France. Via le route rouge

France. Via le route rouge

Let’s take a red wine trip in France, not all encompassing by any means. Indeed, I’m being a bit contrary here as two of our areas visited, the left bank in Graves and the Loire valley, are perhaps better known for their white wines. But they've got some red gems from those gravelly soils as well.

Passed these vineyards in Graves a few times

Clos Floridene Graves (AOC) 2011, 13.5%, €16.35 Maison des Vins, Podensac.

D’accord, let us begin in Podensac, in Graves. It’s a small enough town with a nice restaurant called Chez Charlotte where a three course meal cost me €22.00 in 2014. The friendly proprietor speaks good English and is also proud of the area, listing the main attractions as Charlotte (big smile!), the Lillet Distillery, the Maison des Vins and the fact that they have a water tower by the famous architect Le Corbusier.

Denis Dubourdieu is also renowned in the Bordeaux area but as a wine-maker. In 1982, he and his wife founded Clos Floridene. This wine is a fresh and fruity blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (72%) and Merlot (28%).

Colour is a deep garnet and blackcurrant dominates the aromas. The palate is an intense mix of fruit, and tannic flavours, some spice too and, with a long silky finish, this left bank red is Very Highly Recommended.

Chateau Saint Eugène Martillac 2011, Pessac-Léognan (AOC), 13%, €12.80 in Graves

Colour is cherry red, a shiny one! Ripe red fruits and violets feature in the aromas. On the palate, there are excellent fruit flavours and a matching acidity, fine tannins at play here too. Rather powerful, with some spice, dry and warm and a long finish. Very Highly Recommended. The blend is 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot and it has spent 12 months in barriques.

The chateau is located in the heart of Martillac and its clay-limestone soil was newly planted, mainly with Merlot, in 1998. Owners are the Gonet family, well known as owners in the Champagne region for over 200 years. Martillac is a commune in the Pessac-Léognan area which itself is in the outskirts of Bordeaux and includes the legendary Haut-Brion.

Found this old vineyard tractor in Languedoc museum

Chateau la Bastide L’Optime 2011, Corbieres (AOC), 14%, €18.30 Karwig Wines

Let’s now take the L'Autoroute des Deux Mers from Bordeaux towards Narbonne - you’ll be glad of a glass of wine after driving around Toulouse on the peripherique - and head for Corbieres, one of the biggest appellations in the Languedoc.

We are tasting another blend, this of 80% Syrah and 20% Grenache, from vines whose average age is 50 years. It has spent 12 months in barriques bordelaises. Colour is a dark red with a lighter rim. Intense red fruity nose along with some spice. The attack is fairly intense, fruit and pepper combining, round tannins there too, but it is smooth and warm as it spreads across the palate to a long dry finish. Powerful and concentrated, this too is Very Highly Recommended.

Lunch in a Rhone village

Cellier de Monterail Cotes du Rhone 2014, 13%, c. €12.50 O’Donovan’s Off Licence

It is just a short trip from the Languedoc to the Southern Rhone where most of the generic Cotes du Rhone is produced. Grenache is usually the main grape, as it is here with over 40%; its companions in this bottle are Syrah and Mourvedre (the usual suspects in the GSM trio) along with Cinsault.

Quite a light red with pleasant enough red fruit aromas on the nose. This basic wine of the region illustrates why the Cotes du Rhone is so popular and so well known in Ireland. It is well balanced, round and full with some spice and the tannins remind you gently that they in play. Recommended.

O’Donovan’s choose this to represent France in their recent Rugby World Cup promotion though they picked an even better French wine (Chateau de la Ligne) to represent Ireland!

Driving through Southern Rhone vineyards

M. Chapoutier Les Meysonniers, Crozes-Hermitage (AOC) 2012, 13%, €21.95 Bradley’s Offlicence

The highly respected winemaker Michel Chapoutier, one of the big names in the Rhone (ref: Larousse)  is an uncompromising terroir lover and committed too to organic and biological winemaking, preferring to “use the power of life” rather than “the power of death”, the -ides (herbicides, pesticides etc), in the vineyard. He doesn't like to see wine being over-analyzed as it takes the fun out of it and you’ll note that all his labels are marked in Braille.

