Greene’s Enchanting Cuisine. Kitchen Alchemy Behind The Red Brick

Greene’s Enchanting Cuisine.

Kitchen Alchemy Behind The Red Brick

Dessert!

Greene’s has a lot going for it - we’ll get to that later - but the food is key. And key to the great dishes is innovative Head Chef Bryan McCarthy and his insistence on the best of local produce and then his skilful handling of that produce from kitchen to plate.   

Forget the impressive red brick frontage, the often mentioned archway entrance, even the more often mentioned waterfall just outside the big window to the west, and let's start with the dessert. Why? Well it illustrates perfectly how this chef can surprise, can ambush you.

We were in from the fifty euro five course Tasting Menu. You get a list at the table:

Pre Starter

***

Starter

***

Fish Mid-Course

***

Sorbet

***

Meat Main Course

***

Dessert

Pork belly

We did get a brief run-down on request, more details promised on serving (and they did indeed do just that). But at the start we’re told dessert is panna cotta. Not overly excited about that! But, knowing the form here, I should have known better. Still, the surprise was all the better.

We had quite a picture, a masterpiece,  on the plate. The Vanilla panna cotta, with a Pistachio topping, was the feature, surrounded by a Raspberry sorbet, Strawberry Espuma, Blueberry meringue (loved these bits), and more bits and pieces including Blackberry. Great to look at and delicious to dispatch. In some places you'd be lucky to get a single raspberry on top of your jar of panna cotta!

We had started too with an espuma, lychée and lime with raspberry powder, an amuse bouche, light and amusing (yes!) to the taste buds, which is the idea of course.

The starter was quite superb: Local Rare Breed Pork Belly, with Black Pudding & Black Pudding Dumpling, with Apple purée, Cider, Crackling Popcorn and Celeriac Slaw. An excellent combination of tastes and flavours though the popcorn didn't do anything for me. On the other hand, CL had a different opinion!

Salmon

Salmon is always good here and so it was with the Fish course: Cured Salmon & Smoked Salmon Rillettes, with Orange, Fennel, Pickled Sea veg, Squid Ink Aioli and Wasabi Mayo. The pickle was well judged and added to the other elements of the dish.

Time then for a little rest and our Mango and Lime Sorbet, Vodka infused on finely cut Lemon rind. Pleased and cleansed the palate all at once.

Slow braised beef is a long standing speciality here and that was next on the agenda. The shoulder was cooked for 16 hours and served with Ballyhoura mushrooms, samphire, beetroot purée and pickled, tender stemmed broccoli, lentils and a red wine jus. A superb main course indeed. And then came that gorgeous finalé!

Greene’s also have an excellent wine choice and, on the night, we enjoyed Domaine de Bousquet, an organic Malbec,  (Argentina, at €7.50 a glass) and Conviviale Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (Italy, at €6.95).

The restaurant has quite a few menus, including a great value Early Bird / Pre-Theatre (the Everyman is just across the street) for €32.50 for three courses. There are a number of tasting menus along with Table de Hote and A La Carte and you may check them all out here.

It is a very comfortable restaurant with a warm welcome and friendly and efficient service from start to finish. And a terrific chef, of course! Let him surprise you!

Waterfall

Greene’s Restaurant

48 MacCurtain Street

Cork.

Please call 021 455 2279 (phone preferred for reservations

For bookings by email please send your enquiry to info@greenesrestaurant.com

Opening Times

Monday	Lunch - Closed	Dinner - 5.30pm - 9:00pm
Tuesday	Lunch - Closed	Dinner - 5.30pm - 9:30pm
Wednesday	Lunch - Closed	Dinner - 5.30pm - 9:30pm
Thursday	Lunch - 12.30-2.30pm	Dinner - 5.30pm - 9:30pm
Friday	Lunch - 12.30-2.30pm	Dinner - 5.30pm - 10pm
Saturday	Lunch - 12.30-2.30pm	Dinner - 5.30pm - 10pm
Sunday	Lunch - 12.30-2.30pm	Dinner - 5.30pm - 9:00pm

GRAMMY COCKTAILS!!!

Hosting a viewing party for ‪#‎TheGrammys‬? 
Maybe you just like cocktails!

Staying up all night long to see the Grammys on Monday night Tuesday morning? Will you be cheering for Dublin's Glen Hansard and his nominated  "Didn't He Ramble?  One way or the other, it's gonna be a marathon. Check all the nominees here. How about a cocktail or two for that party? We've got three below, all supplied by CÎROC, a French vodka and one of the sponsors of the Grammys.

