By MARIE-CLAIRE DIGBY

On the block

Can the Dublin suburb of Ranelagh support another restaurant? The team behind Dillinger’s, also in Ranelagh, obviously think so as they’re set to open The Butcher Grill, in a former butcher shop at 92 Ranelagh road, next Thursday. Meat and fish cooked over a wood-smoke grill – a concept Jamie Oliver is also following for his next London opening, Barbecoa – is what they’re planning. Those who like their meat with lots of flavour will be interested to hear that there is a 60-day dry ageing process involved. See thebutchergrill.ie. Vegetarians may stick to Dillingers, where Dennis Cotter of Café Paradiso in Cork has devised a number of dishes, such as this maple chilli seared tofu with gingered sweet potato, sesame choi and rice noodles in lime, coconut and coriander sauce. mcdigby@irishtimes.com

Good enough to eat

Karen Morgan’s gorgeous handmade porcelain platters, bowls and dishes are tougher than they look – they are scratchproof, chip-resistent, and microwave and dishwasher safe – but they’re not completely Dragon-proof. “They wanted me to have them manufactured in China; it was pile ’em high and sell ’em cheap,” she says of her appearance on the TV programme Dragons’ Den last spring. Happily, one of the dragons, Niall O’Farrell, saw the potential in these very beautiful but ultimately practical vessels, and rowed in behind Morgan, who has just opened a shop in Thomastown, Co Kilkenny. ¨ Morgan, who trained at the Grennan Mill Craft School, takes her inspiration from the Nore Valley where she is based. Her elegant, free-flowing pieces are hand thrown and come in a calming palette of warm cream and pale aqua porcelain. As well as serving dishes, bowls and cups, she has designed several useful kitchen implements, including a pestle and mortar, colanders in various sizes, and a garlic crusher.

A recent collaboration with jewellery designer Jane Huston saw Morgan craft a series of small bowls designed to work with Huston’s lovely collection of silver spoons, presented as salt servers, mustard and preserve pots and sugar bowls. These can be ordered from Huston’s Kilkenny studio (tel: 056-7752557), and from Gourmet Pots in Schull, Co Cork (tel: 028-27845). They can be assayed with a date to mark a special birthday or event. Prices start at €100 for a small bowl and intricately worked silver spoon.

Morgan’s work recently launched a series of exhibitions of craftwork at the Conran Shop in London, and it is available from the Kilkenny shops in Dublin and Shanagarry, Co Cork, as well as Market Street, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny. Prices start at €5 for small dishes, large platters cost up to €150, and salad bowls are €50.

See karenmorganceramics.com.

Happy 10th birthday Zuni

Maria Raftery celebrated 10 years in the kitchen at Kilkenny restaurant Zuni with a lavish 10-course tasting menu during the recent Savour Kilkenny festival. The Liverpudlian revived some of her most popular dishes of the past decade, using lots of local ingredients. The tasting dinner was oversubscribed. “We hoped to sell 70 tickets, but ended up with a waiting list and sat 80 in the end as we didn’t want to disappoint anyone,” she said. It was a feat of military precision to get all 10 courses out without delay to a packed restaurant. That job fell to proprietor Paul Byrne, while Raftery’s young kitchen brigade, all but one of them students at or graduates of Waterford Institute of Technology, rose to the occasion with a carefully choreographed symphony of local flavours.

Table for two

You don't have to have eaten at Keith McNally's Manhattan bistro Balthazar to be familiar with the ambience and decor – just take a look at The Green Hen, on Dublin's Exchequer Street, and you'll get the gist, right down to the menu design. Both are faithful homages to the best traditions of the French brasserie, and have proven to be wildly successful. You can get a feel for the Balthazar experience by cooking some of the restaurant's signature dishes – such as frisée aux lardons, oeufs en meuretteand roast chicken for two – at home. The Balthazar Cookbookis published this month by Absolute Press, at £25 (about €28.65).