The Week In Food #20: Yes Chef awards, Taste is back, Lord of the Whiskey and more
The slow cooker is getting a good run out this week and there are five slow recipes for you to test inside...
For Sunday 19 May, 2024, you’re very welcome to another helping of The Week In Food, bringing you stories from the past week, recipes for the week ahead and more from Ken On Food.
No Michelin star restaurants this week, no superstar gigs to go to, just a trip to the butcher midweek to load up meats for this week and next. Making the coffee this morning there’s still the smell of a slow cooker beef curry in the air, so I don’t know which I’m happier about - the coffee for right now or the curry for the week ahead. Either way, I’m pretty sorted on the food and drink front until the end of the month (thankfully) before I get to mark another trip around the sun.
And while the Ballymaloe Festival of Food hits its third and final day today, I’m very much staying put in Kilkenny for the afternoon in the hope that the weather holds up enough to start into the garden again.
Green fingers aside, let’s get into this week’s stories…
1. Yes Chef Ireland Awards celebrate more of Ireland’s dining scene
Some of the team from Butcher and The Kings Mill, both in Kilkenny.
The first stop this week is the Yes Chef Awards, held in Dundalk earlier this week.
Flying the home flag first, congratulations to the teams at Butcher Restaurant in Kilkenny City and The Kings Mill in Kells, between them taking home the awards for Best Steakhouse, Best Front of House Manager and Best Restaurant Interior.
30 awards in all were given out on Tuesday night where included in the highlights were Donegal’s Chandpur taking Indian Restaurant of the Year, Galway’s Brasserie on the Corner named Casual Dining Restaurant of the Year while on the individual front, Aniar’s Ian Hartford was named Young Chef of the Year, Andrew Ryan of Ashford Castle was named Pastry Chef of the Year while Jenny Flynn at Faithlegg was named Chef of the Year.
Read more: Get the full list of winners now at kenonfood.com
Read more: YesChef.ie
2. Irish Restaurant Awards finals this week
Photo: Paul Sherwood Photography
With awards season in mind, tomorrow (Monday) sees the All-Ireland Final of the Irish Restaurant Awards take place at the Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road, Dublin.
With the four provincial legs taking place in recent weeks, along with the shortlisting of the Dublin entries and the Best Cocktail Experience, it’s been a long build-up but the wait is almost over.
17 awards with regional finalists will be handed out on Monday night, while six awards are specific to the national setting including Best Cocktail Experience, Best Learning & Development, Best Private Dining & Club Restaurant, Best Cookery School, Outstanding Achievement Awards and Food Truck Of the Year.
Best of luck to everyone heading to Dublin on Monday night – be sure to check back on the blog on Tuesday morning for all the winners or check irishrestaurantawards.com for last-minute tickets and details.
Read more: Leinster finalists
Read more: Munster finalists
Read more: Connaught finalists
Read more: Dublin winners, plus all provincial winners
3. Taste of Dublin is back this June
From awards to festivals and Dublin is gearing up for the return of Taste Of Dublin, one of the biggest annual food events in the capital, with over 34,000 visitors expected to the new location of Merrion Square from Thursday the 13th through Sunday 16th of June.
The new M&S Food Chef’s Kitchen will play host to Mark Moriarty, Aniar’s JP McMahon (whose new book has gone to pre-order as well), Aisling Larkin, Aishling Moor, Eria Drum, Eric Matthews and more.
Also set for the festival this year, is the Tanqueray Gin Bar experience and the renowned O’Brien’s Wine Masterclasses. In another first for the event, Disney+ through an interactive visitor experience, will be creating iconic dishes made popular by FX’s Emmy award winning comedy-drama series, The Bear.
4. Lord of the whiskey?
Michael Flatley pictured with his first whiskey blend. Photo: Brian Doherty
Michael Flatley has launched Flatley Whiskey 'The Dreamer', his first signature Irish whiskey from a series of special blends.
Crafted in partnership with Ireland's esteemed Master Blender Noel Sweeney and distilled at the Great Northern Distillery, this premium 5-year-old whiskey “embodies the spirit of dreams, passion, and mastery”.
It’s a home launch first, followed by a US launch later this summer before a global push for 2025. It’s already available in over 175 SuperValu stories around the country and if you’re thinking on diving in for a taste, the recommended retail is coming in around 45 Euro.
Read more: Check out flatleywhiskey.com
5. More funding for food waste reduction
The last one for this week comes via Agriland who are reporting that The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is to provide €165,000 in funding for a food waste reduction project.
Following a recent call for proposals for food waste reduction initiatives, the department has confirmed that the FoodCloud Growers Project has been selected for support.
The funding will be supplied under the department’s Rural Innovation and Development Fund.
The FoodCloud Growers Project aims to establish a national programme for the redistribution of surplus food from growers to community and volunteer organisations (CVOs) across Ireland.
Read more: €165,000 in funding for food waste reduction project (Agriland)
Extra reading this week
The first pub in Ireland to earn a Michelin star - the Wild Honey Inn - is up for sale with a seven-figure price tag.
Dublin’s Little Pyg has been ranked among the top pizza joints in Europe
Is fast food becoming the lunch norm in the UK?
If you want to cool down this summer, maybe you should be eating hotter foods…
Food tech is big and Peakbridge are intent on driving more investment in the sector
Recipes to try this week
I’m cooking for the week ahead, and they’re all rather meaty dishes - from burgers to slow-cooked beef, spicy chicken with garlic to pork chops and more. With the beef in mind, I’ve picked out five slow cooker recipes for the week ahead…
What’s better than bolognese? If you’ve got about 2.5 hours, this dish.
Go low and slow for eight hours on this slow cooker chilli…
Fancy meat falling off the bone with plenty of sauce to mop up with some fresh breads? Try this slow cooker Spanish chicken from Good Food.
Sticking with chicken, if you’ve got some honey and soy sauce handy, and six hours to let it cook, this honey garlic chicken looks the business.
One of my favourite things to cook (and eat) is lamb. This slow-cooked lamb with red wine sauce has been on the list for a while and next Sunday’s looking good…
This week’s podcast pick…
It’s been out about two months, but I picked up on this episode of The Drinking Hour earlier this week and it’s a great listen. Published for International Women’s Day, host David Kermode shares conversations with pioneering women in the world of wine and spirits including Dr. Laura Catena, Dr. Rachel Barrie, Sarah Pidgeon, Louise Rose, Corinne Seely, Cherie Spriggs and Jancis Robinson OBE MW. If you like a good back story to wine and whiskey, this should whet your appetite.
Give it a listen here via Spotify.
And that’s a wrap…
That’s it for another week. I’ve got some cooking to do and another coffee to make. Whatever you’re up to today, enjoy it, and hopefully there’s a little food involved somewhere. If you’ve got a story to share at any stage and fancy a chat for radio, the podcast, or just to introduce yourself, drop an email to ken@kenonfood.com.
Want to hook up socially? Come connect on X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or TikTok.
Until next week, g’luck,
K