And, yes, as well as talking the talk he walks the walk. Just take a glass of this hand-harvested foot-treaded Syrah from the Northern Rhone. It is in the classic style, fresh and fruity. Colour is a medium to dark red with a bright hue. Aromas are of ripe red fruit. The initial fresh and fruity attack is long lasting, tannins there too but smooth; it is ample and round and then the long finish. Superbly balanced wine and Very Highly Recommended.

On the Loire. I was safely on the bank, glass in hand!

Chateau du Petit Thouars, Cuvee Amiral 2009 Touraine (France), 12.5%, €15.00 at the chateau

After the Rhone we head to the north and to the area around the town of Chinon in the Loire which we will leave with the boot full of wine and just a short journey to the ferry port of Roscoff!

“Many great men of our family served in the French Navy,” owner Sebastien du Petit Thouars told me when we called to his chateau near where the Vienne and Loire rivers meet.  And so, in memory of those great men, he called his top wine Amiral.

Colour is a deep red, close to purple, with a great sheen. Red fruit dominates the intense aromas. Fruit, fresh, juicy with a lively acidity and a pronounced dry and lengthy finish. Tasted this first when I bought it two years ago and it is definitely heading in the right direction. Only trouble for me is that this was my last bottle of the Very Highly Recommended wine. By the way, du Petit Thouars wines now come under the Chinon designation.

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Richy Virahsawmy. Clon’s Renaissance Man

Richy Virahsawmy

Clon’s Renaissance Man

Richy Virahsawmy is something of a renaissance man. He is a restaurant owner, a cook, a teacher, a consultant, an active contributor to the local community in Clonakilty, a TV chef, an author, and a farmer. He has cooked for you and me, for celebrities (Michael Flatley), in big houses (Castle Hyde, Castlefreke), for large crowds (World Web Summit and at the National Ploughing Championship), for Prime Ministers and their guests (in Downing Street and in his native Mauritius).

I won’t go into all the details in this post but you may read all about his background here. The Irish leg of his career began when he joined the staff of Inchydoney Lodge and his dream of opening his own restaurant became reality in 2002 when Richy’s was established in Clonakilty.

And, ten years later, worried that a restaurant that only opened a few days week might not be enough on its own, he reinforced his position in the town with the opening of the adjoining cafe, turning the operation into a multi-functional one. Now he had two types of dining room in the one premises.

Superb chowder, with Murphy's & Walnut Brown Bread

 Now too he could really get to grips with expanding his teaching. Autumn/Winter Courses include fish cookery, Canapes and Small Bites, Slow Cookin, Sushi Making, Cooking for Friends are among those available. These are all interactive classes: you cook and, at the end of the evening, sit down with your fellow students and eat!

And Richy loves teaching children to cook and every week he has classes for a small group (eight to twelve) of kids with autism. Indeed, in an attempt to meet the threat of obesity, he plans to increase his work with schoolchildren and has earmarked an old house on his farm for that purpose, and more. Watch this space.

He, his Finnish wife Johanna, and their three children, live on the farm in nearby Rosscarbery in a cleverly converted barn! The farm is worked and they have established a market garden there with herbs, and greens, tomatoes and so on, grown for the restaurant. Richy finds it hard to understand why so many Irish farmers stopped doing this for themselves. Another bonus is that most of the restaurant waste is composted here.

Back at the restaurant, it is all go. But not with the staff. He has a good team, twenty four strong, his chefs “stay longer”. The place, the flow of work, is tidy, highly organized, everything in its place.

“Ninety per cent is made in-house. You can't go much higher than that.” And the menus rarely stand still, always a few on the specials boards, He had taken an “office day”, on the day of our visit, to work on the Spring-Summer menus for 2016. A few years back, he introduced a pizza menu and that is going strongly.

When Richy started up in 2002, he knew he wouldn't have to go far for good produce. It is all around here in Clonakilty, in the fields of the local farms, and in the nearby seas. And he makes great use of it as we found out, again, last week.

There were at least five specials on the board and I started with one of them: the West Cork Seafood Chowder, packed with little chunks of fish and a few mussels in their shells, a terrific chowder and a great starter on a cool enough day. Meanwhile, CL was warming up with the Buttersquash and Sweetcorn Soup.

Again, I found my mains on the Specials list: Tuna Nicoise Salad, boiled egg, anchovies and green beans. A superb combination of flavours (the meaty tuna and the salty anchovies), colours and textures (crunchy beans, soft eggs). And the salad, from the farm, was simply outstanding.

