EATING OUT:Culture Night is next Friday with venues open late all over the country. Many will be feeding the body as well as the soul, writes CATHERINE CLEARY
IS IT ME or does culture make you hungry, too? That ravenous kind of hungry that sets in halfway around a museum or gallery no matter how wondrous the sights. So imagine what eight hours of culture and many miles of busing, biking or strolling could do to your appetite? Next Friday night, towns and cities around the country are set to become once-a-year destinations for Culture Night 2010. What to eat as you traipse around town visiting assorted noble venues? Some hosts are adding food to the agenda to give visitors a reason to stay – and send plenty of get-here-quick texts to their friends.
One of the joys of Culture Night in Dublin, according to those who run it, are when quiet corners of the city come alive with noise and people. This year there may well be the sizzle of paella, barbecues and meatballs, cooked, served and eaten in the fresh air of a Dublin September night (weather permitting). A last taste of summer before autumn takes hold. The night also offers the chance for people to have dinner in cafes that usually pull down their shutters in the late afternoon.
So where are the culture bites to be found in Dublin on the night? On Francis Street, a group of gallery owners will have Ian Marconi serving two options, a plate of paella or Moorish meatballs with mint couscous, at €8 a plate. Marconi, a former chef at London’s Moro restaurant, is known as “the paella guy” from his stalls at various Dublin markets.
Denise Donnelly, owner of the Bad Art Gallery on Francis Street, will have Lisa Toner and her sleek, black Food on Stix van serving up steak and chicken on skewers among other delights. “Last year people were going between the galleries with glasses of wine, and they wanted to stay, but by the end they were starving. This might encourage them to visit all the galleries. It’s the one night of the year when Francis Street comes alive.”
Late night life will also come to Glasnevin Cemetery, where the Tower Cafe will serve meals until 8pm in its great new building. (A recent visit left a group of friends wondering irreverently whether Michael Collins would have been a latte or a double espresso man. Dev, we supposed, would have supped camomile tea.) The museum is open until 8pm on the night, with literary tours of the cemetery at 5.30pm and 6.30pm.
In front of the Hugh Lane Gallery on Parnell Square, a barbecue is planned for the plaza, according to education officer Katy Fitzpatrick. The gallery will also have the National Chamber Choir singing inside and outside the building, weather permitting.
At the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Kilmainham, there will be a barbecue in the courtyard. From 8pm there will be a jazz band, with members of Fossett’s Circus moving through the crowds.
At the Chester Beatty Library there is a once-in-the-year chance for people to have dinner in the cafe with the reputation as the best museum eatery in Dublin. The Silk Road will be serving its usual lunch menu, which includes Greek moussaka, a spinach and feta pie, Turkish chicken and lamb kofta along with 12 vegetarian salads, according to Anna Kadzik. It will be open until 9.30pm.
Historian Lisa Marie Griffith, a veteran of Culture Night, is familiar with the hunger that the hectic pace of the night can bring on. “Make a list of things you most want to see. We normally go with a group of friends and we plan on the basis of what everyone wants to see. The atmosphere is fantastic and it’s very kid-friendly. I saw one woman with four children all dressed up in Halloween costumes.”
One year she got to the bell tower of Christchurch Cathedral, where they were allowed to ring the bells. Last year they started off at Trinity College, went to Merrion Square, the Customs House, Temple Bar and Fishamble Street. By the time they had been to Henrietta Street and back to Temple Bar, the food stalls were gone and the queues at most food venues were massive.
For a gourmet start to Culture Night there is Michelin-starred Chapter One’s three-course pre-theatre menu at €37.50 (at the time of writing there was still availability); the Winding Stair on Ormond Quay has a three-course menu at €29.95, two courses for €24.95. In Pearl Brasserie on Merrion Street the early bird two-course menu is €22.
Most sittings for pre-theatre start around 6pm. You’ll have to be gone from your table by 8pm to let the later diners take their seats. But by then you’ll be ready for more culture.
Outside Dublin, there are plenty of Culture Night activities. At the Leitrim Sculpture Centre in Manorhamilton, they’ll be serving Middle Eastern and Asian food “made with local ingredients” between 7.30pm and 8.30pm.
In Sligo, there is a Culture Night Food Trail with special menus and offers at 26 cafes, restaurants and food shops around Sligo town, along with the Tobergal Lane Market. In Limerick, the Conradh na Gaeilge hall on Thomas Street will be transformed into An Chistin, where musicians, singers and dancers will be introduced by a bean an tí and a traditional cupan tae will be served.
Culture Night is next Friday, September 24th. To download a map and a full guide to venues in Dublin and elsewhere, see culturenight.ie
Historian Lisa Marie Griffith’s top picks for Dublin Culture Night
The National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks is taking objects from its collections out of storage so that the public can touch and handle them.
St Mary’s Abbey has two unusual exhibitions: one of vintage Irish bookcovers and another intriguingly called “Life thru my mobile phone” as well as music from 8.30pm.
The Chester Beatty Library will provide guided tours but the music also looks promising: Dara O’Brien will play the sitar followed by other music throughout the night.
I always like to wander into City Hall as it has people dressed up in 18th-century costumes. I like the fact that the building revisits its origins for at least one night every year.
For further recommendations see the history blog puesoccurrences.wordpress.com
