Enjoy The Lifestyle Experience at Arboretum's Flagship Store In Carlow

Escape the Ordinary: 

A Day at Arboretum, Carlow

The first thing that caught my eye was the colourful urinals in the venue’s toilets! San Francisco artist  Clark Sorenson was commissioned to design the sanitary ware with a floral theme. He got it spot-on as will most, if not all, of the male visitors! 

Craving a Refreshing Oasis? Look no further than Arboretum in Leighlinbridge, County Carlow! This haven for all things green and delicious is the perfect escape from the ordinary.

Fuel Your Adventure at Rachel's Café

After your scenic (and perhaps rainy) drive, recharge at Rachel's Café, a champion of seasonal, homemade goodness. From breakfast to late lunch, Rachel's offers a symphony of flavours, all made with love right on-site. With a choice of healthy to hearty, hot to cold, there's something for every palate. Don't forget to leave room for their irresistible homemade sweet treats!

At play in the water (one of the inspirational gardens)

A Garden Center Colossus

While Rachel's (with 600 seats) might be one of Ireland's largest cafes, the true behemoth is the Arboretum Garden Center itself. Prepare to be dazzled by a wonderland of plants, from alpines and rockery wonders to ornamental grasses, climbers, and everything in between. Whether you're a seasoned gardener or a budding enthusiast, Arboretum, with its ten acres, has everything to transform your outdoor (and indoor!) space.

Enjoyed this Tuna sandwich for lunch!

A Feast for the Senses

Beyond the horticultural haven, explore the Inspirational Gardens, a delightful outdoor space perfect for a leisurely stroll. Test your navigational skills in the maze or unwind by the children's playground. 

More Than Just a Garden Centre

Arboretum is your one-stop shop for all things lifestyle. Browse their extensive collection of tools, pots, clothing, BBQs, pizza ovens, furniture, kitchenware, and delightful gifts. The plant experts on site are always happy to answer your questions and guide you towards garden success.

A Day Out for Everyone

Whether you're a gardening fanatic, a foodie adventurer, or simply seeking a relaxing escape, Arboretum offers something for everyone. Visit their flagship store in Leighlinbridge, or find them in Kilquade, Co. Wicklow, and Parnell St., Dublin. Don't forget, they also deliver!

Find your happy place at Arboretum!

Website: https://www.arboretum.ie/ 

Locations:

• Leighlinbridge: R93 P8P8
• Kilquade: A63 PR80
• Dublin: D01 C3X8

Also on this Carlow trip: 

Three lovely riverside towns in Carlow: Leighlinbridge, Bagenalstown and Borris

O'Hara's Irish Pale Ale

BAHT Thai

The Lord Bagenal Inn

Duckett’s Grove

Cafe Mullichain post plus Blackstairs Mountains

CORK HOTEL GROUP SHORTLISTED FOR SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS IMPACT AWARD

Press release

Alex Petit

#hotelswinter24

CORK HOTEL GROUP SHORTLISTED 

FOR SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS IMPACT AWARD

Trigon Hotels has been recognised for their Food Charter which aims to reduce waste by 20 percent. The group has been shortlisted by Chambers Ireland in their upcoming Sustainable Business Impact Awards.

The Cork-based group has been acknowledged in the Communication category for their communication of the Sustainable Food Charter. 

The initiative aims to combat food waste and bolster sustainability efforts across the group’s Metropole Hotel and Cork International Hotel.

Trigon’s 2024 Food Charter sets out ten robust commitments aimed at reducing environmental impact while promoting community engagement. 

The project aimed to reduce food waste by 20%, minimise non-organic landfill waste by 15%, and decrease energy consumption in kitchens by 20%. 

The strategy also emphasises support for local suppliers to reduce carbon footprint, a seasonal menu design to reduce waste, and collaboration with charity partners to contribute positively to the local community.

