The Week In Food #33: Blas na hÉireann finalists, big restaurant closures in Dublin & more
Happy Sunday, from the shores of Lough Derg.
Welcome to The Week In Food for Sunday 18 August, 2024.
If you’ve not already tried the podcast, allow me to read you some of the stories in this week’s newsletter, much like I do every Sunday with the Food In 5 Minutes podcast.
From Galway two weeks ago, to Kilkenny last week, today’s newsletter comes from the shores of Lough Derg, far away from the madness (and craic) of Electric Picnic and the myriad of other events taking place this weekend on the food front.
For the 33rd edition of the newsletter, and with a two-week holiday break ending tomorrow morning, this week shines a spotlight on the closures of two big restaurants in Dublin, some details on this year’s Blas na hÉireann awards bound for Dingle, along with some easy-to-follow bread recipes that might come in handy for the school return later this month, and another podcast pick for the week.
If you’ve got a story to share of your own for a future podcast, newsletter, blog post, or you fancy a chat about a project you’re working on or involved with, drop me an email directly at ken@kenonfood.com.
Get the coffee on, it’s time for this week’s reads…
1. And then there was one…
Let’s start this week with restaurant closures and Thursday saw a surprise announcement by Irish chef Dylan McGrath who has shut Dublin’s Brasserie Sixty6 and Rustic Stone with immediate effect.
In a post to social media just after 2pm, McGrath said that after 15 years in business with Rustic Stone and 25 for Brasserie Sixty6, changes to restaurants and Dublin city centre over the past four years have made it “simply not sustainable” to continue operations.
The leases on both will be sold on, with McGrath’s efforts now concentrated on Fade Street Social. The post, also viewable on Rustic Stone’s website as a notice to customers, says that while both restaurants have been successful in Dublin for a long time, hospitality is changing, so their “strong work ethic is better applied to new and different opportunities”.
Brasserie Sixty6 could accommodate 220 diners with Rustic Stone hosting up to a further 120. Business Plus details some of the finances involved in both operations of late, links to which you’ll find below
Read more: Chef Dylan McGrath shuts Dublin restaurants Brasserie Sixty6 and Rustic Stone
Read more: Dylan McGrath closes two of his most famous restaurants
Read more: Dylan McGrath closes two Dublin restaurants as business is 'simply not sustainable'
2. Irish restaurant insurance payouts
While the effects of the COVID pandemic will be felt for years to come, the lockdown is still in the news this week with Newstalk picking up the story that over €250m has been paid out by insurers to hospitality businesses that were forced to shut their doors during COVID.
Over 6,000 pubs, cafés and restaurants have received insurance compensation for lost revenue going back to the March 2020 lockdown.
Insurers FBD are quoted by the station, confirming that 80% of claims from impacted policyholders with them have now been settled, FBD’s payments alone reaching almost €47m by the start of July this year.
For some, cases continue, for others, losses may never be recovered.
3. €1 million Euro boost for gala dinner venues in Ireland
Slipping just outside the ‘over the past week’ boundary, the Fáilte Ireland-backed Platforms for Growth Gala Dinner Venues Investment Scheme has selected five projects to benefit from a €1m fund towards the development and enhancement of the venues, to help them compete to win international business events for Ireland.
Off the back of the €1m investment, it’s estimated that €67m worth of incremental business events could be delivered for the country over a five-year period – not a bad return.
The five venues chosen include Claregalway Castle in Galway, Custom House Quarter LTD in Dublin, the Killarney Brewing & Distilling Visitors Experience LTD in Kerry, St. Mary’s Cathedral in Limerick and St. Nicholas’ Collegiate Church in Galway (pictured above).
The Gala Dinner Venues Investment Scheme is a part of Fáilte Ireland’s €150 million Platforms for Growth Programme, which falls under the Government's Project Ireland 2040 strategy. The Platforms for Growth Programme targets projects that have the greatest potential to grow tourism throughout the year.
Read more: €1 million awarded to develop five Gala Dinner Venues
Read more: €1 million awarded to develop five Gala Dinner Venues to attract international Business Events
Photo: Sonder Visuals / Courtesy Failte Ireland
4. Enforcement orders rise to 16 for July
Thursday this week saw the Food Safety Authority Of Ireland release details of enforcement orders served on food businesses across July with 16 orders served, an increase of nine from the seven issued in June.
Among those impacted were the popular Hartigan’s pub on Dublin’s Leeson Street Lower, Boba Bar on Dublin’s Parnell Street, the Riverhouse Café in Cahir, Tipperary and The Garden @ The Shannon Bar, in Termonbarry, Roscommon while six closure orders were served on food businesses at one location alone in Clondalkin.
