Tapas, Pizza, and Service: A Winning Formula as Goodhood Takes St. Luke's by Storm

Tapas, Pizza, and Service: A Winning Formula  as Goodhood Takes St. Luke's by Storm

The opening phase of new St Luke’s restaurant has been a resounding success, and the excitement is just starting!

In the restaurant business, certainty is hard to come by these days—if it ever truly existed. However, Goodhood seems to have found a winning formula at St Luke's Cross, offering a compelling combination of tapas and pizzas that is proving to be highly successful in the former bookies' premises.

Having opened about six weeks ago, the positive response from customers has been overwhelming. So much so, in fact, that Colin Ryan and his team have focused on delivering food rather than promoting the restaurant on social media. If you need to make a reservation—which is recommended—you can find a link, though not much else, on their Instagram. 

The atmosphere was lively last Wednesday evening, with a full house enjoying the experience. Despite not having a dessert menu or a drinks licence yet, the place was buzzing.

For those wanting to enjoy a drink, there's no need to worry. Simply cross the road (carefully) to the local off-licence, pick up your favourite beer or wine, and bring it back (again, carefully!). The team at Goodhood will provide glasses and open your wine with no corkage fee. They expect to have both drinks licence and dessert options available in the near future.

Colin Ryan, from Hansum Rotisserie Chicken at the Marina Market and Paperboys Café on Tobin Street, is partnering with Ciarán O'Regan of Rita’s Pizzeria in Dublin to launch the brand-new GoodHood Pizzeria. Both are graduates of Ballymaloe Cookery School.

O'Regan is the owner of the successful Rita’s Pizzeria in Ranelagh, so you can be confident that the pizzas at GoodHood in St. Luke’s are thoroughly tested and well-crafted. I confirmed this for myself last week when I enjoyed their Diego pizza, which features a delicious combination of tomato, mozzarella, garlic, oregano, anchovies, and capers. Both my dining companion and I gave that pizza a big thumbs up!

The Diego is one of seven pizzas currently available on the menu. Other options include the Hunted Hog, Hay Pesto, and the Cheek of It.

Diego

To start, consider choosing from their tapas-style Sharing Plates, or select two or three to share! I highly recommend the Beef Cheek, which features slow-cooked pulled beef served with crispy potato terrine and Pecorino Romano, as well as the Beets on Goats, which includes oven-roasted beetroot with blackberries, goat’s cheese, and chive oil. 

Don’t forget to check out their short list of sides; my top tip is to try their chips!

A large pizza oven serves as the centrepiece of the compact restaurant, drawing your attention even as you approach the premises. Upon entering, you’ll notice a striking black and white photograph depicting children dressed up, presumably, for a local festival many years ago, captured as they crossed the road just outside Goodhood.

The photo shows the old Toll Booth at St Luke's, marked by a large Woodbine cigarette sign. Built around 1880, it was owned by the Corporation of Cork and leased to the highest bidder to collect tolls on goods and livestock entering the city - an early example of a private/public partnership. It was one of several toll booths in Cork. Tolls were abolished in 1927, and now we have parking fees instead!

Toll Booth

Parking is often a challenge around the cross, but it doesn't seem to affect the local food and drink businesses, such as O’Keefe’s Good Food shop, St. Luke's Wine Tavern, and Cork Coffee Roasters café, among others. The cross is becoming quite a hub for food and drink, and you can find delicious German-style bread from Ryes and Shine outside Henchy’s every Wednesday from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM.

The businesses are also collaborating; a recent example is Goodhood supplying the popular Henchy Bar with their delicious pizzas! St. Luke’s is increasingly becoming the place to be!

 

Straight-up modern American IPA. Whiplash Bone Machine is Beer of the Week.

 Whiplash Bone Machine IPA, 6.2%. Beer of the week

“Straight-up modern American IPA”

Bone Machine IPA promises much at first glance with its hazy light gold body and an attractive big bubbly head. And this 6.2 percenter from Whiplash does not flatter to deceive. It is Loaded with hops and you get a posse of tropical aromas. And that translates to the taste buds as well, packed with papaya and pineapple flavours and another reminder from the hops as the finalé approaches. Very Highly Recommended and Beer of the Week.

The newish BRU -1 hop delivers aromas of freshly cut pineapples and green fruits when used as a whirlpool or dry hop addition. The other hops here are El Dorado (well known for its tropical fruit flavours reminiscent of pineapple and mango),  Ekuanot (known for citrus and tropical, think papaya, characteristics), while Cascade is regarded as the definitive hop, “the hop that made hops famous” and has been well regarded in ales since its 1971 introduction.

Whiplash are very happy with Bone Machine: “Straight-up modern American IPA. 100% Whirlpool hopped with Cascade and double dry hopped with Ekuanot and BRU-1, it brings candied lemon, papaya, and pineapple to the flavour”.

