Bridgestone Guides 2007

Aroma

Donegal Craft Village, Donegal, Co Donegal in Co. Donegal

Tom Dooley & Arturo de Alba

Tel: +353 (0) 74-972 3222

Contact: tomandarturo@yahoo.com

Tom and Arturo have a lovely, easy, gently paced way of doing things in Aroma. They never seem to rush. They let the food come together in its own time, whether it is Tom’s superb baking or Arturo’s superb cooking for the day’s dishes.

When the food is ready, then one of the girls will patiently, carefully, write the titles of the day’s dishes on the blackboard over the kitchen hatch: toasted ciabatta with mince and raisins; prawn and avocado salad with chive oil; creamy chicken, mushroom and garlic casserole; Aroma club with roast beef, tomato, roasted peppers, brie and mustard mayo.
The food reads simple, but the flavours are so layered, composed and polished that the food has all the magic of the sublime. These guys understand the elegance of simplicity, and the magic of commonplace things: good brown bread; good sweet cakes, a perfect risotto, lovely stuffed peppers, excellent espresso. What is the secret of Aroma? Could be its rhythm, maybe? The food has its rhythm. The room has its rhythm. The rhythm of life?
Well, it’s certainly the Rhythm of Eating, nothing less.

9.30am-5.30pm Tue-Sat (7 days in season)

Yes

Take the old road directly into Donegal town, avoiding the new bypass. The Craft Village is a collection of single storey craft workshops south of the town and clearly signposted, 2km or so outside the town.