Prado now open
Prado, a new restaurant from the team behind Asador on Haddington Road in Dublin 4, opens on July 6th in the former Moloughney’s on Vernon Avenue in Clontarf, Dublin 3.
The premises has been given a complete refit, and now has 130 covers over two floors, and two bars. As with Asador, cooking over fire is the theme, and the chefs work in an open kitchen with a wood-fired grill and a plancha.
In a nod to its coastal location, Prado has an extensive seafood offering, as well as steaks, roast chicken, Ibérico pork and vegetables baked in embers. Unifying the menu is an undercurrent of Spanish influences including jamon de Bellota, pan con tomate, sobrasada, pan de Cristal, morcilla, escalivada, chuleton de Buey and duck fat patatas bravas.
Healthy delivery
Graze, the UK-based healthy snack company, has extended its delivery area to include Ireland. There is a vast choice of sweet and savoury snacks on offer, in individual portion packs – handy for travelling – and sharing bags.
The selection is vast and there are flapjacks, protein bites, sweet and savoury dippers, as well as mixed nuts, seeds and dried vegetable crackers. The single portion 181-calorie pack of Belgian dark chocolate buttons, pecan nuts, dried cherries and raisins is very tasty and a useful handbag or backpack standby. Order a trial pack, sign up for regular deliveries, or do a once-off online shop, at graze.com.
Autumn dining
The Conrad hotel in Dublin is planning ahead for a special Burgundy wine tasting dinner, which takes place on Thursday, September 25th. Domaine Lupé-Cholet’s Mercurey Blanc, Puligny-Monrachet, Gevery Chambertin and Nuits St Georges 1er Cru Clos Prier will be poured for a pre-dinner tasting with canapés.
The three-course dinner of chicken, tarragon and wild mushroom terrine, Ballinwillin venison, and peach melba and vanilla parfait, will be matched with Macon-Lugny, Pouilly-Fuissé and Santaney. Tickets are €85 per person and can be booked at Eventbrite.ie.
Fish quota
Lunchtime diners at Sole on South William Street in Dublin 2 will be able to order a seafood tower, piled high with Irish fish and shellfish. The recently introduced sharing dish is available on Fridays and Saturdays, noon to 4.30pm, and costs €29.50 per person.
The selection of seafood includes Howth smoked organic Irish salmon, Dublin Bay prawns with Marie Rose sauce and rock oysters on ice on the bottom tier. The top tier has hot crab claws and mussels cooked in white wine, garlic and cream.
Early-bird deadline for Galway
The sale period for early-bird tickets for Food On The Edge, the culinary symposium which gets its fifth airing in Galway on October 21st-22nd, has been extended to July 31st. The €350 ticket covers two days of talks and masterclasses, lunch on both days, and evening entertainment.
The line-up of speakers includes Allan Jenkins, editor of Observer Food Monthly and Netflix featured chefs Alex Atala, Ben Shewry and Mark Best. "The theme for the event this year is migration, with regards to how food travels and how that affects people's perception of food," says JP McMahon, founder and director of the symposium.
