Pre-Covid times: Allta was opened by chef Niall Davidson (previously from London's Shoreditch Nuala) at the end of 2019. It's actually pretty easy to miss it as it's located next to a car park entrance on Setanta Place. It's not the usual cheese and cured meat combo you may find in old school continental wine bars, Allta is more of a small plate affair.  In a pre-pandemic world, the menu featured house-made charcuterie, pasta and oysters amongst other fares. I actually never made it before the start of the pandemic, damn... During the Pandemic: Allta's answer to the first lockdown was t ..read more

Happy New Year! I hope you had a good Christmas and are doing ok given the context. I should have posted this article before the end of 2020 but I was hiding in a Christmas bubble away from the Internet for six consecutive days and never got to finish it until now. Each year I usually compile some kind of "best of" lists of my favourite places based on the previous twelve months but I'm doing something a little different this time around. I've always liked keeping positive vibes here so I did a round-up of the businesses that brightened my 2020 rather than trying to see which businesses see ..read more

I’m delighted to be partnering with the National Dairy Council as part of the Cheese Your Way EU campaign. We often joke in my house that our fridge content is about 90% cheese. I mostly buy Irish cheeses for what my husband and I call our ‘cheese ceremonies’ (essentially a cheese platter for dinner) and I cook a lot with French and Italian cheeses on a daily basis.   Interesting fact: “53% of Irish people are curious to discover more cheeses while only 26% French are interested to do the same,” so I hope this recipe will introduce you to a cheese you didn’t know, wherever you might be ..read more

I'm sure you're going to get inundated with Christmas gift guides from various publications promoting all kind of Irish food and drink hampers. It's all great but I wanted to take a more personable approach by curating a list based on what I love.  I've compiled a list of small independent Irish businesses from whom I've bought some lovely stuff over the past eight months. Many online orders from these businesses have brightened up my days or made eating and drinking at home all the more special. I thought it would make more sense to give shout outs to the companies that have contribut ..read more

When I was 18-19 years old I started developing an obsession with travel.  I watched every single travel documentary on French TV and my mam even bought me a subscription to a travel magazine called GEO which I loved reading. At that time, I already knew I wanted to pursue tourism studies, live in an English speaking country and see the world. Many years later, not only have I done all these things but I also started French Foodie in Dublin and Delicious Dublin Tours which have both brought me some great opportunities. A few months ago I received an email from Gallimard (one of ..read more

When people happen to know that I've done a round the world trip they always ask me what my favourite country was. Without a blink, I always reply "Argentina". Barbecues with the locals in Buenos Aires, seeing penguins in their natural habitat in Puerto Madryn, cycling around the vineyards in Mendoza and sipping hot chocolate in snowy Ushuaia are some of my favourite memories of my six weeks there. Not only were some of the places we visited incredibly diverse and beautiful but the locals were some of the most laid back and friendly people I've met. I'd go back in a heartbeat ..read more

I completely forgot to write the third edition of my Gastronomic Digest this week for publication yesterday.  I knew it would be a tough commitment when I decided to start it but sure, it's still ok to post it on a Saturday morning. To be honest, the blog is my favourite way of procrastinating as I'm supposed to be writing my thesis at the moment, so here is what I found interesting this week: Shots of food cultures around the world (Worldwide) I enjoyed this collection of pictures of different food cultures from around the world by National Geographic. From a bread-sel ..read more

I hope you enjoyed the first Gastronomic Digest last week. This article is actually my 500th post here on the blog, I never thought I would reach this number when I started almost 7 years ago. Anyway, here is what I found interesting this week... What are the oldest restaurants in the world? (Worldwide)Everybody gets hyped up about the latest openings these days but how about the places that have been here forever? This list of the oldest restaurants in the world by Condé Nast Traveler seems like an awesome bucket list for any serious food tourists. I knew about Restaurante Botín in Madr ..read more

I read A LOT about food, not only for my studies but in general and while the history of food, food tourism and restaurant trends are what I'm really interested in I always try to learn about other food matters. I'm starting this new weekly column to share what I find interesting in the world of gastronomy, not just in Ireland but all over the globe. I'll post 'The Gastronomic Digest' every Friday and I hope you'll enjoy it! Some of the news this week is on the fine dining side of things, but it won't always be the case. Food on the Edge 2019 returns this October (Ireland)Let's start with ..read more

Many of us may be improving our cooking and baking skills during the pandemic but let's face it, some things just aren't replicable by home cooks as they require technical skills and a huge amount of knowledge. That's why I've ordered pastries from Le Pâtissier and chocolates from Arcane Chocolate over the last few weeks. These are products that are made by skilled artisans and make you feel like you're really getting something special. Arcane Chocolate was founded in late 2019 by Belgian master chocolatier and pastry chef Erik Van der Veken. Erik trained in culinary school back home and p ..read more