Unlike most other vodkas, which are made from grain, CÎROC is crafted from fine, succulent French grapes, distiled five times in southwest France. These specially selected grapes create the distinctly fresh and smooth taste of CÎROC Vodka. It comes in a distinctive bottle and will cost you sixty euro at O'Brien's, fifty online at the Drinkstore.  

GRAMMY® 58
Our CÎROC™ spin on the French 75
1.25 oz CÎROC™ Vodka
.75 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
.75 oz Simple Syrup
Prosecco
Garnish: lemon twist and curl
Preparation: Add CÎROC™ Vodka, fresh lemon juice and simple syrup into a shaker tin. Ice, shake and strain into a champagne flute, top with prosecco. Garnish with a lemon Twist (curled)
Tools: Shaker tins, strainer
Glassware: Champagne flute

Rising Star
1.5 oz CÎROC™ Vodka

1.5 oz Unsweetened Cranberry Juice

.75 oz Fresh Lime Juice

.5 oz Ginger Syrup

Garnish: Crystalized ginger on a pick
Preparation: Add CÎROC™ Vodka, unsweetened cranberry juice, fresh lime juice and ginger syrup into a shaker tin. Ice, shake and strain into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with a piece of crystalized ginger
Glassware: Rocks glass
Tools: Shaker tins, strainer

Rose Gold
1 oz CÎROC™ Peach

.5 oz Amontillado Sherry

.25 oz Acacia Honey Syrup (2 cups of Acacia Honey, 1 cup of warm water, shake vigorously)
Garnish: lemon twist (discarded)

Preparation: Add all ingredients into a mixing glass. Ice and stir to dilution. Julep strain into a cocktail coupe, squeeze the lemon twist and discard the peel, no garnish

Glassware: Champagne coupe

Tools: Stirring spoon, mixing glass, julep strainer

Amuse Bouche

Then, like a magician pulling a rabbit out of thin air, Snoop Dogg had something else in his hand: a large blunt the size of a Sharpie pen. Then a lighter. And a few seconds later he was smoking weed, ferociously. Seeing this, his entourage assumed it was okay to light up in the Twitter offices, so naturally they pulled out joints that had been in their pockets or tucked behind their ears.

In a matter of minutes, the cafeteria had become the stage for an impromptu Snoop Dogg concert, with a dozen large blunts being passed around among famous rappers and Twitter employees…

from Hatching Twitter by Nick Bilton (2014)

Fabulous Food & Film in 27th French Festival!

press release

27^th CORK FRENCH 

FILM FESTIVAL

Attention all cinéphiles and Cork French Film Festival followers: in March, Alliance Française de Cork will roll out the red carpet for the 27th Cork French Film Festival.

This nationally acclaimed festival, supported by the Arts Council, Cork City Council, and worldwide leader in gastronomy Le Cordon Bleu, screens the best of French feature films, documentaries, shorts, and retrospectives. The week-long event is the ideal time to savour the best in French cinema while enjoying the unique French ambiance that the festival brings to Cork.

This edition puts a huge emphasis on the enduring link between food and cinema, taking you on a culinary journey for supper at the English Market, inspired by the classical and world-acclaimed film Babette’s Feast, and to a sumptuous candlelit dinner at Ballymaloe bursting with the flavor of Helen Mirren’s kitchen in The Hundred Foot Journey.

The festival will also create unmissable culinary moments in collaboration with Le Cordon Bleu (London) at the English Market and CIT, with internationally acclaimed Master Chef, Loic Malfait, giving a food demonstration, tastings, Q&A and a hosting a wine discussion.

To ensure a lively festival atmosphere throughout the week, the amazingly encyclopedic raconteur Christophe Rohr will entertain guests at the Festival Club in Arthur Mayne’s and Café Francais at Lafayette’s in the Imperial Hotel.

THE CORK FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL

FOOD PROGRAMME AT A GLANCE:

A CULINARY CONTRIBUTION TO THE CONSERVATION OF THE ART OF FRENCH LIVING

A culinary demonstration with Le Cordon Bleu Master Chef, Loic Malfait,

using local ingredients from the English Market.

Tuesday 8th of March at 7.00pm

CIT Department of Tourism and Hospitality (Demonstration Theatre)

The world’s leading Culinary Arts, Wine and Management school, Le Cordon Bleu, have been committed to providing the most prestigious culinary education for over 120 years, and during its time has made a worldwide contribution to the conservation of the art of French Living by setting standards in the culinary arts and hospitality industry

Le Cordon Bleu training remains prestigious with its industry relevant courses, state-of-the-art facilities, its dedication to classical French techniques and high calibre Master Chefs and wine experts. The school, which celebrated its 120th Anniversary last October, has evolved from a small Parisian cookery school to an ever expanding international network, training over 20,000 students every year.

