Sally's blog

The toughest zone in the Irish restaurant world is the middle market, that place where the purchasing is done exclusively from the Man-in-the-Van, and where chips come with everything.
But you can make something entirely different with a middle market restaurant, and Galway’s Brasserie on the Corner is showing just how to do it.

Apron Strings: Recipes from a Family Kitchen (Nessa Robins)

Most people who write for a living rarely reveal much of themselves in print.

Writing means inventing both an authorial “voice” and an authorial “personality”, two devices that keep your innermost self away from the reader.

But one of the pleasant outcomes of the blogging revolution has been a new crop of writers who don't wear the carapace of “writer”.

The dynamic John Farrell has been ringing the changes in his Dublin empire. Leslie Williams tries to keep up.

It's all change at the (mini) empire of John Farrell of Dillingers, The Butcher Grill and 777. Menus are changing in all three restaurants and he is just about to open Super Miss Sue - a 65 seater seafood and sushi restaurant with a Camari and Gin bar on Drury Street beside Fade Street Social.

It was like having two tickets to Kinky Boots on Broadway, the hottest reservation in town. Loads of loyal customers turned away, for there are only 35 seats in the dining room and legendary London supremo Richard Corrigan was going to be cooking alongside local champion Aidan McGrath in one of this year's already hottest destinations: The Wild Honey Inn.

We, who had had the sense to pick up the phone and book in the first few hours of it being announced, were piled into a packed restaurant to enjoy Richard Corrigan "Recipes from the Land And The Sea".

The seventh Clare Slow Food Festival took place this last weekend in Lisdoonvarna. This is a special report from the Sunday morning food forum, during which a number of specialist food people spoke about how it is to live and work in the Burren in County Clare.

William Barry tries a Holywood gastropub that knows how to get it all right, The Dirty Duck Ale House

I knew I was going to like Dirty Duck from the minute I walked in the door. Two features which I love to see in any pub are pictures of classic sailing boats and an open fire: the Dirty Duck has both.

Leslie Williams eats at one of the grand dames of Dublin dining, the revamped Shelbourne Hotel.

Does anyone else out there still eat “Tea” at 6 o-clock? Well if you do have your dinner in the middle of the day and would like a high tea in the grandest of surroundings then head for the Shelbourne.

Connie McKenna enjoys dinner at Sheedy's, Lisdoonvarna.

On a rainy Saturday night in the Burren, in damp Lisdoonvarna, on a solo eating spin, the one thing I was looking for was delicate comfort food. And there, bright yellow and inviting, was Sheedy's Hotel.

Last week the EU voted – narrowly – to ban the use of some of the neonicotinoid pesticides that are alleged to be part of the cause of colony collapse in the world population of bees and other pollinators. In the vote to ban the substances, the UK government voted "no" and the Irish government abstained.

In a special report from the Ballymaloe Lit Fest, we asked food writers, chefs and producers: are we doing enough to protect the bees?

With so many food superstars at Ballymaloe last weekend it would be easy to forget that wine, beer and whiskey tastings also played a major part thanks to the wonderful work done by Colm McCan, the inspiring sommelier at Ballymaloe House.

The highlight for all wine enthusiasts occurred late on Sunday when Jancis Robinson MW guided a packed Grain Store through some unusual grape varieties to tie in with the launch of her recent Wine Grapes book.