Bridgestone 100 Best in Dublin on Sat Nav

We have to say that even the Help Line at Garmin were a bit confused as to how to load a foreign POI file onto one of their own Sat Navs. It took a good bit of to-ing and fro-ing and I'll-ring-you-back-when-I've-spoken-to-my-supervisor, before we finally got a clear understanding of how to load up our .csv file which fluidedge had prepared for Garmin Nuvi sat nav.

So, for those of you still struggling with this new technology, here's how we did it. First we downloaded a POI Loader from the Garmin website (www.garmin.com/products/poiloader) - good news is it's a free download. Then we opened a new folder on to our computer's documents file. We then saved the Garmin comma separated (csv) file from www.bridgestoneguides.com/dublin into this folder. We then opened the POI leader, "found" our sat nav device and browsed our documents file until we came to the saved folder containing the Bridgestone file inside. Crossing fingers and toes, we clicked Continue on the POI Loader and voila! Up came the message "Congratulations! You have successfully installed 101 Points of Interest on your Garmin" (101 points of interest!?) To find the Bridgestone file on the Garmin we navigated to the Extras file on the Where to? bit of the sat nav. It was in a file called Custom POIs.

We have it in mind to create a FAQ section for these pages, so if anyone out there has struggled as much as we have to familiarise themselves with this new tech, do drop us a line.

Great Fast Food

There is a little corner behind Patrick Street in Cork, running from Paul Street to Paradise Place, where you can now find pure, wholesome, delicious ... fast food. Fast Al's delicious pizzas are already legendary in the precinct, where you can walk in and buy a slice of the most echt New York-style pizza. Al has now expanded to a new outlet two doors down where you can buy real falafels, homemade pittas stuffed with chick pea fritters and salads. The last few times we've been to Cork we've stopped at both of Al's addresses and figured he had the market sussed for real fast food.

This week, just around the corner from Fast Al's we found another little haven of wholesome speedy take-aways. The Natural Foods Bakery has expanded, now with a shop in Pier Head in Blackrock, and in Paul Street where you can find the most tasty, wholesome takeaway sandwiches including Gubbeen salami with mayo, relish, salad and dressing on granary, a Natural Foods Cheese Sandwich: cheddar, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, mayo and sunflower spread on a floury bap, and our new favourite the herb and seed pitta with hummus, cucumber, red pepper, lettuce and sprouts, loads of dressing and mayo. There are pizzas here too, made on a wholesome organic base and topped with oregano, olives and mozzarella. The sweet things menu includes a gluten free chocolate cake and the famous no-added sugar cherry buns.

You can buy superb bread and cakes to take away, there is a tiny loo (useful info, that), great staff and three stools for three customers who want to eat in.

The Natural Foods Bakery deliver if you live or work in central Cork - find out more by ringing 021-461 4555.

Mince wi' yer tatties

'“Yes, but can she cook mince?” A young Scotsman extolling the beauty and talents of his intended bride to his family was invariably asked this question. Mince is such an important dish in Scotland that it is virtually written into the wedding contract.’
Sue Lawrence, in her book, Scots Cooking, gets to the heart of Mince and Tatties, and provides a fine simple recipe, though she cooks her tatties separately from the mince, which is flavoured with marmite and a splash of Worcestershire sauce. Finding myself with a handful of minced beef, some mushrooms and some left-over tatties the other day, I borrowed an idea from Hoppy (or Simon Hopkinson as he is also known) and used the mushrooms in the mince mixture, and then finished the dish with an idea from Fergus Henderson's wonderful book, “Beyond Nose to Tail”, and stirred some Macroom oatmeal in after the mince and its mixture was half cooked. The result was curious – savoury minced beef, pieces of potato, shards of mushroom and the tender bite of the oatmeal – rich, and delicious, a winter dish for souls who have just gotten back from a long country hike. I realise that putting pieces of potato in the mix is positively sacriligeous, but I was lost to the established faiths a long time ago.

Your trip to London

Our good friend and Bridgestone editor, Eamon Barrett of the Waterford parish, managed to get some time to grab a bite to eat on a recent London trip, herewith his reports on Rowley Leigh's rebirth and Fergus Henderson's unique, uncompromised cooking. And to think that a mere decade ago London was in the restaurant doldrums.