The Cork French Film Festival is delighted to welcome Le Cordon Bleu whose Master Chef, Loic Malfait, will put on array of interactive culinary events including a demonstration on the 8th of March in CIT Department of Tourism and Hospitality sourcing local produce from the English Market, and a unique experience on food and wine pairing on the 9th of March at the Farmgate in the English Market. A photographic exhibition by Le Cordon Bleu will run at Alliance Francaise de Cork Galerie, from 23rd February to 31st March

Bookings:

Online: www.corkfrenchfilmfestival.com

Tickets: Festival Office 021 4310677

Early Booking advised

BABETTE’S FEAST

“Le Festin de Babette”

Three-course supper inspired by the film, seasoned with music from a French accordionist.

Wednesday the 9th of March, 6.00pm, at the English Market

Price: €38 (Includes Supper and film screening).

Released in 1987, Babette’s Feast is a film which depicts so little yet says so much. Set in a rural Danish Community, it centres around the village pastor’s twin sister and the French woman, Babette, who serves them after fleeing the 1871 revolution. On winning the lottery, she plans a feast to make the centenary of the sisters’ father, bringing a dimension of fine living into the lives of the God-fearing Lutherans and healing festering personal animosities in the process. Director, Gabriel Axel, captures the rugged timelessness, and the Jutland landscape, and draws inspired performances from Stéphane Audran as Babette, and Bodil Keyer and Birgitte Federspiel as the sisters Filippa and Martine. Per Norgard’s sparse but affecting score captures the mood of the film perfectly. Altogether it’s a heart-warming and sensory experience.

Bookings:

Online: www.corkfrenchfilmfestival.com

Tickets: Festival Office 021 4310677

Early Booking advised

THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY

A four course Candlelit Supper inspired by cuisine from the film.

Thursday, 10th of March, 6.30pm, at the Ballymaloe Grainstore.

Price €55 for supper and screening / €10 for screening only (at 8.30pm).

Set in the bucolic South of France, this stunning film starring Helen Mirren centres on culinary whiz Hassan, whose father opens a curry house across the street from a celebrated French restaurant, owned by Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren). Food and culture wars ensue as the two restaurants fight for customers and prestige.

Produced by Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey, the film is much more than an amuse-bouche: it’s a hearty meal, delicately presented as the dishes in Madame Mallory’s Michelin-starred establishment, with Helen Mirren wonderful as he grande dame of French Cuisine.

Shot in luminous, sun-dappled tones in the French village of Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val, the Hundred-Foot Journey is a charming, handsome, and well-acted dramedy that the whole family can enjoy.

Bookings:

Online: www.corkfrenchfilmfestival.com

Tickets: Festival Office 021 4310677

Early Booking advised

À bientôt!

Wines Of Chile With Francisca Jara. But Not As We Know Them

Wines Of Chile With Francisca Jara

But Not As We Know Them

Some of the wines.
Pic by Francisca.

Chilean wine-writer Francisca Jara started her Wednesday Chilean tasting in L’Atitude by saying that a new style was to be shown tonight. “Chile has more than cheap wines, more than the major varieties. Irish supermarkets don't have what we drink in Chile.”

“Wine writers, including Jancis Robinson, are talking about a Chilean revolution. In the last ten years, a new generation of winemakers has emerged with a new mindset...with a challenge to the big wineries. The wine revolution is no exaggeration.”

This is the second revolution in the South American country. Chile has a tradition of winemaking going back for centuries but, “in the last 36 years, everything changed”. That big change, to a more professional approach, in both the vineyard and winery, was sparked by the arrival of Spanish family Torres.

The newest revolution is also noted in the World Atlas of Wine: "No other country has been sprouting new wine regions as rapidly as Chile...viticultural limits are being tested in all directions. Her wines are becoming more refined, and more regionally distinct."

Francisca Jara

The new generation that Francisca was talking about are inclined to the organic, inclined to make the best of the lesser varieties and that we would see as the evening unfolded. There are two organisations spearheading this new approach: MOVI and VIGNO. And they in turn are spurring the established wine companies to better things.

Jancis Robinson: “The MOVI and VIGNO crew are a cheeky lot and have clearly enjoyed cocking a snook at the old guard of Chilean wine, which makes it all the more remarkable that there has been such a rush to copy them from precisely the big companies that they set out to shake. Casa Lapostolle, Miguel Torres, Santa Emiliana, Undurraga, Valdivieso, De Martino, the American Jackson Family Estates and now the biggest of them all, Concha y Toro, have all asked to join the VIGNO club and use its eye-catching logo on at least one of their labels.” Read the full article here.