That well dressed salad also made an appearance in CL’s dish: Chicken, avocado and pomegranate salad, Gubbeen bacon, balsamic and extra virgin olive oil. Again, this was one to savour, take your time with, a pleasure to eat.

We would have loved a dessert and were tempted but settled for a cup of coffee, a chat with the man himself and a tour of the kitchen.

The R Cafe (left) & the restaurant

Ryan Brothers Have The Recipe

press release

Ryan Family have a winning recipe.

Michael (left) and Declan Ryan

~ Winner of Georgina Campbell Ireland’s Natural Food Award 2016 announced as Declan Ryan's Arbutus Bread, Cork ~

~ Winner of Georgina Campbell Ireland’s Casual Dining Restaurant of the Year 2016 announced as Michael and Catherine Ryan’s Isaacs Restaurant, Cork ~

Well respected and long established independent food and hospitality guide ‘Georgina Campbell’s Ireland’ has just announced their top recommendations for the best places to eat, drink and stay for the year ahead (2016). Scooping two of the top accolades, in separate categories, are Cork based Arbutus Bread – an artisanal wholesale bakery specialising in sourdough and yeast breads, which won the Natural Food Award, and Isaac’s Restaurant located on Mac Curtain Street, Cork serving seasonal and local dishes, which won Best Casual Dining Restaurant. The cherry on top of this outstanding achievement is that both businesses are owned by brothers Declan and Michael Ryan. 

Commenting on behalf of Arbutus, Declan Ryan beamed saying, “We are absolutely thrilled to be named the Natural Food Award Winners, it really speaks to what we are all about in terms of ethos. Arbutus Breads are committed to producing natural artisan products without chemical additives to traditional methods, as we know this delivers the best product quality and customer satisfaction. There is nothing better than the smell of freshly baked bread and it is a credit to all our hard working team at the bakery to be recognised in this way.” 

Speaking on behalf of Isaacs Restaurant, Michael Ryan welcomed the news saying, “It is always great to be told people like what you are doing, you put your heart and soul into each dish and to be recognised by a respected guide such as Georgina Campbell’s Ireland is the icing on the cake!” 

The Ryan family have a long history of being at the cutting edge of the culinary arts having previously achieved Ireland’s very first Michelin star at Arbutus Lodge.  The following year, Ireland had two Michelin starred restaurants, Arbutus Lodge and Cashel Palace both owned by the Ryan Family. 

In 1992 Michael and Catherine Ryan along with Canice Sharkey opened Isaacs Restaurant in what was once a 18^th century warehouse on Mac Curtain Street. This atmospheric venue has since gone from strength to strength with the support of next generation Emma Ryan who has recently joined the team, winning numerous awards, including this latest gong from Georgina Campbell. The dining experience at Isaac’s is regularly praised by leading food critics and guides and most importantly by its food loving customers! 

Cheers!

Michael was not the only brother to put his experience and talent to good use as following the sale of the Arbutus Lodge in 1999; Declan who decided retirement was not for him, converted a garage at his house in Montenotte, Cork into a bakery and travelled to France to gain additional expertise. From humble beginnings Arbutus Bread has moved into a much larger premises in Mayfield, Cork and grown to now produce 2,000 loaves of a variety of breads every night, still made by traditional methods and using only natural, additive-free ingredients. Today the thriving bakery has seven fulltime bakers and is run by Declan and Patsy Ryan along with David Matues, head baker and from the next generation Darragh and Elaine Ryan. 

Another family member has also got the food business bug as Philip Ryan (son of Michael and Catherine at Isaacs Restaurant) has established himself as a successful entrepreneur, introducing Cork City’s newest gastro-venue Brick Lane, and is an key organiser of a food and beer festival with locations in 4 cities across the country under the brand of ‘Oktoberfest Beag’. The Ryan family certainly have that winning recipe.

For more information on Arbutus see www.arbutusbread.com and for more on Isaacs see www.isaacsrestaurant.ie

Amuse Bouche

We travelled to Oosterbeek, a small village an hour south-east of Amsterdam, to the home of Hans Hermans, one of the filmmakers. Before showing the film, he served a traditional Dutch lunch of Edam cheese and salted herring in his small kitchen, then invited us into the living room. We sat on floor cushions as his co-producer Martin Maat, started the movie.

The film, entitled Justice for Sergei, was not easy to watch…... I let my guard down and the tears flowed as they've never flowed before or since.

