snapshot of where Paradiso is now. It will show you how to produce dishes that can be served alone or incorporated into a series of courses. By incorporating these into your own repertoire, you can bring a touch of Paradiso to anything you cook.

Sample recipes include: pan-roasted artichokes, nettle broth, lemon arancini, pine nut crumb, smoked tomato purée; aubergine, black sesame yogurt, zhoug, fried capers; smoky za’atar roast squash with lemon tahini, popped barley, mint and pomegranate; dan dan noodles; grilled peach with cucumber, pickled radish, sheep’s milk labneh, mint, watercress and macadamia; and strawberry & elderflower pavlova.

Denis Cotter, author of Paradiso, Recipes & Reflections
(Pic Ruth Calder-Potts)

An accomplished author with four previous cookbooks under his belt, including The Café Paradiso Cookbook (1999), Paradiso Seasons (2003), Wild Garlic, Gooseberries … and Me (2007) and For the Love of Food (2011), Paradiso: Recipes and Reflections is Denis’s first book in 12 years.

For Denis, this latest tome captures the essence of Paradiso now. He says, “The book is a result of gathering and translating over the years, and could not be called anything other than simply Paradiso because that is what it is and what it represents. It is us now. It is our manual for today and, with just a glance at and a nod to the past, it is what the future is always being built on.”

A gorgeous coffee table book as well as a recipe book, the foreword is by Cork-born actor Cillian Murphy, who carries a long-held affection for the food and philosophy of Paradiso.

Paradiso: Recipes and Reflections is available from 4th May at www.ninebeanrowsbooks.com and will also be sold at Paradiso, 16 Lancaster Quay, Cork City from 4th May. When you buy a copy of Paradiso directly from Nine Bean Rows or the restaurant, you will also get an enamelled turnip lapel pin and a Paradiso notebook as a free bonus while stocks last.

For more information, see paradiso.ie and ninebeanrowsbooks.com.

Keep up to date with the latest news by following Paradiso on social @paradisocork

press release

Brunch at the Baker's Table of Lismore, just the job after a walk on The Vee

Brunch at the Baker's Table of Lismore

just the job after a walk on The Vee

Toastie

The sun is shining as we approach the Baker’s Table of Lismore on a recent Friday morning. The restaurant has just opened for brunch and we could do with some sustenance after a jaunt around the Vee, a few miles outside of the town on Blackwater River, a town perhaps best known for its castle (you may visit the gardens).

While the sun is out, the temperatures are low and logs are burning in the large fireplace in the dining room. Not just a dining room, you may call here for takeouts including coffee (by Badger & Dodo), sandwiches and sweet pastries!

The menu has quite a selection to choose from including quiches, soups, salads, pancakes and various egg dishes. CL went for the traditional Quiche Lorraine, with all the usual ingredients and two salads. Just the job after that walk on the Vee.

From the selection of open sandwiches, my choice was the the Roast

Pepper and Ardsallagh Feta Toastie, served on their own sourdough, again with a choice of two salads. Full of flavour and texture, well cooked, well presented and well priced at 10.50, same as the Quiche.

Quiche

We didn’t leave it at that. Two fine cups of the B&D coffee were ordered along with a couple from a list of tempting pastries, the Apple Crumble and Berry Crumble.

Sat back and enjoyed those, looking out at the sunny street through the large front window, taking in the display of chopping boards on one wall and a look at the nearby piano (lid closed at that hour!).

Apple

The Bakers also do a Supper Club on Friday and Saturday evenings and a Sunday Roast as well. Their hours are limited at present but do check their social media as they are more or less certain to expand opening times as the season progresses.

We did have a little hiccup with their online booking system though, as it gave us a slot at 10.00am when they weren’t actually opening until eleven. A late night phone call from the Bakers sorted it and that was why we were up on the Vee before our first meal of the day! Otherwise it would have been breakfast first and walk afterwards. As it happened, it worked out well.