I’m building up quite a wish list collection now! January, March, April, May, June, July, September, October, November, December 2012 and February 2013!
Now time for April.
Author Archives:
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day
I have quite a few real Irish recipes and Irish-American recipes to share with you today so in the interest of space, I’m using links. I’ll include a few yummy photos too, of course!
Irish Cream Cheesecake from Scratch
Irish White Soda Bread
What it’s like to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Cork, Ireland
Luck of the Irish? And an Irish Scone Recipe
Classic Beef Stew
Beef & Irish Stout Stew
I’ll Eat my Way to Finding the Best Irish Scone in Ireland
Luck O‘ The Irish
Ireland for the Foodie Tourist
Cork Food Forum 2011: Event Wrap-up
Celebrating ‘The Country Cooking of Ireland’
Catex 2013 at RDS
Earlier this week, Kate, LB and I went up to Dublin for Catex 2013. It was inspiring and enjoyable, even if it was a whirlwind day in Dublin (longer next time, I promise, Big Smoke friends). Want to read all about it? Here’s a big long post on my main blog about the day.
Sunday Brunch in Cork City at No. 5 Fenn’s Quay Restaurant
Brunch may have been around for decades but Fenn’s Quay Restaurant, located on Sheares Street in Cork City Centre, is bringing it to Sundays on the 9th, 16th and 23rd of December, from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Sundays are a day when there are not many brunch options in Cork City and are most needed during the peak shopping season. A perfect opportunity to fuel up before final Christmas shopping in town or take a moment away from the madness to eat well and take a moment for yourself – and no queues!
Executive Chefess Kate Lawlor created a delectable brunch menu featuring local ingredients in classics, like Eggs Benedict with Rosscarbery Rashers or Boiled Eggs and Soldiers with Marmite, and indulgent favorites, like fluffy Feirm Úr Buttermilk Pancakes with your choice of crème fraîche, homemade jam or maple syrup. For light eaters, there are Croissants, Porridge or Fruit Scones served with Irish butter and Kate’s own house-made jam. With a variety of brunch dishes on the special menu, you’ll be spoilt for choice. Known for its family-friendly menu and staff, even the littlest brunchers will enjoy themselves.
Sunday brunch is the perfect time to treat yourself to a relaxing meal. Make your outing a family affair or gather with friends. Fenn’s Quay will have its own playlist of Jazz favorites playing in the background so you can enjoy a break from holiday music and focus on good food and conversation. I mean, how many times can we listen to ‘All I Want For Christmas’?!
Fenn’s Quay is proudly an Eircom WiFiHub, a service that allows Eircom broadband, eMobile and Meteor customers to connect to the Internet when they are out and about.
About Fenn’s Quay
No. 5 Fenn’s Quay Restaurant offers cosy dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner in a welcoming, relaxed atmosphere. The menu offers fresh, simple, and creative dishes from the regions of Ireland with global inspiration. The casual dining room ambiance combines contemporary elegance with rustic traditional. Street parking available in front or in nearby North Main Street public lot. Reservations can be made by calling 021.427.9527. For more information, follow Fenn’s Quay on Twitter @FennsQuay.
Tweet Meet Tues
Nearly every Tuesday, a small varying group of Leesiders meets at Electric on South Mall to talk, drink coffee and Tweet.
All this grew from an exchange on Twitter among locals a few years ago and now is one of the most established casual meet ups in town. It started at Cafe Gusto on Lapps Quay but as numbers increased and winter got colder, we moved to Electric’s downstairs area.
No attendance is kept. The night before, Twitter lights up with the hash tag #TweetMeetTues as discussions occur on who may be there. Regulars tag other regulars to ask specifically and often it coincides with in-town appointments.
Some weeks, it is very quiet. Other weeks, it is lively. No matter how many people show up, the coffee is always hot and the conversation is beyond 140 characters.
Remembering the HMS Bounty
Mere months after the 1962 replica of the HMS Bounty visited Cork City, she sank in Hurricane Sandy off the Atlantic coast near North Carolina. Two members of the crew did not survive. It is remarkable anyone did when you see this photo from the U.S. Coast Guard. A very real reminder of the amazing work and strength of those Coast Guard teams (related ABC News coverage).
US Coast Guard photo of Bounty submerged in the Atlantic Ocean about 90 miles SE of Hatteras, NC after 16 crew members abandoned the sinking ship and were rescued by helicopter. Source: http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/
I feel fortunate to have seen her sail out of Cork Harbor after her June visit. Here are some photos I captured at the time (with my seven-month-old son in a chest carrier).
Let us take a moment to admire the bravery of the crew, especially the two who did not survive, Captain Robin Walbridge (missing and presumed deceased and crew member Claudene Christian, who was apparently the great-great-great-great-great granddaughter of Fletcher Christian, the sailing master of the original HMS Bounty. Let’s keep their families in our thoughts.
