Chic eggs, boring billionaires, tasty openings
Did you miss me? Well, I sure missed you. I'm back to serve as your one and only source
It’s been a few weeks since I shared a decent batch of news with you. I was working at Beyond The Pale, then headed to Dingle for a little break and what a week to be there. Dingle in the sun - an rud is annamh is iontach. I had some first-time visitors with me, so we did the classic tick list - Slea Head, beehive huts, Hold A Baby Lamb, swims, the pubs, of course and ate very well - highlight being dinner in Solas. I haven’t been in a few years, and I might even think it’s the best it’s ever been. We were also a bit obsessed with the spicy BLTs from Bean in Dingle. And a full-on feast in the Fish Box was divine. I’ve probably promised this before, but I will get around to sharing a Dingle guide here…
Back to Beyond The Pale for a sec, it was so fun to meet some Kitchen Press readers there - thank you for saying hi, what a buzz when two worlds collide. And speaking of festivals, I’ll have news for you by next week about All Together Now, where I will be hosting the Kitchen Press stage!
Fresh ingredients:
News & stuff I’m excited about
Quite a few of the new openers I’ve been teasing have finally opened. Chubby’s opened last weekend in Clontarf, and reports on Instagram were very positive. So much so, they are fully booked already for this week, so keep an eye on their Instagram for updates or book ahead now here.
Down the road on the seafront, Coopers Bottleshop opened last week, selling ‘Considered bottles & interesting wines by the glass’.
In town, Comet, ‘A modern bistro just off Dawson Street’, kicked things off also with very positive posts spotted on Insta. Book your spot now.
Tallaght’s Priory Market also opened, a new food hall with quite a good lineup - take a peek here.
Great news in Phibsboro, Fion Wine are now doing sit-in wine by the glass and a few small bites.
Happy Birthday to one of my all-time favourite places in Dublin, the Pepper Pot cafe. The local favourite recently celebrated 15 years in business, no mean feat, and they still serve what is probably the best sandwich in the city.
Huge congratulations to the immensely talented Isadora Petinaro of 9 Below Bar. She was crowned Best Bartender in Ireland at the World Class Ireland 2025 Final.
TV chef Mark Moriarty announced he’s opening ‘Mark Moriarty Studio’ at Wilton Park in Dublin later this year, which will act as the base for his TV shows, along with hosting events, pop-ups, workshops and lots more.
Straffan in Co. Kildare has a new shop, Life Store, that looks like it’s full of tasty food, drinks and gifts.
While the Fumbally chefs take their summer hols, their Friday night dinners will take a summery pivot to Aperitivo Nights. For €10 a plate and you can help yourself to the spread at the counter, which will include cheeses, cured meats, roasted veggies, sourdough, focaccia, dips, and some other treats. They also do wines by the glass, negronis and sangria. Book here.
Beár Bia podcast season 2 episode 3 from Dee Laffan and Oisín Davis is out now, they travelled to Cronin's pub in Crosshaven, Cork to meet the Stonewell Cider team.
Remember this article I shared a few weeks ago about Dorsia, a new restaurant booking app? Well, I was on 2FM during the week talking Dorsia and some other madcap platforms for spending money on food, drink, travel, PJs and more. Listen back here.
In case you didn’t know, I’m a longtime rich-people-obsessed armchair critic, and so of course I’m dying to know who’s cooking, what wine will be flowing at the Bezos Sánchez wedding happening this weekend. Although they kicked off festivities with a foam party on board their $500 million yacht, which screamed Foam-Party-Steve from Below Deck Season 3. It doesn’t fill me full of hope for the rest of the events, but still I can’t look away. And surely that’s what they want? When you are that rich ($220 billion rich), you could have bought an island for the event instead of invading Venice, one of the most over-subscribed tourist spots in the world? As the guests arrive, I’ve mostly been hanging on Blakely Thornton’s every post - highly recommended for the cutting critique this event deserves. I know you’re here for the food and drink, but so far, reports are vague. Rumours of Carbone New York catering, they will probably serve Bellini’s. There are apparently goodie bags ready with pastries and sweets by Rosa Salva, Venice's oldest pastry shop. Yawn. Here’s hoping there will be a generous guest in attendance with snappy social media skills, just like at Ally and Sean’s recent viral $5 million Adare Manor wedding and next week I will have all the juicy deets… and it better deliver more than their very basic invitation.
Another invitation sent out this week, I predict, will have a much bigger impact - get ready to start seeing more ‘egg plates’ everywhere very soon. All the fashion eyes are on Irish designer Jonathan Anderson today as he shows his first collection since joining Dior as creative director, and the invitations he sent out? They included a plate with three ceramic eggs attached to it, a style that harks back to the French era Trompe l'oeil, literally meaning to 'fool the eye’, when food was used for fun with household objects in order to amuse your guests. Anderson is already the reason we see tomatoes on every piece of clothing this summer, so I’m predicting we may have egg plates in Penny’s before we know it…
Take note… this is an invitation! From Jonathan Andersons Instagram
Dates for the Diary:
Tasty things to book ahead
Birdhill Coffee Festival is on this weekend at The Old Barracks in Birdhill, Co. Tipperary. Details and tickets here.
Things are heating up at two-Michelin-starred restaurant, Terre in Cork - this summer they are hosting Summer Barbeque Experience on Sunday, 20 July and Sunday, 3 August, with Chef Patron Vincent Crepel and his award-winning team cooking. Tickets: €95 per person (excluding drinks). Find out more and book here.
Speaking of barbecue, The Big Grill announced a whole host of names for the upcoming festival in August - I am very much looking forward to “Slice, Slice Baby”, the Jamón & Wine Experience with Raquel Acosta, for Iberian ham paired with curated wines.
The Marker hotel has launched some summer events, including Spice-Up Sundays on The Rooptop Bar & Terrace, kicking off on July 6th, a daytime session with tunes, cocktails and more. They are also hosting an exclusive Bollinger Champagne dinner on July 10th in partnership with Findlater & Co. More details and book here.
Daruma in Malahide is hosting a yakitori event with Kirin on July 19th. Expect delicious Japanese food, cold beers, DJ sets and lots more.
Petit Fours:
Sweet bits to watch, listen, read or obsess over etc.
A Decade of Equality in Irish Food and Drink 🌈
Peach Pony Club? Yes please.
Decanter World Wine Awards 2025 Best in Show: Top 50 wines
Are the banker gym bros the new wellness girlie?
Might need this AirPod case
I want to spot a celeb wearing this Mortadella hat in Venice this weekend
The perfect wedding present for the Billionaires who have everything and love Italian food, perhaps?
Thanks for reading The Kitchen Press, my weekly round-up of Irish food, drink and hospitality news. If you liked my writing, I’ve got a very fun book out, A Compendium of Irish Pints. You can also follow my eating and drinking, and other writing work over on Instagram and sporadically on TikTok.
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