Corinna Dunne

It seems that the French Tourist Board is interested in French manners too: Edited by John Talbott with Corinna Dunne's permission to conform to copyright law in the US.

It's so long since I've been to Chapter One (Dub) that as soon as I heard the news this morning I thought I'd get in before the uninitiated and book straightaway. On congratulating them about the star, my colleague who did the booking was told that the phones hadn't stopped ringing all morning, which is somewhat surprising given the relative lack of publicity in the mainstream press thusfar. There are a lot of people really delighted that Chapter One has finally been recognised -- it's undoubtedly long overdue. Personally, I just can't wait to get my hands on that charcuterie trolley again. ← Yes, the charcuterie trolley is on at the moment. I just booked for our anniversary in late March. I got a 9 o'clock table (nothing earlier available), so I'd say that booking is going to be a nightmare soon. I've friends going there on Saturday. As you said, the phones have been hopping and they are over the moon. In culinary terms, it's like Ireland winning the World Cup. So many people feel a personal attachment to this restaurant. Ross Lewis and Martin Corbett have been slogging it out for about 15 years now, way before the whole Celtic Tiger thing happened. There's something terribly Irish about Chapter One, not just Ross Lewis's food (because there's plenty of creativity in there too), but the wonderful warm service and Martin Corbett's accessible and kind manner. Everyone is treated specially and there's no who's who feel about the place.

Well there’s great news on Chapter One in Dublin (not to be confused with the London demoted establishment), thread here and website here. I had given up on Michelin ever awarding it a star: there’s not a cloche in sight, no napkin folding, terribly warm and unstuffy service, and it has been consistently good for years… but the penny seems to have finally dropped with an audible "alors" crash to the ground. Of course, now it will probably take two months to get a booking! And I’m terribly impressed with their speed in awarding Aldridge Lodge a Bib. This is a brilliant little restaurant that does a cracking €35 dinner, and another place with really warm, informal service. All I can say is, they must have someone new working in our neck of the woods. Good to see Jacob’s Ladder parted from its undeserving Bib, but I’m surprised that they didn’t catch L’Gueuleton… although maybe their focus is on rewarding “Irishness” this year. If that’s the direction, The Winding Stair should be well on track for a Bib next year. Bang Café, which has retained its Bib is pretty close to the wire in terms of price criteria. Town Bar and Grill and Dax could ostensibly qualify on the same basis and are possibly more deserving… although maybe that’s just because I’m not a size zero and would feel out of place in Bang… OK, I’m too old too! On Belfast, I was last in Alden’s in August, and didn’t notice any drop in standards (no discernible difference after the departure of Cath Gradwell) and the price point is spot on for the quality of the food. I would certainly prefer it to Deane’s Brasserie which kept its Bib.

Don't miss the Vouvray in the Touraine! Love the stuff! ← The sweet Vouvray iw well worth trying too. Quite subtle. I had not heard of it until I tried it there; you'll find it in a winery called "Champion". As far as I can remember, it is in a mountain cave. In fact many of the caves are used for this purpose as the conditions are ideal. Following the wine route is fun if you are interested, but nothing like the fireworks of Burgundy or Bordeaux. It's a good spot for goats' cheese too. With all the chateaux, the Loire is enchanting and very romantic. It looks like you have planned a lovely trip. I'd love to hear how you get on.

How was lunch?

Interesting Andy. And it sounds quite like the La Stampa concept.

Well…. It looks like Louis Murray, owner of La Stampa thinks this is a good idea too. Tom Doorley’s piece in the Irish Times gives the details: And… This could be a winner. The location is brilliant, and the room cries out to be a brasserie, actually I had expected to see the Flo Group move in to this ailing space. In terms of competition, if the product and price is right, it could blow Venu (with its terrible acoustics, but good, simple… possibly too simple, well-priced food) out of the water, and Fallon & Byrne and Rhodes D7 are just not cutting it. Could be interesting. Added to that, the Shelbourne is about to re-open soon, which will be filled with exactly the right type of customer. The news on the Shelbourne is that the Horseshoe Bar will be much the same, although restored back to what it was originally… which means that the green Connemara marble bar counter is gone and has been replaced with authentic white formica. The walls are now the original dark red instead of green. And on the left, the dining room has become a huge cocktail bar which connects up with the long bar at the other side. The lift in the foyer is gone and the original breathtaking stairway is back. The restaurant, which is behind the stairs and incorporates the old Side Door restaurant, is broken up into alcoves and private areas and there’s a large open kitchen, but it seems there will be no “big name” running it.