Group Brand and Communications Manager of Trigon Hotels, Sandra Murphy said: “We are thrilled to be shortlisted in the Communication category of the Sustainable Business Impact Awards organised by Chambers Ireland. We have put a lot of consideration into our Food Charter. Through this strategy we feel we are not only pioneering sustainable hospitality practices but also inspiring positive change within the industry and fostering a greener future for the hospitality industry.

“We worked hard on the communication around the project by organising meetings and training sessions to educate teams about the goals and commitments in the Food Charter. Our Group Executive Chef, Alex Petit, participated in external communication activities like radio interviews, presentations, and social media campaigns to amplify the message of sustainability to a wider audience. I feel by involving team members in communication efforts, we have developed a sense of ownership and pride among the team and it’s wonderful our communication efforts have been recognised.”

As part of Trigon Hotel’s efforts to boost sustainability, the team volunteered over 400 hours to support the Cope Garden which grows fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs at Cope Foundation.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the hotel teams for the volunteer efforts at Cope Foundation. It exemplifies Trigon Hotel’s commitment to making a positive impact beyond our business operations. I’m very proud of the group.”

At the heart of the Sustainable Business Impact Awards lies the UN Sustainable Development Goals which celebrate sustainable business practices and champions Chambers Ireland’s alignment with the Goals.

The Sustainable Business Impact Awards will take place on Wednesday, 25th September 2024. 

*************************************************************

METROPOLE HOTEL INVITES GUESTS TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS IN THE HEART OF CORK CITY

 

The Metropole Hotel has launched this year’s Christmas Experience which includes festive treats, a five-course Christmas dinner, movies, entertainment and a visit from Santa Claus for the younger guests.

 

All guests will receive a welcome pack along with a mince pie and mulled wine when checking in. They will find a Christmas card and gift, decoration and a festive cookie in their room upon arrival.

 

The celebrations kick off with a three-course meal in the restaurant on Christmas Eve, while people will gather to celebrate together in the recently renovated ballroom to enjoy a five course lunch on Christmas Day. Breakfast will be served every morning, and an evening buffet supper will be available on Christmas Day.

 

The package includes a Christmas cocktail, which will be served in the bar, plus a prosecco reception and a bottle of wine to share with Christmas lunch.

 

There will be a schedule of entertainment throughout Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and guests will be able to watch festive movies in the cinema room or relax in the reading library. 

 

Pierce Lowney, Director of Food and Beverage at Trigon Hotels said: “Christmas is an exciting time at the hotel and our team pulls out all the stops to ensure guests, young and old, have an extra special stay. We see many regular faces during the festive season and we always love to welcome new guests to join the celebrations. Whether it's a family or a person on their own, we try to make sure everyone has a memorable Christmas when they walk through the door of the Metropole Hotel.”

 

The hotel will close to the public, except for residential guests, at 3pm on Christmas Eve and reopen at 12pm on December 27th.

 

There are two and three-night Christmas Experience packages available and prices start from €890 per stay. Single occupancy and triple occupancy packages are available and guests can avail of parking for the duration of their stay.

 

Bookings can be made at https://www.themetropolehotel.ie/offer/christmas-2-night-stay/

**********************************************************

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO…….

Strand Christmas Launch 2024. Pic. Brian Arthur

 

THE LIMERICK STRAND HOTEL LAUNCH CHRISTMAS 2024 PROGRAMME

 

On Tuesday, August 20th, 2024, Santa visited The Limerick Strand Hotel to launch their 2024 Christmas Party and Festive Programme. With only 18 Saturdays left before Christmas Day, it’s time to start planning your seasonal gatherings, parties, and entertainment.

The 4-star Limerick Strand Hotel has a stellar reputation as the best place in the city to enjoy the run-up to the festive season. Santa was thrilled to present the team with their well-deserved Oscar for winning the "cracker of a night" category and took a tour of the impressively revamped Shannon Suite.

