by John & Sally McKenna February 2001
Bridgestone 100 Best Guides 2001
January's end means the completion of Country Choice in Nenagh's marmalade marathon (thank you to Peter Ward for sending in this photo), and, for us, it means the end of the writing and production of the annual Bridgestone 100 Best Guides, which will hit the shops in early March. So, this month we offer a glimpse of a typical working week researching the Bridgestones, and in addition there are features on coffee, and a whole host of other goodies. Plus the chance to win a prize of a set of Illy expresso cups. These cups quickly become collector's items, for which people pay large sums of money to complete their sets. So this is a real treat for all you caffeine fiends.
My Working Week
Next month sees the publication of the 2001 Bridgestone 100 Best Guides the 100 Best Restaurants in Ireland and the 100 Best Places to stay in Ireland and writing books such as the Bridgestone Guides means that we have to behave in much the same way as marketing theorists: we spend our time being "cool hunters" as they are called in the trade, people who want to know where the next exciting innovation, the next wave of energy, is coming from. The other part of the job, then, is describing those who maintain their energy and their standards. So, here is a recent research week in the life of the 2001 Bridgestone 100 Best Guides. Find out more
Refer a Friend and Win A Copy of the 2001 Bridgestone 100 Best Guides!
If you enjoy Megabytes and you know someone who will appreciate this idiosyncratic pudding of news and views, then simply fill out this form!
Transgenic Wine
The Campaign Continues...Find out more
Eating is Learning
Paul Flynn, chef-proprietor of The Tannery Restaurant in Dunarvan, a Bridgestone Icon restaurant that R.W. Apple Jr., of The New York Times, has described as "a laboratory of disciplined innovation", says that chefs must eat the food of their contemporaries in order to learn. Find out more.
The Serious Business of Coffee and our February Competition!
"There are so many coffee houses on Upper Baggot Street no fewer than 21 operators that we call it Little Seattle", said Brendan McDonnell, opening a fascinating symposium on the current state of our coffee culture, organised by Bewley's, for whom Mr O'Donnell works. Find out more
PGI: Pudding Good, Indeed
PGI is one of those acronyms that sounds as if it could apply to anything, but when it is applied to food it means Protected Geographic Indication. So what is that? Find out more
Menu of the month El Bulli
Here's a funny thing. What nationality is the chef whom the Italian food writers think of as the chef of the 21st century? Where do French food lovers flock to when they want something challenging and innovative? If Paul Bocuse was the chef of the 70's, Freddy Girardet of the 80's, Joel Robuchon of the 90's, then who would most people agree is the chef of the Noughties? Ferran Adria, of Spain's El Bulli. That's who.
Recipe of the Month
This recipe came about from the urge to cook a wintery long-cooked stew, but to inject some cheerful zappy flavours into it. It was mostly inspired by a braise that is one of the menu staples in Belfast's cult Chinese restaurant, the Sun Kee. Find out more.
Reader's Report: Carol's Clarence
"I wanted to choose a special hotel for my husband's 40th birthday celebration" This is reader Carol McIlroy's review of her experiences in Dublin's Clarence Hotel. Read on
Cardinals and Canons
Congratulations to all those who opened their New Testament in search of the answer to last month's competition. The correct answer was, of course, a joke. Find out more.
Noticeboard
Annagh Lodge is offering its traditional country house pork and bacon for sale over the internet and Justin Green from Brownes Brasserie and Townhouse is looking for a supplier/vendor of clamato juice. Find out more
Til next month's Megabytes!
text © John & Sally McKenna
illustrations © Ken
Buggy
