Search Results for 'Top Chef'

I love being the food writer for the Mayo Advertiser as the perks are fantastic. Last week my wife Julie and I were invited to sample the new tasting menu at Season’s Restaurant on Main Street, Castlebar. We were greeted by owner John Mulroy and brought to a lovely window table which overlooks the Main Street. I have eaten here before and the restaurant is very clean and modern, but so comfortable that you immediately feel like you are at home. New head chef Tobias Streinetberger has brought many years’ experience of working on luxury cruise ships to Season’s Restaurant and likes to let the food and the flavours talk for themselves.

To celebrate the very successful opening of Mary’s Fish Shop there will be a party on Holy Thursday. Go along and see some great chefs cooking fish to perfection and also demonstrating how to make a great chowder. Everyone loves chowder and it is pretty easy to make, however it really helps to see it done in front of you or to be able to ask a chef for advice.

Having just completed her 10th cookery book, food writer and stylist Michele Cranston turns her attention to her time at Marie Claire magazine – she was food editor there for five years – celebrating the last decade at that famous institution and monthly women's magazine that was first published in France, although it has obviously been published in a number of different languages throughout the world.

Have you ever really thought about what goes into the plate of food that is brought to your table in a restaurant? If you think about it, a large proportion of it comes down to the chef. It all starts at the back door of the restaurant, where products are unloaded every morning. Depending on the time of the year, chefs experiment, create, and make menus that are fresh, exciting, and appealing to customers all year round. Strawberries and fresh salad greens have come and gone, game and autumnal fruits are featuring now. If you do not have a good chef, then you do not have a good restaurant.

Lucky me, I am blessed with my job here as food writer for the Mayo Advertiser.

Red Earth in Mullingar which opened last November, is already according, to owner Jackie Collins, “making waves in the local culinary world establishing itself as the Avoca of the Midlands”. And, on the whole it’s definitely something a little bit different with its extensive menu, good wine list, and adorable outdoor seating area that is a fusion of continental al fresco dining in a paved Irish garden setting. It’s also got the added attraction of outdoor heated ‘pods’ that have all the luxury of a private outdoor eating experience under a roof.

I mentioned in a previous article that it I am amazed that during such recessionary times we see so many new restaurants opening, and fair play to all who do so. Peppino’s is one such venture, and it has risen from the ashes of the very well known Bol Uisce in Spiddal’s main street. The new owners are experienced in the business of providing Italian food at Il Foletta in Quay Street. Now they have two restaurants to run and while both are Italian the new Peppino’s offers a more varied menu. Maybe it is because better rents can be negotiated, but whatever the reason you have to admire and congratulate all who open a new restaurant. It brings money to an area in all manner of ways, jobs for chefs, kitchen porters, waiting staff, someone will get paid to do a website, painters, electricians, plumbers, gas engineers, waste companies, oil, etc, etc. So when you see a new venture in your area be sure to support it.

There was a time when it would be normal to eat dinner at the local hotel or if staying there, to eat-in each night. In fact for many towns in Ireland the only place to eat was the local hotel. All that changed in the seventies and eighties with the growth of cafes, restaurants and the new kid on the block - bar food. The change in attitude to hotel food is something that hotel owners must struggle with daily as they try to get the seats filled in the dining room. There are of course many exceptions to this and one I really recommend that you try at the earliest opportunity is The Lobster Pot restaurant in the Galway Bay Hotel in Salthill.

The Western Hotel is in Prospect Hill, pretty close to County Hall and TK Maxx. It is a place favoured by locals but I would reckon that many of you have never eaten there. I called in for dinner one evening and was quite surprised at both the price and the quality. I also asked if they did any special deals at lunch time and was told that they have a loyalty card scheme which entitles you to what must be the very best value main course in the city. The normal main course costs €7.50 or €8.50; however if you have a loyalty card you will get a €2 discount off one special each day. That means you can have something like chicken kiev or a roast of the day for €5.50, surely this is as low as you are ever going to see in Galway? If it is half as good as the dinner I had it is worth seeking out, especially if you work in the area.

Are you looking for a fine dining experience, without the pomp, in an old style building with high ceilings, fabulous local artwork, and modern but traditional decor?