Now is the time to plan the ultimate Christmas Party Night for your colleagues. The Limerick Strand offers a variety of options for all group sizes, from intimate gatherings to big glitzy and glamorous galas! Maria O’Gorman Skelly, Director of Sales & Marketing, said, “This year our Christmas party night guests will enjoy our newly refurbished Shannon Suite after its fabulous €200K refresh.  Today marks the official countdown to Christmas and we want to stress the importance of organising and securing your preferred dates as we are already almost sold out for two nights, so we are urging people to book now to avoid disappointment.”

Christmas Party nights will run on November 29th & 30th and December 6th, 7th, 13th, 14th, and 20^th and as always, the exhilarating entertainment programme directed by the charismatic James Sexton & Hiya Events.  The jolly affair begins with a mulled wine reception, entertainment from Carol singers, an amazing 4-course dinner, a Santa meet and greet quiz with spot prizes and Christmas novelties, and live music from the 1710 Band and Singalong with Mrs Clause. There will also be a late bar and Disco with DJ, Adam Sexton spinning tunes until 2 am. Party nights cost €89 per person and overnight accommodation rates from €95 per person sharing, and those responsible for group bookings of 30 guests or more can avail of a complimentary voucher for dinner for two in the River Bar & Restaurant.

The Limerick Strand also offers a popular Residential 2-night Christmas experience, with packages starting from €535 per adult sharing. Non-residents are welcome to dine and celebrate throughout December, including special party nights, festive Sunday Lunches, and Afternoon Teas. Additionally, locals can enjoy the famously festive Christmas Eve Luncheon offerings with a choice of buffet lunch, selection box for each child, a meet and greet with Santa, music by crooner Liam O’Brien and family entertainment from €55 per adult, €25 per child or a select menu (€42 per person) in The River Bar & Restaurant. On Christmas Day, there is a festive dining package (€175 per adult, child 5-12 yrs €70, with under 5 dining free of charge excludes Santa gift) complete with live music by crooner Liam O’Brien and singer Jayne Frazer plus a gift for each child. Advanced booking and pre-payment are required.

For details on Christmas 2024 at The Limerick Strand Hotel Christmas To make a reservation call 061 421800 or Christmas@strandlimerick.ie  visit www.strandlimerick.ie.

A Very Highly Recommended Reserva Double from Portugal's Vale De Lobos

A Very Highly Recommended Reserva Double from Portugal's Vale De Lobos 

Vale De Lobos Touriga Nacional Reserva Tejo 2021, 13.5% ABV.

€20.00 (on offer 16) Matson's Bandon, Grange and Youghal

“a round, persistent and balanced wine”

The colour of this 100% Touriga Nacional from Portugal’s Tejo, is a dense ruby. Aromas are complex (plum and blueberry) and the intense violet (typical of the variety) heading the posse.  And they remain through the palate where you will most definitely note spices and vanilla (it has spent 8 months ageing in French oak barrels).

A round, persistent and balanced wine with a long finish, it is proposed as perfect for matching grilled or roasted red meat (such as the prize-winning thick-cut steaks from James Whelan Butcher (https://www.corkbilly.com/2024/08/james-whelan-butchers-win-coveted-3.html ). Serve at 18 degrees. It is Very Highly Recommended and is just one of a selection of well-priced wines from the “small family-run farm” imported by Matson’s.

Touriga Nacional, previously and still very much associated with Port wine, is now increasingly popular in single-varietal red wines and blends from the Duoro Valley and beyond, says Wine Folly. 

This excellent example is made by Quinta da Ribeirinha, a small family-run farm, which is located in Póvoa de Santarém and is dedicated to the production of Wines, Olive Oil and Jams. The winemaker is Cesar Machado.

The Tejo region in central Portugal, just northeast of Lisbon, is split by the longest river on the peninsula, the Tejo (known to Irish secondary school students in the 60s as the Tagus). Tejo is often overshadowed by the larger Alentjo further to the south.

Vale De Lobos Vinho Tinto Reserva Vinho Regional Tejo 2019, 14.0%% ABV.

at Matsons Bandon, Grange, Youghal.

A compelling wine

“Foot Trodden” is the name of a 2021 published book, a pretty good one, on Portuguese wine. Not a nostalgic work, but quite up to date as you see from the story of this Very Highly Recommended wine from the Valley of the Wolves.