It was appropriate that we had Torres among the six bottles tasted. They had two as did Vinos Frios. Perhaps the most remarkable was the Carrigan from the “Wild Vineyards”. Francisa also cooked the matching bites, all excellent, though my favourite was the Beans and Reins Stew!

1 Miguel Torres Dias de Verano Reserva Muscat 2014

“This is the Chilean summer, a simple wine to drink.” Peach and floral aromas, nice acidity, good balance and a lovely match for seafood as we confirmed when we were served with the Ceviche, a traditional Chilean coastal food.

Chile has over 8,000 acres of this prolific Muscat, much of it used in the production of Pisco, the national spirit. Did you know that Chile is ranked 10th in the world in terms of wine acreage but only 35th in the consumption league? That leaves a lot for export and Ireland takes up a good deal of the slack! “Wish we Chileans drank and enjoyed like you Irish,” joked Francisca.

Juan Alejandro Jofré of Vinos Frios del Ano

2 Vinos Frios Del Ano Rosado 2014 (Grenache)

Rosé is a relatively recent development in Chile, according to Francisca. “Before it was very sweet, now they are making good rosé.” Purpose made, not as an careless afterthought. “I’m happy,” she said. “I wanted to try this one myself.”

It is the first Chilean rosé to be made from Grenache, no oak but with three months on lees to improve the body. It was juicy and vibrant from an innovative winemaker, Juan Alejandro Jofré,  and went very well indeed with the smoked mackerel.

3 Luis Antoine Luyt 2013 tinto (Cinsault)

Now we were on to a natural wine (available from Le Caveau) with its striking label, based on old Chilean bus signage. “Five years ago, natural wine was almost an underground movement in Chile. This is 100% Cinsault, from really old vines (80 years plus), no added sulphites, no oak.”

The consensus was juicy and fruity, strawberry aromas, with tannins “a bit rustic”. “This is the wine that a farmer might pour a glass from a barrel in the yard for his visitor and serve with an empanada.” Rustic or not, it features in John Wilson’s Wilson on Wines 2016. Oh, by the way, it went really well with that terrific empanada.

To know more on this wine, check here.

4 Villalobos ”The Wild Vineyards” Carignan 2010

The vineyards for this wine were planted in the 1950s (maybe 1940s, no one knows for certain!).  The Villalobos family came there in the ‘70s and the ten acres of vineyard were “full of weeds and briars.. cows were eating the grapes there.”

A long time later, “they eventually decided to make wine, they made it in a rustic way.” It was successful and a few years ago they went commercial. The Carignan grape is getting very popular in Chile and there is an association, the VIGNO mentioned above, of Carrignan producers.

This has a lovely colour and the aromas are rather unique: red fruit, herbs, meaty. It is fresh, fruity, with good acidity and “easy-drinking” and is available from Le Caveau. “It is good to pair it with meat, stews, cheese.” Francisca paired it with the traditional Bean and Reins, a kind of cassoulet, “a comfort food for the winter. Every Chilean family, rich and poor, eats it.” I could see why!

To know more of this wine, check here.

5 Vinos Frios Del Ano Tinto 2014 (blend)

Many of you will have heard how a French ampelographer Jean Michel Boursiquot re-discovered Carmenere in Chile and how it went on to become almost the national grape there. As Francisca put it: “It became another good-a story for Chile”. It just underlined the theme, diversity, of the evening and, unusually, was served chilled. Carmenere is just part of the blend here with Carignan (40%) and Tempranillo (40%) the major components.

The nose featured berries, spice, and floral elements. There was a lovely fruit and freshness, good acidity, good body, quite a personality. But don't forget to serve it chilled! Francisca said it goes well with fatty and oily food and the Ummera smoked duck was just perfect. By the way, the Chilean wine-writers are “loving this one”.

6 Miguel Torres Reserva de Pueblo 2014 (País)

This ancient grape has been historically used by farmers for home-made wines but País became less and less significant as the bigger wineries, concentrating on the major grapes, became more important.

The new generation though has sparked a comeback and “now we can feel proud again of our previously neglected varieties. This has more fruit, no oak used.” It was paired with Hegarty's Cheddar and that was a treat. By the way, Torres make a sparkling wine, Estelado, from this grape.

That was the last of the wines of this very interesting tasting, a very enjoyable and informative one. “I hope I have shown you that there is more to Chilean wine than the supermarket. Hope you enjoyed!” We certainly did, Francisca!

• Francisca is a wine journalist from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. She worked in TV and magazines until 2012 when she moved to the Food and Wine Magazine LA CAV, where she wrote until she moved to Ireland in 2015. In 2013 she obtained the Chilean Wine Diploma in Wine Production and Tasting, in the same university where she studied Journalism.