![HMS Bounty [replica] sailing out of Port of Cork](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5305/5853468824_371e2bfb05.jpg)
Italian Food and Wine Night with da Vinci Wines of Tuscany at Fenn’s Quay
This Autumn, Fenn’s Quay’s head chefess and co-owner Kate Lawlor traveled to Tuscany to visit vineyards and learn about wine and olive oil. The resulting Instagram photos, stories and culinary inspiration were lovely to say the least. But for those of us who wished we could be there too, Chefess Kate is holding an Italian Food and Wine Night on November 29th with Cantine Leonardo da Vinci Wines of Tuscany, an innovative growers’ cooperative comprised of over 200 winegrowers whose grapes soak up the sun on the Tuscan hillsides of Italy.
The Italian Food and Wine Night takes place this Thursday, the 29th of November. Four courses, four different wines from Jacomo to match each course. Amazing food paired with a wine accompaniment to tantalise your taste buds! Only 35 spots are available for this special culinary evening, so move quickly to reserve your place. Perfect opportunity for foodies (and aspiring foodies) to develop knowledge of wine and food. The price is €45 per person. Reservations: 021.427.9527
No. 5 Fenn’s Quay Restaurant offers cosy dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner in a welcoming, relaxed atmosphere. The menu offers fresh, simple, and creative dishes from the regions of Ireland with global inspiration. The casual dining room ambiance combines contemporary elegance with rustic traditional. Fenns Quay is located on Shears Street (between Courthouse Street and Anne Street) in Cork City Centre. Street parking available in front or in nearby North Main Street public lot. Reservations: 021.427.9527
Why I’m a Regular at Fenn’s Quay and Electric
After reading Dianne Jacob’s post about food bloggers being pushovers (or not), I want to state clearly that even though I eat at Fenn’s Quay and Electric at least once a week, Tweet/blog about my visits there, am friends with Kate (something that happened after I wrote my TripAdvisor review) and know Ernest and Dennis, I do not receive any freebies or benefits that are not also given to other customers. Every so often, I get a free tea or hot chocolate as a random act of kindness to a group of people or customers, but this is not timed or in association with any action on my part. I have never ever been asked to write a post or review about either place. Below, I am listing what I like about each place.
FENN’S QUAY RESTAURANT
Sheares Street, Cork City (one street north from Washington Street, behind the Courthouse)
Tel: 021.427.9527
Facebook and Twitter
Open Monday to Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to late
Fenn’s Quay (owner: Kate Lawlor), Sheares Street, Cork City Centre
Why the love?
1) The specials change daily and feature seasonal ingredients so it doesn’t get boring. But popular standards are always on their main menu. All at reasonable prices.
2) It is walking distance from my home, so it’s convenient.
3) The staff are friendly, helpful and knowledgable.
4) The food is delicious, using quality local ingredients.
5) The restaurant is clean with aubergine velvet banquet seating and chairs that feel elegant even though it’s a casual spot.
6) Ever since day one, my baby boy has received a warm welcome there and they make it easy to dine out with a little one. I am a sucker for a kid-friendly restaurant that isn’t geared toward children (ie, no frozen chicken fingers on the menu or plastic cups for everyone to drink from).
7) Free coffee refills.
8) Open from 8:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday. That’s three meals a day, six days a week!
9) Comfortable and warm. A very important attribute in rainy Cork.
ELECTRIC BAR
South Mall, Cork City (downstairs)
Tel: 021.422.2990
Facebook and Twitter
Open Monday to Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to late. Open Sundays too!
Electric Bar (owner: Ernest Cantillon), South Mall, Cork City Centre
Why the love?
1) Simple but creative sandwiches and soups after Noon for reasonable prices.
2) It is walking distance from my home, so it’s convenient.
3) The staff are friendly and welcoming to my baby boy, LB.
4) There is a changing table in the handicapped restroom. Though it took me over six months of motherhood to discover that (I never asked).
5) It is clean with great natural light streaming in the windows.
6) They carry Australian non-alcoholic ginger beer and pitchers of water with different sliced citrus or fresh mint.
7) Welcoming to my knitting group. Knitters are the like the skateboarders of the craft world. We are too busy knitting to order lots of food and drink so not a real money-maker for wherever we meet.
8) Sometimes there is a little taster of biscotti with my hot chocolate and it’s such a treat. Not always there as it is not listed as part of the hot chocolate on the menu, so a nice surprise.
So, there you have the details on why I eat where I do. Now, there’s no need to doubt the sincerity of my posts and enthusiasm for Fenn’s Quay and Electric. I go to these places with regularity and love them without any compensation, freebies, bribery, brown envelopes or begging. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be?