Now you're probably be a more astute diner than I, but anytime I'm in Dax I spend something more akin to one-star money rather than bib! Still, I'll be there on Saturday so I'll see what I think... ← Aaah... those wonderful deep pockets of yours. I think you'll find the winelist way too tempting to get out of there at Bib level. We await your report!

RDB, like Simon, I think it is too soon for Mint, but if should be well on track for next year. I'm very interested in your L'Ecrivain prediction. I agree, I think it has "starting to lose its gloss" written all over it. In fact, they were lucky to get a star in the first place with the bathroom facilities (way too small, a bit of nice soap please) and desserts - which have never been their strong point - are just plain boring at this stage. Also the service can be abysmal, although well-known critics and journos are quickly spotted and treated with kid gloves. Derry and Sallyanne Clarke are obviously very nice people, but this is just not a place for the common man without an expense account, so an inspector could well have had a ho-hum experience on a visit. That said, they may be reluctant to take away one of the few stars in the city. I expect Chapter One to be ignored completely again, and this actually makes the place cooler for it. Dax might get a Bib, I think they could be in there on the price threshold. Oliver would be well known to them from his time in Thornton's and they got rid of the bad table by the ladies bathroom. A few new places like The Winding Stair merit a Bib, but it would have opened too late in the year, and anyway, they probably won't "get it". The best new restaurant in Dublin this year was Fayruz in Middle Abbey Street, a proper shawarma joint, but obviously not a Michelin contender!!! ← How could I forget... L'Gueuleton, should be well in line for a Bib. I don't expect it will change much now that Troy Maguire has left. It will be very interesting to see what Troy Maguire does at Lockes in Portobello. The plans are for a price-point between L'Gueuleton and Lockes, using loads of the fresh, local and seasonal stuff, plenty of artisan producers, scallops, rare breed pigs etc. He's spending the month of January sourcing top produce around the country. One to watch.

In terms of location, I think D7's time will come, but it's not there yet. I think it suffers hugely from not being by the River or on Mick Wallace's stretch. As you say, if it was good enough, it would perform better. I do think that after the Novelli experience, foreign big name chefs have to really prove their worth before they are welcomed into the fold. OK, they were up front saying that his nibs wouldn't be in the D7 kitchen, but it leaves a big... and then what?... and to get on the radar, a celeb newcomer will have to be much better than the competition. II expect Ramsay to deliver on quality, if he delivers on price and value, it will be brilliant.

