Caution Ducks!

Act of God

"Plague". "Act of God". "Disaster". All these poignant terms, pregnant with terror, are the sort of thing you hear when Californian winemakers talk about Pierce's Disease. And they use them with good reason. Read on

Bottle of the Month

For us, the ability to make a good bottle of affordable wine is the pinnacle of the winemaker's art, and there are few as skilful at managing this difficult feat than Spain's Telmo Rodriguez. Read on

Edinburgh - Festival City!

All those heading to Edinburgh this festival season Need To Know the following food facts, which come courtesy of Scotland's greatest food writer, Joanna Blythman. Read on

Without you we're nothing

Ask smart Dublin food lovers what their absolutely-indispensable-couldn't-live-without-it-not-a-chance-thank-God-for-them! food addresses are, and you can bet your last burrito that Peaches and Domini Kemp's brilliant Itsabagel will be one of those icon addresses. Read on

Viva Stoneybatter!

Gordon Bennett! Can you adam'n'eve it? When we lived in Stoneybatter, Dublin 7, which is not so long ago, the local sport was smashing the windscreen of our car (2 direct hits) and kicking the gutters of the house of our septuagenarian neighbour. How things change!

Darling Tralee

David Norris is a fine cook with a mighty CV, having worked with such masters of the idiom as Gerry Galvin, in Drimcong House, Dan Mullane in The Mustard Seed, and in Wexford's Marlfield House. He brings this mighty pedigree to a new restaurant in Tralee, Restaurant David Norris. Read on

The End of The Era

Yoichi Hoashi's decision to close the Ayumi-Ya restaurant in Blackrock, county Dublin, and to concentrate on expanding his AYA chain in Dublin city centre is a poignant decision. "In many ways this represents the end of an era", writes Mr Hoashi, and indeed it does.

Eco-Gastronomes

Food lovers should beg, borrow or steal a copy of the new Slow Food Journal, for it details the winners of the Slow Food awards presented late last year to the most remarkable bunch of people you could imagine. Read on

Bayside Barbie

The second Bantry Barbecue festival was another roaring success over the bank holiday weekend, with superchefs Denis Cotter of Cork's Café Paradiso and Neven Maguire of Blacklion's MacNean Bistro knocking the locals dead with dazzling demonstrations. Read on

Just a wee, wee dram

If there is a magic to a great Scottish single malt which you can sniff in the air from several paces, then that magic is potently captured in words and pictures in "Scotland and its Whiskies", with a text by Michael Jackson and superlative photography by Harry Cory Wright. Read on

Noticeboard

In Listowel they do it every Thursday, and what is more it doesn't cost them a whole lot of money. Those cute Kerry folk. Find out more.

Recipe of the Month

Celebrating the Season! Three Great Tomato Salad Recipes. Read on

Menu of the Month

Comes from Richmod House, just on the fringes of Cappoquin in West Waterford. Read on

Letters Page

Dear John and Sally...

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