Red Notice (How I became Putin’s No.1 Enemy) by Bill Browder (2015)

Taste of the Week. At Lunch in Adare Manor

Taste of the Week. 
Starter in Adare Manor

Sometimes, at a meal, you stop talking and take extra notice of what you are eating. Such an occasion came up at a recent wine tasting lunch in the Adare Manor Hotel. We were on the starter: Smoked Irish Salmon with Mango Salsa, Crab, herb and citrus creme fraiche. 

Think I may well have had this combination before but the plate in Adare was quite a treat, a superb mix of flavours and textures, even colours. Taste of the Week, without a doubt. If you want to enjoy, you’d better hurry! Extensive refurbishment is planned for the leading five star hotel from early next year and it will be closed for up to 18 months.

Blair Boys Talk the Talk And Walk the Walk.

Blair Boys Talk the Talk

And Walk the Walk

The Blair brothers, Richard and Duncan, can talk the talk and walk the walk. Whether as headliners at the recent major Irish festival in Milwaukee or as one of the stars of this year’s Theatre of Food at Electric Picnic, the Cloghroe duo can hold their own with the best.

But these naturals don't need a stage  to talk. They need no prompting to talk about the wonderful local produce they source for their much awarded Blairs Inn, no prompting to talk about their producers. And their producers include craft brewers. They love their beer here and were one of the first restaurants to produce a beer list as well as a wine list!

We were there for lunch in midweek. We had a superb lunch. And, yes, we had a lovely conversation. Beer was the first topic. We settled on the Radik American Style Pale Ale, an excellent one hop one indeed, produced by Cork based Belgian Alain Dekoster. Watch out for this guerrilla brewer - he can turn up anywhere - and by the looks of it, anything he turns out is top notch!

Anyhow, back to the lunch and my main course of Silverside of O'Crualaoi Corned Beef on a bed of champ served with Cabbage and Parsley sauce (16.50). This is the House Speciality, a dish that won over young and old alike during EP and one that I regularly order when I'm in Cloghroe. Always amazed at the amazing quality of this meat, an ancient Irish treat, enhanced on this occasion by a shared dish of flavoursome vegetables - the turnip was a treat - including those tasty baked roosters! And the recommended beer? Radik Pale Ale, of course!

CL meanwhile was tucking into Baked Fillet of Hake on a Gubbeen chorizo mash, served with a red pepper coulis. A great piece of fish, well cooked, but that mash too took its share of the spotlight and the light coulis also played a key role. And of course that dish of massive vegetables. Not forgetting her Pale Ale. Alain would have been happy to hear the praise!

Gubbeen too featured on my starter, also known as the Cloghroe Salad (8.65). Could have eaten the leaves supplied by their Mallow grower on their own!  But so well dressed and combined with warm brown bread, it was quite a treat, expertly assembled.

 And there was even more expertise in CL’s starter: Warm Tartlet of Ballinhassig Goat’s Cheese, creamed leeks and smoked salmon on a balsamic reduction (9.25). They lit the fire for us in Blair’s but we were already warming up with the excellent food.

Great stuff in this highly recommended award winning venue. Do visit and do join the conversation. You’ll have the craic here and be well fed.

Blair’s Inn

Cloghroe

Blarney

(021) 438 1470

http://www.blairsinn.ie/

Opening Hours

Mon-Thu 12.00pm to 11.30pm

Fri-Sat     12.00pm to 11.30pm

Sun          12.00pm to 11.00pm

Craggy Range 2013. “The Vintage of a Generation”

Craggy Range 2013

“The Vintage of a Generation”

Craggy Range

New Zealand winemakers are calling 2013 the Vintage of a Generation and there was much evidence in support at the Craggy Range tasting in Adare Manor Hotel last week. Right across the range and not just with the outstanding wines from the Prestige Collection.

Okay, so this is a New Zealand winemaker and, yes, they have a Sauvignon blanc. It comes from the Te Muna vineyard in Martinborough. We started with this 2013 edition. Hannah Gordon, the company’s UK/Europe Business Manager, was our guide in Adare and she said it was not your typical NZ Sauvignon blanc: “It is slightly more classical, more elegant. It has had five months in oak, also some lees contact, so it has a nice richness, the acidity is calmed down. A great food wine, very versatile.”