Interesting you say that Corinna. I grew up in Monagahan/Armagh and went to school in Dublin so have a few pals there. With the tourist influx into Ireland and the standard of eating out when I was last there (around Limerick (Dunraven Arms, Adare), Kerry (Carragh Lodge), Derry (Beechwood House Hotel) and the general devlopment/comsmopolitainess of Ireland, I wondered what the opportunities were like. Is it for Hind's Head or is it for a modern styled country house hotel a la Babbington House - with good food, sourcing and execution the driver? bakerestates. ← The market is crying out for good food in pubs. A few places are doing it, like the Oarsman in Leitrim and the Ballymore Inn in Kildare. Pubs in Ireland have been particularly badly hit by the stringent inforcement of the drink driving laws and their trade is hurting. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Ramsay is sniffing around this end of the market as I think that it is where the greatest opportunities lie. There is some fantastic local produce available now, Irish cheeses, charcuterie, local meat etc and awareness and pride in Irish artisan produced specialities is increasing. I recently edited the Eat Out 2007 guide for Food & Wine magazine and it is clear that there are huge stretches of culinary wasteland in Ireland. Pubs are in the perfect position to fill these pockets and they are also so much part of our heritage. And I'm not necessarily talking gastro-pubs as such. I remember going to a Sussex pub that sepecialises in sausages and it was fantastic, with great real ale. In Lincoln (of all places), there was a little restaurant I loved called The Pie Shop. Another simple concept. This is the sort of thing that Ireland desperately needs. Not dreadful lazy Italian food in ever neighbourhood. Actually, I had a big rant about this on the Orla Barry Show on Newstalk on Friday as I think it is one of the biggest blots on our culinary landscape. I'd better stop!!! On the country house thing, there are plenty of them around, some better than others. Many destination restaurants down the country, like the Tannery, McNean Bistro and Aldridge Lodge have added/updated accommodation for weekend breaks. It's interesting that you should mention Babbington House, as a similar hip retreat called Bellinter House has opened recently in Meath (near Tara). It's owned by the Eden/Odessa/Cafe Bar Deli people and the restaurant there is going to be Eden goes to the country, so Eleanor Walsh's smokies, Guinness stew etc. And yes, good food and sourcing is where it's at. Execution, unfortunately, is not always up to scratch, glad you mentioned it.

Here's the piece from The Irish Times: €3.50 for a cup of espresso is another outrageous reason, and if you want to have a birthday cake, they charge €2 a slice to serve it. Mean, mean sneaky costs. It doesn't deserve to succeed with that sort of attitude.

Hi Rona - Sorry about the delay on this, but here's a bit more info (apologies to all for the OT post, but we're having trouble with the PM system): The souk in Sana’a is well worth a visit. It’s like it’s lost in time. The buildings in the old part of town are 5 or 6 stories high and beautifully distinctive with freizes, interesting brickwork and inlaid doors. You can buy your bushel of Qat in the souk if you feel so inclined but don’t be tempted to buy a jambiya (the traditional curved Yemeni dagger) as a souvenir if you are going on to Dubai afterwards. They are classed as a weapon and the lovely antique one I had in my suitcase was taken from me at customs. There are some beautiful fabrics in the souk (the Yemeni women don’t wear the traditional black abaya, but very brightly coloured ones) and some interesting pieces of jewelery, although obviously very traditional. Be careful taking photographs. The women don’t like it, although some of the children will come up to you saying “soora” which is photograph and will like having their shot taken. They are quite exotic looking, particularly the little girls. If you want to give them something, a “gallam”, a pencil, is a good idea. I used to bring a stash of them whenever I went to India to give to the children, granted a much more poverty stricken place. Close to Sana’a, (just a short journey) is Wadi Dhar which is an interesting house, formerly owned by an Imam, which spirals up around the rock on which it is built and has a well running down through the middle. It’s quite impressive. Then there are the fortified towns of Shibam, Kokabam and Shihara well camouflaged up in the rocky mountains (you will see plenty more perched up on top of mountains as you drive around). They are absolutely amazing. You should visit one of them. I also remember going to a town, a cultural centre, that had a very high number of beautiful mosques which you could visit and go up the stairs to walk around on the roof (I can’t remember the name of it, but I’m sure a guide will be able to tell you). Further down is Taiz, which is not as interesting as Sana'a, even though it is the ancient capital. But the drive is incredible, through high mountains with fantastic views and vistas. If you go off the main roads, some of the dirt tracks can be pretty dangerous and when I was there, there were plenty of cars and buses crashed down the steep mountainside. Driving here is extremely dangerous, so be sure to get a guide with a 4 x 4, I wouldn’t suggest driving yourself. And even with a guide, you’ll probably have a few scary moments as he battles to maintain his honour when someone tries to pass him out. The tribal spirit is strong, and challenging Yeminis is not a good idea. Many villages that we had intended driving through were closed because of fighting, and I don’t think this has changed much since then. If anything, things are probably a lot more dangerous… and yes, I’d be taking advantage of whatever security is offered. I know of an American guy who astonished people when he said he had stayed over in a particular village. Apparently he was the first Westerner to leave it alive, and that was about 17 years ago! But back to Taiz. If you do go, be sure to visit the museum which is the house of the last Imam. He used to show the locals films on his projector to terrify the living daylights out of them, he had a great penchant for Mont Blanc pens and his wife favoured perfume and had oodles of bottles of Chanel No 5. After getting seriously injured in battle, he dosed himself up to the gills with morphine and eventually died. Not your usual museum! Jebla is a pretty little place near to Taiz, where you’ll find the ruins of one of the queen’s palaces. It was a beautiful day when we visited, bright pink flowers were in bloom and there was a lovely gracious air to the place. The Red Sea and Huddaidah area offer a completely different experience with mud huts, fishing villages etc like I mentioned above. If you have time, this is an interesting contrast to the rest of the country. In fact, I'd be inclined to skip Taiz and go here instead. I've no info on Aden and that part of the country as it was under communist rule when I was there. I’m looking forward to hearing how you get on. I’m sure you know about what to wear, and I hardly need to say it, but be careful. Best - C

