The 2006 Megabytes Awards

The Old Convent, Co Tipperary

Dermot Gannon always promised great things with his cooking. But we never expected the great things to be just as great as they are in The Old Convent, in Clogheen, County Tipperary, which Mr Gannon runs with his wife, Christine.

This food lover's hideaway has been the outstanding new arrival in 2006, with superb rooms and some amazing cooking from Mr Gannon, a chef who is right on top of his form, and right on top of the world.
www.theoldconvent.ie

Kettyle Beef, Co Fermanagh

Maurice Kettyle used to work in the beef business, so he knows that the good, the bad and the ugly get shoved into the one box and shipped out as representing Irish beef. That's why he has created Kettyle beef, from Angus and Hereford animals that are hand-picked and dry-aged for maximum eating quality. How fascinating to hear a beef man talk about EATING quality. Once you taste Kettyle beef, you won't look back, and here is a pioneer for the sort of quality Irish meat should be synonymous with.
www.kettyleirishfoods.com

Glebe Brethan, Co Louth

The Tiernan family's superlative cheese is illustrative of how far modern artisan cheese making has come in Ireland. Using the raw milk of a herd of imported Montbeliarde cows, the family have fashioned a superb semi-hard cheese that has literally been winning awards ever since it first appeared on the market. Not only is Glebe Brethan superb eating, it also cooks superbly, inspiring Nick Price of Nick's Warehouse in Belfast to even serve it as an old-fashioned savoury.

The Omnivores Dilemma

Michael Pollan's book is not just the food book of the year: it is the food book of the decade. Always a witty and incisive writer, Pollan pulls out all the stops here in this examination of four different meals. By turns a work of gastronomy, agriculture, aesthetics and economics, The Omnivore's Dilemma is, to use that old-fashioned term, a tour de force, as Pollan puts flesh on the writer Wendell berry's dictum that "Eating is an agricultural act".
www.michaelpollan.com

Denis Healy, Co Wicklow

The hardest working man in Irish food powerhouses the farmer's markets he attends every week, from Leopardstown to the Dublin Food Co-op and all points in between, with a radical, energised team of helpers to stack and pack the wonderful organic vegetables and fruits, and with the cream of the crop coming from Healy's own twenty acres of Wicklow farmland, harvested by his crack team of a dozen assistants. Give this man the Freedom of Dublin!

In A Nutshell, Co Wexford

In a Nutshell is a pristine food destination, and it pulses with energy and accomplishment. The shelves are packed with all the iconic Irish brands and lots of choice imports, the cakes and bakes are so good they make your own baking redundant, and what you need to know about the café at the rear is this: on any given day, it will be packed with people who have driven all the way to New Ross from... Waterford. Now, Waterford has lots of nice places to eat, but it doesn't have IaN. A true star.

Cramers Grove Ice Cream, Co Kilkenny

Nigel and Carol's ice cream is simply to die for. When we tasted that Madagascan vanilla back in the summer at the Carrick-on-Suir Farmer's Market, we knew we had discovered something brilliantly delicious, and deliciously brilliant. Using the milk from their own herd of friesians, they make superlatively flavoured ices and frozen yogurts, and Mum bakes the brown bread to go into the Bailey's and brown bread ice cream. Artisanship doesn't get more hands-on that that.
www.cramersgrove.com

Ann Hamill, Co. Westmeath

The best jam we have tasted this year? Ann Hamill's damson jam. The best chutney? Ann Hamill's beetroot chutney. Where can you find these delicacies? At the Mullingar Farmer's Market, where this most gifted food lover brings her delicious foods to sell. Ms Hamill is a true epicurean - she knows the mixtures and measures of food with astonishing precision. Don't miss 'em.

Alan Hill, Co Donegal

Since he took over as CEO of the Town and Country Association, Alan Hill has done more than anyone has managed over 40 years to raise the pertinent issues surrounding the vitally important B&B sector in Ireland. Now that we are awash with indifferent hotels, with indifferent standards, we need a radical, high-quality, high profile B&B sector more than ever. Mr Hill is the man to make it happen.

Jane Murphy, Co Cork

The brilliant maker of Ardsallagh goat's cheeses works just as hard as Denis Healy, and enjoins her family to work just as hard as she does, as they sell at the weekend markets in Dublin and Cork. 25 years ago, Jane started with one goat - named Julia. Today the Ardsallagh herd is 500 strong, but the cheeses are still made painstakingly by hand, built up spoon by spoon over 4 hours each day, a process Mrs Murphy compares to "emptying a bath with a teaspoon". Just think of all that hard work the next time you are enjoying a delicious, fresh Ardsallagh cheese.