Elegant and balanced, our well-structured Reserva is produced from hand-picked grapes, is fermented with selected yeasts at a temperature of 28ºC, in stainless steel vats, with foot treading for four days. Four days? That must be some party! After malolactic fermentation, it is aged for 8 months in French and American oak barrels.

Ruby is the colour here. It is a compelling wine, intense in the mouth, with scents of black fruits, and some sweet spice...and there’s quite a pleasing finish. Pair this excellent blend of Touriga Nacional, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Aragonez with Grilled red meats, Pot roast, Game meat, Stews, and Roasts. Serve at 16-18 degrees.

It is another of the Quinta da Ribeirinha wines from the Tejo imported this year by Matson’s. It is certainly one of the best and indeed may well be the best of those I have tasted so far. 

Cherish a unique, special, and unrepeatable wine. Tio Pepe Fino En Rama.

Tio Pepe Fino En Rama Jerez (DO Sherry)

€25.00 Bradleys

Cherish a unique, special, and unrepeatable wine.

Our Fino En Rama, from the sherry triangle, comes in an inviting golden colour. Notes of yeast in the aromas. And immediately it hits the palate - captivating, fresh, intense, smooth and with a creamy mouthfeel - you know you have made a friend.

Yeah, just like that, almost without thinking. Because sometimes, enjoying a wine is much easier than what “they try to explain to us”.  A wine, like this, can connect with you. This is the closest you'll ever get to drinking sherry straight from the cask.

Your new amigo is the ultimate expression of organic ageing; it is unfiltered and unclarified Tío Pepe, extracted directly from the centre of the cask in spring, when the “flower”  (flor) growth is at its thickest. Due to the uniqueness of the product, it is produced in very small quantities and is recommended for consumption within the first three months after bottling.

One reason why it is so special is that just 95 casks (from a possible 20,000) were finally selected to contribute to the current blend. Their Constancia and Rebollo soleras were thoroughly searched and sampled as the winemaker looked for the unique personality that makes this 15th edition of Tio Pepe en Rama the “elixir of our winery”.

Geek Bits

Tio means uncle and Uncle Pepe is a brand of González Byass.

Pair with fish, seafood (especially a shrimp tartare), vegetables, spicy cuisines and various rice dishes

Always serve chilled and refrigerate after opening.

En Rama is the term used in the bodegas for sherry in its raw, most delicate state.

Even in the bottle, it continues to evolve every year, concentrating its aromas and nuances.

Flor is a film of yeast on the surface of sherry. See more here.

An unmissable wine dinner with Giacomo Boscaini of Masi Wines at The River Lee

 

An unmissable wine dinner with Giacomo Boscaini of Masi Wines at The River Lee

 

 

The River Lee, in partnership with Findlater & Co., presents an exclusive wine dinner with Giacomo Boscaini of Masi Wines, a seventh-generation winemaker of the renowned Boscaini family.

 

Taking place on Tuesday, October 8th, 2024, at 7.00pm, in the glamorous surroundings of The Grill Room at The River Lee, the evening gives guests the chance to explore the rich heritage and contemporary innovations of Masi Wines, in the company of Giacomo Boscaini. With over two centuries of winemaking history, Masi is renowned for its dedication to producing high-quality wines that express the unique terroir of the Venetian region. Giacomo Boscaini has been instrumental in modernising Masi’s approach, ensuring that the family’s legacy continues to evolve with the times.

 

The evening begins with a welcome drink of Masi’s ‘Canevel’ DOCG Prosecco Spumante NV, perfectly paired with Gubbeen gougères, with a four-course menu to follow that has been designed by Executive Head Chef at The River Lee, Paul Lane, to complement a selection of Masi’s finest and most celebrated wines.