More news from Gordon Ramsay, although not very much detail. He will be coming to Ireland, although not Dublin as he announced back in December. He will be opening in a new Ritz-Carlton hotel in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, an absolutely beautiful part of the country, just a short drive from Dublin. According to the Irish Times, which obviously got the briefest of press releases on the announcement: And This will be a second destination restaurant for Dubliners (Richard Corrigan’s at Lyons Village in Kildare being the brave trailblazer) and a very welcome lift for Wicklow which apart from the Roundwood Inn, suffers from a dearth of good eating places with Mitchell’s closed for the past few years and Johnny Fox’s just plain pastiche awful. There’s a great opportunity for a Hind’s Head type pub in Enniskerry to piggyback on the influx of gastro gawkers and provide the second meal for a weekend break experience. B&B’s should do really well too. No one is going to be driving! Re the Shelbourne, I have it on good authority that there will be no "big name" chef opening there, which seems like a bit of a missed opportunity. It would be a nice next move for Dylan McGrath after he's landed a star. Mint is so small, he is surely going to outgrow it.

I think you'll find some good shawarma places on the Edgeware Road, there's probably even a thread somewhere. I have a feeling that you're not going to miss the Dublin gastro scene at all once you start tucking into all of the exciting places in London. Best of luck!

RDB, like Simon, I think it is too soon for Mint, but if should be well on track for next year. I'm very interested in your L'Ecrivain prediction. I agree, I think it has "starting to lose its gloss" written all over it. In fact, they were lucky to get a star in the first place with the bathroom facilities (way too small, a bit of nice soap please) and desserts - which have never been their strong point - are just plain boring at this stage. Also the service can be abysmal, although well-known critics and journos are quickly spotted and treated with kid gloves. Derry and Sallyanne Clarke are obviously very nice people, but this is just not a place for the common man without an expense account, so an inspector could well have had a ho-hum experience on a visit. That said, they may be reluctant to take away one of the few stars in the city. I expect Chapter One to be ignored completely again, and this actually makes the place cooler for it. Dax might get a Bib, I think they could be in there on the price threshold. Olivier would be well known to them from his time in Thornton's and they got rid of the bad table by the ladies bathroom. A few new places like The Winding Stair merit a Bib, but it would have opened too late in the year, and anyway, they probably won't "get it". The best new restaurant in Dublin this year was Fayruz in Middle Abbey Street, a proper shawarma joint, but obviously not a Michelin contender!!!

Hi Corinna, I sent a pm to you in December, but don't know if you ever got it. Now that my plans have changed a bit because my friends backed out, any additional information is even more appreciated! ← Hi Rona - Yes I got the PM and sent a reply, but don't seem to have a copy in my folder. Maybe I did something wrong(?) or maybe I'm just jinxed when it comes to sending you a message. Will get back to you later today with some info (have to dash) and post it on this thread. A moderator can delete it for off topic stuff afteryou've got the info. Best - C

Actually, yes. the restaurant is undergoing some serious remodelling as we speak. Apparantly the rear of the room is to be made into a champagne Bar (!) and the ceiling of the front part of the room will be changed substantially, possibly to include a domes glass roof! ← That makes sense; the ignored bar at the back was a bit sad. I hope he'll have shampoo at a decent price. Some of the places around town make a point of starting with some of the bigger names so it ends up being very expensive to spring for a bottle. In terms of food and price point, did he mention anything?