Geek Bits

Malts: Maris Otter, Oat Malt, Wheat Malt 

Hops: BRU-1, Ekuanot, Cascade, El Dorado.

Cadet De La Bêgude IGP Méditerranée. Full of sunshine and flavour

Cadet De La Bêgude IGP Méditerranée 2021 14% ABV

RRP €25.95. Stockists: Pinto Wines,  Green Man Wines, Red Nose Wine, Neighbourhood Wines.

Full of sunshine and flavour!

The colour is mid- to dark ruby. The aromas are quite intense, with darker fruits, mostly cherry. Cherry elements continue on the harmonious and fruity palate. The balance comes from fresh acidity, and you also get fine-grained tannins, plus a light spicy finish. Very Highly Recommended.

Wine Searcher tells us that even though it is regarded “like a second wine for the estate”, this Cadet de la Begude has been rated “as one of the top 5 IGP Mediterranée wines”.

The vineyard, certified organic in 2006, is in Bandol, and indeed, many of its wines carry the Bandol appellation stamp. Bandol, though, demands that AOP wines contain at least 50% Mourverde. This Cadet, though, is a blend of more or less equal parts of Grenache, Cinsault, and Mourvedre, and has to settle for the IGP designation—none the worse for that.

Elevate your dining experience by pairing this Rouge IGP with Barbecue, grilled lamb, hearty stews, or aged cheeses. The wine's versatility makes it a perfect match for various dishes, complementing the flavours and enhancing your meal.

The producers are certainly happy with it: “This vintage, with its gourmet simplicity, embodies a new generation of wines accessible to all. An easy-drinking wine, full of sunshine and flavours, which can be enjoyed on all occasions.”

Bison cleans its nose! Fota Wildlife Park. 15 January 2025

Fota Wildlife Park

Visit: 15th January 2025 

Who needs tissues with a nose like this? Don't try it in front of the mother.

European bison

Hay Rhino

All dressed up. Must be courting.

Brunch time for the Red Panda

Gibbon. The noisiest swinger in town.

No one can Rock and roll like a Pelican!

Giraffes on the brink. Should we stay or should we go (out in the cold).

Gibbons, above, belowx2

Food Takes the Spotlight in UCC's Adult Short Courses Spring Schedule. Application deadline this Monday

Food Takes the Spotlight in UCC's 

Adult Short Courses Spring Schedule

Application deadline this Monday

From beekeeping to wine, and gut health to better nutrition, University College Cork (UCC) is

offering over two dozen short courses including an impressive line-up of food related

courses for adults who wish to combine learning with socialising via its Short Course

Programme.

Now in its 20 th year, the Short Course Programme, run by UCC’s Adult Continuing Education

ACE, hosts a portfolio of courses across the themes of art and culture, literature and creative

writing, history, genealogy and folklore, climate and sustainable living, and personal and

professional development.

Food related short courses on offer in the Spring schedule include:

 Beekeeping Made Easy | Wednesdays 6pm-8pm | UCC

 Wine Studies | Wednesdays or Thursdays 7pm-9pm | UCC

 Sugar, Fat & Fad Diets, A No-nonsense Guide to Nutrition and Health |

Tuesdays 7pm-9pm | UCC

 Gut Instincts: Unlocking the Secrets of the Microbiome | Thursdays 7pm-9pm |

UCC

Launching this semester’s programme, Regina Sexton, Short Course Coordinator at UCC’s

ACE said:

“As UCC celebrates over twenty years of offering short courses to the general public, we're

very happy to present a new programme of 26 courses for Spring 2025. While these courses

showcase the research strengths of the university community, we are also aware of the

social importance of these courses for participants.

“The courses not only help students to extend their knowledge, but they are also spaces

where students can make new connections in a friendly environment of like-minded peers. In

a time when isolation and loneliness are unfortunate realities for many people, these short

courses bring people together in the classroom and on fieldtrips and they are an enjoyable

way of meeting new acquaintances and in developing new ways of looking at the world,” she

said.

The closing date for applications is Monday January 20. Click here for more information on

how to register: https://www.ucc.ie/en/ace/courses/shortcourses/

On the Craft Trail with Brehon Brewery, Western Herd, Third Barrel and Eight Degrees

 On the Craft Trail with Brehon Brewery, Western Herd, Third Barrel and Eight Degrees

Eight Degrees Howling Gale Pale Ale 4.5% ABV, 440 cl can 

Like a smack around the gills 

when you're "clain lifting it" down Ballyhoura hills

I'm not the only one to rate this Pale Ale highly. Howling Gale was the first beer Eight Degrees ever brewed. We’ve all changed a lot since then but not this superb ale, their first, and it is still their most popular beer.

They add: “It’s like blitzing down the Ballyhouras on a bike with an icy wind in your face, this pale ale delivers a refreshing crisp smack around the gills.” Never came down those hills on a bike but I can certainly relate to the smack around the gills, especially with the refreshing finish.

