Ireland's gourmet revolution: Restaurants, festivals and food trails
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Your support makes all the difference.Myrtle Allen, who established the restaurant at Ballymaloe House in Cork in the 1960s, is considered by many to be the unofficial patron saint of Ireland's seasonal food movement. Fittingly, Ballymaloe House and its neighbouring cookery school are now also home to the annual Kerrygold Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine (litfest.ie).
This year's line-up (15-17 May) features Chez Panisse founder Alice Waters, New York based chef April Bloomfield, Sam and Sam Clarke of Moro, and wine critic Jancis Robinson among many others. Pop-up kitchens will be manned by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich of Honey & Co and The Independent Magazine's cookery writer, Mark Hix.
But while Cork may be gourmet Ireland's spiritual home, on the west coast, Galway is fast becoming its new gourmet capital.
One of the standout features of Galway's thriving gastro scene is its relaxed, unstuffy approach to fine dining. This is best experienced at Ard Bia (00 353 91 561 114; ardbia.com), on the banks of the Claddagh River. Locally produced ingredients are given a Middle Eastern twist at this effortlessly relaxed and friendly café, restaurant and shop.
Already with something of a cult following, Anair (00 353 91 535 947; aniarrestaurant.ie), roughly translates as "coming from the west". The aptly named Galwegian chef, Ultan Cooke, simply lists the ingredients of each dish on the ever changing menu. The food is highly accomplished yet the surroundings are pleasingly low-key for a one-Michelin star dining room. The restaurant also hosts a cookery school.
Similarly, David and Jessica Murphy have been wowing visitors and locals alike at their city centre Kai Café and Restaurant (00 353 91 526 003; kaicaferestaurant.com). Daily changing menus feature inventive dishes such as monkfish and sea spaghetti.
In County Clare, visitors can follow The Burren Food Trail (burren.ie) to discover local producers such as The Burren Smokehouse and the The Wild Honey Inn. From 23-24 May, the area will be in celebratory mode for The Burren Slow Food Festival (slowfoodclare.com).
If your summer holiday plans include County Galway, you would be well advised to book your place at the table for one of the June-September dinners organised by the Dillisk Project (dillisk.com). Founder Katie Sanderson creates innovative dinners in a converted boat shed in Aughrusbeg, Connemara.
Closer to home, one of Ireland's best-known cooks, Clodagh McKenna, is hosting "Clodagh's Irish Kitchen" at Selfridges in London from 18-20 May. Tickets £45 (clodaghmckenna.com).
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