Nice post HannaBanana. The pigeon sounds great, a dish I would love to try. Did your long chat with the waiter reveal any indication of future direction for the restaurant?

In Dublin, you might also find "The Winding Stair" interesting, A simple approach with good ingredients, well handled, and very Irish focused with excellent local cheese and charcuterie. Affordable too. Getting a bit more expensive, is Chapter One. The dinner theatre menu is a bargain and if you go for dinner, be sure to have the charcuterie or fish plate, whichever is on. Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud (2*) does a very well priced lunch, so too does Thornton's but I think it has closed for a refurb (you could check). L'Ecrivain (!*) also has a special lunch menu, so too has Mint in Ranelagh, but it's a little bit out from the city (you can easily take a tram). Further out, but still in Dublin is a little fish restaurant called Caviston's in Glasthule, which is a nice coastal spot to visit, if you've got the time and are looking to get out of the city. On the north coast of Dublin is Howth, which is really lovely too, The King Sitric is good for fish and there's a very reasonable early-bird menu in Aqua. The food is good enough (not worth the ALC prices though) and the view is great. Rather than spend time travelling south, it would probably make most sense to spend a bit of time in Dublin and then travel up to Armagh. It's a good time to be up in Carlingford, plenty of oysters and scallops in the shell (scallops are removed from shell in RoI due to stupid over-zealous EU compliance). Let us know how you get on.

Doc, I've found that they don't respond to emails, so be sure to book by phone,

Modernist cooking... is this the new term? I noticed that Jay Rayner used it in his piece. From what I understand, Adria, Blumenthal and McGee were unable to find a suitable term to replace molecular gastronomy. Is the search now over?

Sorry to disappoint you further... it looked very good to me too!!! Unfortunately I forgot to buy a copy and am making do with reading it online. In fairness, picking on a Christmas issue to criticise is a bit of an easy target.