 

A first course of tuna tartare, sriracha, kewpie, garlic chilli crisp, and sesame wonton is served with Masi ‘Colbaraca’ Soave Classico Superiore 2023. The second course of Dublin Bay prawn risotto, with mascarpone, and confit baby heirloom tomatoes is paired with Masi ‘Toar’ Valpolicella Classico 2020. Ballinwillin venison, truffle pomme purée, and bitter chocolate jus is accompanied by Masi ‘Costasera’ Amarone 2019, and the dessert of dark chocolate torte and blackcurrant sorbet is served with Masi ‘Angelorum’ Recioto 2018.

 

An unforgettable evening of fine food and wonderful wines, giving guests a rare opportunity to learn about the art of winemaking directly from one of Italy’s most celebrated wine families, tickets for this exclusive dinner are limited and are now on sale. 

 

To secure your place, please see:  An evening with Giacomo Boscaini of Masi Agricola - The River Club

press release

 

Beer of the Week. Wide Street Mill Pils Farmhouse Pilsner. A hoppy Pils from Longford.

Wide Street Mill Pils Farmhouse Pilsner, 5.5% ABV, 440 ml can Bradleys

A hoppy Pils from Longford is Beer of the Week

Ballymahon (Co. Longford) has one of the widest streets in the country and that is where this Mill Pils comes from and from where the brewery takes its name.

The town may be part of hidden Ireland but this superb beer has international influences. Wide Street: “The inspiration behind this beer is an Italian Pilsner style”. It is fermented with the famous German Strain 34/70 at 12C and the hops are of German and Czechian origin.

Hallertauer Mittlefruh is known as the Kaiser of German Hops. This Noble Hops tends to a clean crisp style and has mild bitterness and is ideal for lagers and pilsner. This is indeed a lager with hops on.

Colour of this Longford Pilsner is a pale gold, and cloudy. No shortage of hops here so you notice them straightaway on the nose and soon on the palate, where you come across plenty of that earthy character and a hint of spice and then a good dry finish. Something that bit different and well worth looking out for, a lager with Attitude and Very Highly Recommended.

Wide Street Brewing Company specialises in mixed fermentation methods and 100% Brettanomyces beers. The vision is to brew innovative beers with alternative fermentation methods. Their house yeast is a custom blend of Brettanomyces, saccharomyces and lactobacillus strains from Bootleg Biology, a yeast laboratory based in Nashville, USA. This gives the beer a distinctive dry mouthfeel and enhanced fruity flavours.

Very pleasant from start to finish. Vale de Cabanas Vinho Branca Tejo.

Quinta Da Ribeirinha Vale de Cabanas Vinho Branca Tejo (Vinho Regional) 2023, 12% ABV.

€13.00 (€10.00 on offer) at Matson's Bandon, Grange, Youghal.

very pleasant from start to finish

It comes in a light citrus colour and the aromas also have you thinking “citrus”. It is fresh and young and that shows on a relatively lively palate, a simple everyday wine for conversation rather than contemplation. It may be simple but is very pleasant from start to finish.

Serve at 10 degrees especially with grilled fish (get a bunch of sardines midweek from Pat O’Connell), shellfish (mussels from Ballycotton Seafood) and Japanese food (sushi from Maki Sushi). You might want two bottles but is also very affordable at the reduced price of ten euro. Highly Recommended.

The label says the fruit is Fernao Pires while I read on their website that it’s a blend of the Fernâo (70%) and Arinto. Don’t worry too much about the details. I visited a cidery a few years back and saw they had two varieties in the orchard. I asked how much of each went into the cider. The cidermaker just smiled and said it could be fifty-fifty but wasn’t too sure. In any case, the cider was top-class, and still is!

The Tejo refers to the Tejo river (best-known to us as Tagus) and the wine lands here lie either side of the river as it runs southwest from the Spanish border in central eastern Portugal to Lisbon and the Atlantic Ocean. According to Wine-Searcher.com, it had two apellations DO Tejo and IG Tejo.

We enjoyed this grape Farnão Pires a few weeks ago in a different expression in the orange wine Contracena Curtimenta by the same producer. A very different wine indeed, a few extra details here.