Reasons cited for closures included live cockroaches found in equipment and on traps in the kitchen area; multiple holes and gaps in the walls along with rodent droppings; a rodent carcass in a snap trap; failure to implement adequate pest control measures; failure to implement an appropriate food safety culture; food not thawed safely; inadequate regular and thorough cleaning throughout the premises; equipment like meat slicers congealed with fat and stale food debris; continuous failure to maintain consistent cleaning standards; filthy cleaning equipment and cleaning cloths.
On paper alone, that’s enough to turn your stomach.
Under the FSAI Act, 1998, a Closure Order is served where it is deemed that there is or, there is likely to be, a grave and immediate danger to public health at or in the premises; or where an Improvement Order is not complied with. Closure Orders can refer to the immediate closure of all or part of the food premises or all or some of its activities.
A Prohibition Order is issued if the activities (handling, processing, disposal, manufacturing, storage, distribution or selling food) involve or are likely to involve a serious risk to public health from a particular product, class, batch, or item of food. The effect is to prohibit the sale of the product, either temporarily or permanently.
The full list of closure and prohibition orders for July can be found online at FSAI.ie
Read more: FSAI official release re July closures
Read more: Popular Dublin pub Hartigan’s among 12 food businesses issued with closure orders last month
5. Countdown to Blas begins with award nominees
The finalists for Blas na hÉireann, The Irish Food Awards, 2024 have been announced and the countdown is now on for another exciting and joyous awards weekend in the pretty seaside town of Dingle. The three-day event will take place from Thursday 3rd October to Saturday 5th October. The excitement is already building and the Blas team are hard at work preparing for the arrival of food and drink producers from across Ireland to celebrate the very best of Irish.
Now in its 17th year, Blas na hÉireann saw another record-breaking year across all categories along with many new producers entering the awards for the first time this year. During the judging, which took place in June and July, over 3,000 entries were judged, a testament to the number of brilliant producers across the country.
While the national shortlists are long out, I’m going to shine a spotlight purely on the Kilkenny folk who will be heading to Dingle in October, so congratulations to Arán Bakery & Bistro, Callan Bacon, Eurospar Kilkenny, Goatsbridge Trout, Lekker Food Collection, Outdoors Herbalist, Lisduggan Farm Foods and Tirlán.
Judging took place across June and July with the awards being announced on October 4th.
Read more: Visit irishfoodawards.com
Bonus reading this week…
Fancy some Red Rum and Raisin? Equine gelato may now be a thing.
Or maybe you fancy yourself as a whiskey taster or always wanted to know how to taste whiskey like a pro? There’s an article for that.
Urban American Farmer, an organization based in Austin, Texas is working to build a communication network between farmers and consumers.
Could Mars-flavoured Pringles be in our future? Big industry news this week saw Mars acquiring Kellanova in a deal worth US$36bn.
Scientists reckon they’ve finally identified where gluten reactions begin when it comes to our diet.
5 recipes for the week ahead…
Tis the season to bake bread, fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-laaaaa. Or something along those lines. Remember that time in our lives about three or four years ago when we all went mad baking bread at home and you couldn’t find a bag of flour in a shop for love or money?
Well, while 95% of people who were flat out baking bread have parked their sourdough-proving pots for the next outbreak, bread is still very much a real thing, and can be so pleasurable to cook.
Putting the sourdough to one side and avoiding the need to feed the beast, here are some simple bread recipes you should be able to try at home before school starts at the end of the month.
I’ll start with one of my own from a few years back, a simple yoghurt and oat bread with some onion thrown in for good measure.
Shane Smith knows a thing or two about baking and his Guinness treacle bread is the business.
Making bagels doesn’t have to be complicated (though it will involve boiling AND baking).
Want a simple gluten-free loaf recipe? Ask Jamie Oliver.
Got time on your side and like a back-story? This long-standing peasant bread recipe has you covered.
Podcast pick
This week I've been giving Beár Bia a spin. Co-hosted by Oisin Davis and Dee Laffan, the series is four episodes deep to date, the latest taking a look at Roe & Co's Summer Garden Series. Cocktails, Lambay Island Crab, Ballymakenny Farm potato flatbread with Toons Bridge cultured butter veg make the menu with Ali Dunworth, curating the summer series, also joining the conversation.
There’s a new episode every fortnight, so you’ve got four to catch up on including stops in Wicklow, Bloom and a look at the Big Grill Festival.
And that’s a wrap…
That’s it for this week. I’ve also managed to squeeze out a few blog posts this week including a new veg box service available in Kilkenny from Knockdrinna Farm in Stoneyford - and it looks good!
Whatever you do for the week ahead, do it well, and I’ll be back again with another helping next weekend.
G’luck!
PS: We can hook up on X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, you know yourself…