It pours a pale golden colour into the glass, with a white head. And yes, you do get that citrus on the nose, along with pine notes. It is smooth and crisp with that modest whack of bitterness in the finish.

Eight Degrees, now happily restored as a team, got this right from the start. And, also from the get-go, they provided food pairing hints. “Try with fish and chips, smoked salmon or anything off the barbecue…. With a pleasant grapefruit citrus aroma from Cascade and Simcoe hops, it is a great match with spicy or fried food”.

Malt: Irish pale malt, Carapils, Munich, Cara
Hops: Nugget, Cascade, Simcoe

Brehon Red Right Hand Barley Wine 11.0% ABV, 500 ml bottle Bradleys

“gentle to drink, clean, mellow and smooth”

A gorgeous ruby red is the colour of out Barley Wine from Monaghan’s Brehon brewery. It is crowned with a coffee coloured soft head. Despite the high abv, It is a bourbon-aged beer, earthy and sweet. The bourbon influence is unmistakable but quite subtle here. It also has a very high abv, but nonetheless, it is gentle and easy to drink, clean, mellow and smooth. Like any good wine, it comes with a lingering finish, leaving the taste buds anticipating the next sip

Brehon have made a name for themselves with barrel-aged beers, beginning with their Crann Beatha barrel-aged stout. This Barley Wine is well up to standard and, by the way, is a terrific match with Christmas pudding, with the Dunnes Stores Simply Better Black Barrel Whiskey edition in particular. Yum on the double.

Speaking of their strong beers, be sure and look out for the super Oak & Mirrors Cask Aged Imperial Porter.

They say: The red right hand is symbolic of the historic clans of Ulster. It embodies strength, unity and character, just like our Bourbon Barrel Aged Barley Wine. 

Western Herd Blue Jumper IPA, 6.2% ABV, 440 ml can Matsons

Baptised by Fr Dougal!

The bright amber colour and all those little bubbles of this Western Herd IPA is quite a come-on. The beer’s name is a Father Ted reference.

There’s a citrus and tropical fruit presence in the aromatics and palate, plus a hint of pine and resin, even a little dankness as well. And that vibrant hoppy edge continues all the way. After all, as the brewery indicates, India Pale Ale, or IPA, is a bigger, hoppier version of a pale ale. 

This one certainly is and that background bitterness is with you right to the finish, quite a good finish as it happens, with the malts having a say in the outcome ensuring that it is not all about the hops. But make no mistake, this a hoppy beer, an old school IPA.

Inspired by Father Ted! Yep, the name Blue Jumper comes straight out of the classic Fr. Ted episode where Sr. Assumpta is re-introduced to Fr. Dougal. “You were wearing your blue jumper? Ah Sister Assumpta!” An icon of Irish comedy meets an icon of West Clare brewing.

 The Clare brewery has been in good form on social media in eecent weeks. Having explained the beer’s name, they have a question. Spot the Coastline? “The can design features the stunning Clare Coast line, an epic slice of the Atlantic coast that’s as refreshing as the beer inside. But which part of the coast features on the can?”. Not too sure myself, but I think it is from Liscannor Bay up to Black Head.

Geek Bits

Style Indian Pale Ale

Colour/Appearance Amber in appearance with a clean white head

Aroma Orange and other citrus, pine, and light peach

Flavour Candied orange and a background bitterness

Hops Citra, Idaho 7, Centennial

Malts Pale, Stout Mix, Caramunich I, CaraPils, White Wheat

Yeast LAX

Original Gravity 1.059

ABV 6.2%

Third Barrel Texture Like Sun American Brown Ale, 5.5% ABV, 440 ml can, Bradleys

“absolutely SLAMMABLE American style brown ale”

The colour is a deep red, rather than brown, with a soft off-white head. Caramel and chocolate are in the aromatics, and they are also found in the mouth along with citrus flavours from the Centennial hops, the only one used. Quite an interesting example from Third Barrel and Highly Recommended. The brewers are very happy with this one: “Complex yet absolutely SLAMMABLE American style brown ale.”

 

The history of this style dates back to U.S. homebrewers being inspired by English-style brown ales and porters. US Craft brewers then took it up; while inspired by the English, the Americans weren’t content to be just imitators and took the style in different directions.

One of the Brit beers that came under the US focus was the Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale. This “was a huge influence on a generation of American craft brewers.. in 1983,” according to Jeff Alworth in the Beer Bible. American-style brown ales generally have evident low to medium hop flavour and aroma and medium to high hop bitterness.

Not many Brown Ales are being produced by Irish brewers, and most have been once-offs. Look out for examples from Ballykilcavan (Bambricks), Lough Gill (McNuttys), Lineman (Big Calm), and Outer Place (Silent Orbit). Samuel Smith is already mentioned but the first English Browne Ale to catch my attention was Newcastle Brown Ale, and that came in a generous 550cl bottle.