The 2013 Chardonnay came from Kidnappers Vineyard in Hawkes Bay, the “warmest area in NZ but with a cooling sea breeze”. This too has had oak (nine months) but the influence is not overly much. There is a great concentration, an almost creamy feel and a long finish. Hannah said it is a great food wine, a Burgundy style. “The idea is to reflect the place and the name comes from the time when Captain Cook’s servants were kidnapped here.”

So now we were getting the picture, the “other side of the New Zealand story, learning from the Old World without copying”. And that was further underlined as the tasting progressed.

Back now to Te Muna Road which has a climate like Burgundy and is “the birthplace of quality Pinot Noir in New Zealand.” This 2012 Pinot Noir has “vibrant fruits..verging on creamy..a bit of classic earthiness to it, like the Old World”.

And then a step up again, this time to the 2013 Aroha, again a Pinot Noir from Te Muna Road but part of the Prestige Collection, a wine that could last 10 to 15 years. Hannah pointed to the dense fruit flavours. The texture and finish are all top class. Grapes from the two best blocks (16 & 19) were used for this gem. Aroha means love in the Maori language.

Sophia

In 1876 the floods in New Zealand’s region of Hawke's Bay turned some rivers into land. You may read about it here.  

Gimblett Gravels was one such place and is “the most famous single vineyard on New Zealand”.  And from these gravels comes a surprising wine. “It was the biggest surprise for us,” said Hannah as she introduced us to two Syrah. And another surprise, the most awarded wine in New Zealand is not a Sauvignon blanc but Le Sol, one of this pair of Syrah.

The 2011 Syrah is excellent, medium bodied with fruit and spice and a long finish. But that 2013 Le Sol (French for soil) is simply amazing. No wonder Decanter named it as the best Syrah in the new world.

“Syrah is the new story of New Zealand,” said Hannah. “This is our highlight wine, fresh, fruity (with great density of aroma), acidity, fine tannins, and very accessible even at this young age. This could age for 15-20 years.”

We would finish with a couple of Bordeaux blends, one of which, Sophia, “put us on the world wine map”. First up was the 2011 Te Kahu from the Gimblett Gravels and the name means Morning Mist. Fruit for sure but this is more elegant than fruit driven, with a persistent finish. The blend is 70% Merlot with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and a very little Petit Verdot.

The 2013 Sophia, with 62% Merlot, brought us even more convincing evidence of the excellence of that year with “its spiced fruit character. It is fresh, acidic, with a fine tannin structure dominant but not too heavy, a beautiful wine”.

Jancis Robinson loves this one, even if not its “heavy” bottle: “Really well accomplished. Long and neat. Really lovely wine that lasted well in an opened bottle - a good sign”.

Lunch at Adare. Smoked Irish Salmon with Mango Salsa, Crab, herb & citrus creme fraiche
and Roast rump of Irish lamb, kohlrabi, crispy sweetbreads, butterbean puree.

Sophia, from the old Greek Sophia, means wisdom. We could all love (philo) this and become instant philosophers!

The love continued through the excellent lunch in the amazing Oak Room where we got a chance to sample some of the wines again and where we were introduced to Sophia 2004. Those that doubted, if there were any, joined the confirmed philosophers. Great wines in a lovely venue with excellent company - hard to beat on a Wednesday afternoon!

• There is much more information on the wines (distributed here in Ireland by Tindal Wines) on the Craggy Range website. It is one of the very best wine websites that I've come across.
• If you’d like to visit and stay at Adare Manor, you’d better hurry! Extensive refurbishment is planned for the leading five star hotel from early next year and it will be closed for up to 18 months.
• Well done to Hannah and to Peter McCabe of Tindal’s for their input last week and to Anthony Tindal himself who left us in no doubt that he was a confirmed philosopher! Brian Lawlor, Food & Beverage Manager at Adare Manor, was on hand to make sure everything, including lunch, went well. It did!