On Sunday we ate in Le Cafe Anglais in London, Rowley Leighs much publicised return to the stoves. In a lovely room - an old McDonalds apparently - above a shopping centre, the place was jammed with people. Two huge rotisseries dominate the room's open kitchen and throw out quite a kick of heat so summer eating there will be t-shirts only. The menu is extensive and very well priced. We had three hors d'oevres between us, of which a super smooth chicken liver parfait was the best, though the chunks of octopus were undeniebly tasty too. Ju had soft roes on toast for starter, and a fine piece of black sole for mains. I had foie gras terrine and then glazed partridge, complete with shot pellets. Queen of Puddings makes a return on the dessert menu and lovely it was too. Might be because of the heat but I liked it more than Ju as a destination.

Star of the trip was dinner in St John, Fergus Hendersons spartan restaurant in the City. It's the simplest of spaces, so trimmed down it could be a canteen. For starter I had venison heart with beetroot and walnut, an amazing dish, the heart sliced paper thin, it's delicate cut offsetting the strong flavour. I almost went for the chitterlings but the waiter recommended the tripe and sausage as being particularly good, and so it was, a lovely stew with white beans. Ju had slow roasted lamb, beautifully pink. The dessert was a pear and treacle steamed pudding for two, served with a large jug of hot homemade custard, just amazing. Definitely on the list of London places we would go back to.

Finished up with lunch on Tuesday in St Alban,: paperdelle with venison and chesnut was deep and dark and very tasty.

Capital stuff

It's become fashionable to bemoan the lack of new restaurant openings in Cork city, and to suggest that this proves that standards are improving elsewhere, but not on Leeside.
This is bunk. Cork city restaurants are as fine as ever, and are all characterised by intense self-criticism and a strong sense of competition.
Just look at Claire Nash's Nash 19. We dipped into the restaurant just before Xmas to see the latest refurbishments and to try the Monday-Friday offer that Claire has concocted to meet with the adapting demands of her customers.
After a perfect bowl of chowder, we ate the best piece of cod we had enjoyed in months, served with flat mushrooms, and a perfect warm Mexican chicken salad, and then had a slice of plum pudding that was one of the finest examples we have ever eaten anywhere. The place was buzzing, and the staff – the staff! - are second-to-none. A blissful lunch, a blissful experience.
Nash 19 is one of those restaurants that makes a city special: Dublin has nowhere like this, and neither has Belfast.
Cork, boy. Nowhere like it.
19 Prince’s Street, Cork (021) 4270880
www.nash19.com

Getting a Roasting

The great thing about aging is that you no longer care to be thought right. In fact, being proven wrong comes to be a pleasure.
We used to be of the opinion that Illy coffee reigned supreme. A superlative product, we thought it had no equal.
But Illy has equals. Indeed it now has competitors that may well outstrip it in terms of individuality, personality, distinctiveness.
Take Ponaire coffee, for example, roasted by Jennifer and Tommy Walsh in Tipperary. Or take John and Anna Gowan's Cork Coffee Roasters. Or take Michael Kelly's Ariosa coffees, roasted in County Meath, to name but three of the bespoke coffee roasters who are working today in Ireland.
These three are Masters of the Roast, which makes them Masters of the Universe, such is the importance of coffee in our lives. The variety, accuracy and personality of the blends they create is exceptional. This morning we had some of Jennifer and Tommy's “Costa Rican Cottage Blend”, a mix of Costa Rican beans with dark-rosted Colombian Utz Kapeh beans. Beautifully balanced, delicate, suggestive, all that a good cup of coffee should be.
And, not only are these guys great roasters, but they are also great marketeers – check out Ariosa at the temple Bar Market – and creators of great rooms – John and Anna Gowan's Coffee Shop on Bridge Street in Cork city is one of our fave pieces of modern, retro design.
So, we were wrong, thankfully.

Restless Artisans

“We are still beavering away with a steady trickle of new offerings”, writes Stella Coffey from the much-admired Ladybird Organics, makers of superlative organic meat products.
“We have dry cured rare breed back and streaky rashers, preservative-free farmhouse sausages named after townlands and villages in Co Tipperary (Ballypatrick - 100% pork, nothing added; Ballylooby - parsley and garlic; Ballyhickey - sage and sautéed onion; Ballydavid - red wine and garlic).
Now, isn't that a proud way to behave when you are an artisan producer? One of our plans for 2008 is to convert the nation into the Italian way of thinking about food, which is to say that your define yourself by the food of your region, and you proudly assert that it is better than everyone else's region. Stella and Richard of Ladybird have gotten there before us: hand-made sausage named after Tipp townlands! We like it.
And there's more.
“Beefburgers with chili and coriander, and in two weeks we will launch Well Hung Angus Organic Beef cuts which have been hung for 21 days. Like our other beef products these will be sold frozen. We hope the salami will be ready for Easter!!”
Thank Heavens Easter is early this year.