I had the surprise dinner menu at Thornton’s a few weeks ago. Our table was down to the left in “the widows and orphans section”, which actually isn’t too bad, and we had a good view of the pass. We were greeted by the Maitre d’ who is a chatty, friendly type, but somehow a slight misfit in this restaurant (I think). The food was very good. We had no amuse bouche, which struck me afterwards as a possible oversight (it was 9pm and service was in full flow), or maybe it doesn’t come with the surprise menu, which without doubt, is generous. We started with deliciously sweet queen scallops, with pickled vegetables and a white truffle frothy foam. This was followed with seared king scallops (perfectly plump and not halved to make the dish look bigger), an intense squid ink sauce, a few shavings of white truffle and a little caviar (ticking a lot of expensive gastro boxes in one swoop). Next was skate wing, cooked so exquisitely, that it nearly stole the show. It was served with the pan juices and was garnished with tiny wasabi marinated fish eggs tucked into a tomato skin. These were gorgeous, but felt a bit wrong with the buttery fish (slight cultural clash, I thought). When Kevin did his rounds of the tables at the end of the evening he told me that they were catfish eggs (the young little French waiter had said they were salmon eggs which clearly they weren’t and insisted he was right when I diplomatically asked him if he was sure). I asked Kevin if he had used them before and he told me that he serves them with seared tuna in the summer, which strikes me as a perfect pairing for them. Then onto the foie gras: a superb terrine with beautiful layers and velvety foie gras interwoven; there was also a heady little truffled foie gras ball (these sometimes feature on the lunch menu) and some truffle sauce. A second foie gras dish followed (to our surprise and delight), this time seared and served with a Muscat grape sauce. It was delicious, although not perfectly de-veined and perhaps a bit cold in the middle, so could have done with a shade more cooking. I’m being picky I know. I got a sense that he thought, hey, they like their foie gras, lash a bit of the fresh stuff onto a hot pan and trot that out to them too. It did feel like a generous extra course. A grape and lime sorbet, shot with Absolut Citron was a perky little palate cleanser. A surprisingly large piece of perfectly cooked rare venison was served with a Valrhona sauce, which I know is a classic, but I actually prefer the chocolate to be more in the background and taste some savoury meat notes from good stock coming through. No one else at the table agreed with me, so take this as a very personal comment. It was served with gratin potato, carrot and parsnip cones, and a parsnip purée. A lovely dish. Cashel Blue cheese was next, in perfect condition, as you’d expect and then a trio of desserts arrived. The (very filling) Valrhona chocolate fondant was cleverly served in an espresso cup, (which I’m sure makes the timing easier since it’s set on top and creamy underneath); there was a hazelnut ball and Blanc Mange. As you can see, I’m getting vaguer with my detail!!! We finished with petit fours. Without doubt, Kevin Thornton is a very talented chef; it’s in his blood. He sources excellent ingredients, respects their integrity and is confidently creative without getting too carried away with whistles and bells. As I mentioned earlier, he worked the tables at the end of the night. He should do this a bit more as he’s got a nice touch. He comes across as being genuinely interested and very unassuming. He explained that he made a point of serving both the queen and king scallops on our menu so we could compare the two, a point that we “got” at the time of eating, so it didn’t feel repetitive. He generously explained how he cooked the skate “an undervalued fish”: put it onto a hot pan, turn it down immediately, and cook for a few minutes on the stove and finish in the oven. And probably because we’d asked a few questions, he sent over a handwritten copy of the menu to us before we left. So, no problems with the chef. But I still think that the FOH is a bit lacking. The Maitre d’ just doesn’t make the grade, ze young French waiter doesn’t know it all, despite what he thinks (although he was a great catalyst for impersonations of the Simpsons gutteral French haw haw haw laugh when we left the restaurant… remember the “laugh in French” classroom scene?), and the sommelier our end of the room was just OK. I had asked him to keep the bill down (which he did), but the consultation amounted to “do you drink red and white?” and a very nice Chablis and Minervois arrived without previous discussion (we would probably have said yes, and they were relatively good value for €50), and there was no wine by the glass discussion, although I had suggested it. But the worst offence was not being consulted on a Sauternes to go with the foie gras courses, which we really missed, and was a missed opportunity for him. It was, after all a surprise menu and we were depending on his inside track. We felt it was too late to order a glass when the plate arrived, so we said nothing, only to feel the loss a second time as the seared foie gras arrived. There was a very smart French sommelier working the main room who did our dessert wine service. He was very polished and had presence in spades. From a value for money perspective, the surprise menu is €125, which is a lot, but I can see exactly how it adds up and I didn’t feel ripped off. However, I strongly object to the unsociable prices on the wine lists in top end restaurants (there really is nothing at entry level) and we made the mistake of going for bottled water, which was constantly replenished (without a quiet “should I open another bottle” interjection), and ended up adding €50 to our bill for four. I suppose it’s not bad in the scheme of things, but I view it as another bottle of wine (which I would have preferred). The word is that a major refurbishment and a less expensive, more informal change of direction are planned for Thornton’s. This makes sense as the Michelin guys are unlikely to fall on their swords and restore his second star, even if he did get the FOH sorted. And if Derry Clarke in one star L’Ecrivain has any sense, he’ll get a bit more creative than crème brulée and chocolate fondant with his desserts and do something about the dreadfully small bathrooms which beggar Michelin belief.

The problem with the term "moleculor gastronomy" is the connotation; it is now shackled with negative perceptions. Give a dog a name and it sticks. Adria, Blumenthal et al are at extreme pains to distance themselves but have been unable to come up with a name other than their latest phrase "new cookery", and clearly, that's a limp non-runner. Until they find a better name, it will be called MG or avant-garde by most people. Has anyone got any suggestitions for an alternative descriptor?