  
  

  Just in from Ballymaloe's Colm McCann:
  

  
  

  Upcoming wine events at Ballymaloe 

  
  

  Bank Holiday Monday 26^th October 2015, 8.00pm

  Wine dinner with John Wilson wine writer, The Irish Times

  In Ballymaloe House €85 including dinner and wines

  John Wilson, one of Ireland’s top wine writers, will present, over dinner, a tasting of a selection of his favourite wines from the new edition of his book ‘Wilson on Wine 2016’

  
  

  
  

  Thursday 12^th November, 7.30pm

  
  

  A Unique and Fascinating Comparative Wine Tasting with Maximilian J. Riedel

  of Riedel Wine Glass

  In the Grainstore at Ballymaloe

  Tickets for the Riedel event are priced at €65 for individual tickets or €55 each for bookings of 2 or more. Each ticket includes €97.50 worth of Riedel VERITAS glass which each ticket holder can take home in a portable gift box

  
  

  Special rates also available for accommodation

  
  

  Ballymaloe House, Shanagarry, Co. Cork

  Tel: 021 4652531 

  www.ballymaloe.ie

  colm@ballymaloe.ie

Taste of the Week. Macroom buffalo steaks

Taste of the Week. 
Macroom buffalo steaks

Pic by O'Mahony's Butchers

"Full of flavour and tender," I said. "What more would you want?" Stupid question.
"Another one," she said.

We were chatting about our Taste of the Week, the ribeye steaks produced by Johnny Lynch of Macroom Buffalo and sold in the English Market by Eoin O'Mahony. Sirloin also available.

Yes, indeed. Another one is the correct answer!

Dingle Days. Glorious Food, Drink and Scenery

Dingle Days

Glorious Food, Drink and Scenery

Dingle has it all - glorious food, drink and scenery. It is a terrific visit at anytime and can be visited whether the sun shines or not. Nature doesn't have to perform at its best just because you’re on a visit. Indeed, sometimes Nature in a bad mood is as well worth seeing as it is on the days of calm and balm.

I was there for the Blas na hEireann tastings and the annual food festival and it was a marvelous few days. Tough enough start though on the Thursday with a full day of tastings for Blas in the Skelligs Hotel. Tough? Did I hear you say? Well try tasting nine blue cheeses in a row. Or, in the final session of the day, sampling 15 beers as the sun went down.

Savoury chocolates!

Venturing out in Ventry

But it has its rewards and the first came later that night in An Canteen when we sat down to a very local three course meal by the brothers Niall and Brian. Superb fish on the first two courses and those amazing savoury chocolates by Dovinia were a highlight. And I must also mention that excellent Connemara Pale Ale by the Independent Brewery.

Friday was largely a free day, so we headed west with the first stop at Ventry as the sunseekers were out in some numbers and, let me say, in their t-shirts. Also spent some time watching a group of kayakers getting ready and then sailing off into the haze. The weather had changed, duller and windier, by the time we got to Slea Head but we still got down to the sands and close to the rocks.

Dunquin

Lunch at Blasket Centre: Baked potato, tuna, cheese

The Blasket Centre is a great place to visit to get a feel for the peninsula and the islands and , as a bonus, it is a good spot to stop for lunch. Fueled up, we carried on and came to Clogher Head. Last time, our walk up here was stopped by a heavy shower but there was no such problems on this occasion. Great views out there, even if there was a little haze in the mid-distance.

On then towards Ballyferriter and a visit to Wine Strand before closing the loop - the sun was out again -  and cutting cross-county back to Dingle. We were keen to see the Conor Pass while the weather was still reasonable. By the time we got up though, the clouds had taken over. Still we had a fine view down to Dingle and beyond.

Ceann Sibeal from Clogher Head

Welcome to Wine Strand

Then an hour or two was spent at the awards by the Enterprise Office from the various counties (details here) and after that it was time to think about eating again. We were joined by some of the judges (lots of laughs with Susan and Judith Boyle) in the Global Village who came up with a terrific tasting menu, very popular too as empty plates went back every time. This was a selection of the peninsula’s finest produce over six tasting courses. Highlights were the fish (turbot, seaweed and fennel) and the meat (wild boar, scallop and raisins).

Saturday was a reasonably fine day and we were soon out and about after a good breakfast at the excellent and friendly Benners Hotel, so centrally located. Garvey’s SuperValu had their line of food already in place on the pavement outside. I had a look inside and was impressed. Outside, the market stalls on the various streets were busy and we called to quite a few.

Welcome to Dingle Gin & Vodka from Joe

Turbot at Global Village

Saturday though was mainly about the amazing Taste Trail and you may read all about that here. Caught up on the news from the award ceremony for Blas and delighted for the winners, particularly for those that we know. Taste trail or not, we were still up for a meal later that night and had booked in to the Grey’s Lane Bistro. It was a good call and a lovely meal.

Took it easy on the Sunday morning and, after yet another good breakfast in Benner's, two happy punters checked out and headed home. Dingle, we'll be back!

Smiling traders!