'This is an oasis of excellence in a city that continues to pay homage to cheffed-up rubbish'
There are times in every restaurant critic's life when the Fates conspire to put you out of action. This usually involves one or two versions of gastrointestinal malfunction.
Generally, there is no definite way of establishing how the malevolent microbes got into your body. But often you can make a pretty informed guess.
Anyway, there I was, having spent the better part of two days examining the ceiling of my bedroom in quite unnecessary detail, when I realised the time had come, once again, to eat. I realised that I was on the road to recovery.
Within a couple of hours I realised something else. I was moderately hungry. In a situation like this you need to be careful. You need a light lunch. And you need to know that it will be simple and perfect. I'm very glad that I was steered in the direction of Michael's in Mount Merrion, Co Dublin.
This is a light restaurant review. As a matter of fact, in one sense, it's pretty heavy. I discovered that Michael's is brilliant, and although I'm amazed that so few people know about it I can understand why they keep very quiet about it.
Michael's is as small as it is superb. I don't really want to share the good news with too many many people, but nor do I want to be selfish.
Eight years ago, having worked for a long time in steel and computing, respectively, husband and wife Michael Lowe and Mary O'Keeffe decided to open a wine shop. In time, they added cheese, charcuterie and vegetables to the equation.
And what veg! Once a week it arrives from Milan: knobbly lemons with their leaves and stalks still in situ, purple artichokes, thin-walled red peppers . . .
Then they decided to do simple lunches. Their motto, proudly written on one of their blackboards, is "99% ingredients, 1% skill". Whatever about skill, it takes a hell of a lot of inspiration to do what they do.
There's soup, lots of salads, various forms of bruschetta, fresh pasta, the occasional risotto and so forth. "We're not a restaurant," says Lowe. What they do is present excellent produce as simply as possible.
And you get to drink any bottle in their passionately chosen range of wines for a mere €5.95 corkage.
I had the best bruschetta I've ever tasted. The four slices of tomato that would have been an afterthought elsewhere were bursting with flavour. I could have been eating the ones I grow at home.
But it gets better. Two slices of excellent rustic white bread, toasted and generously anointed with nutty olive oil, were topped with fluffy, tart Ryefield goat's cheese and slices of the sweetest roasted red pepper that you can imagine. A contrast of texture was provided by a sprinkling of toasted pine nuts; a salty tang (they don't add salt here) came from tiny shavings of mature Parmesan. A little salad of tender rocket was impeccably dressed with mellow, deep and sweet balsamic vinegar. This dish was simply perfect.
With it, I drank a glass of Weissburgunder from Alto Adige with plump fruit and the kind of muted acidity that my poor old stomach needed at the time. After a superb espresso, from beans roasted in Sicily, I was fully restored to health.
Don't go to Michael's if you insist on food prepared by a chef. Don't go if you need a tablecloth. Avoid it like the plague if you have to have steak. But if you want exceptional food with the minimum of fuss, and don't feel the need to dress up when you eat out, this is an oasis of excellence in a city that continues to pay homage to rubbish cheffed up into pictures on plates.
My bill came to €18.10.
Michael's, 57 Deerpark Road, Mount Merrion, Co Dublin, 01-2780377
WINE CHOICE
The range of wines is outstanding. You can drink the supreme SuperTuscan Sassicaia 2001 for €130, or €135.95 including corkage, which I defy you to do anywhere else in the world.
Caldora (€12.75) is the best Montepulciano d'Abruzzo I've tasted. Honeyed, plump Sartarelli Verdicchio Classico is the same price. Le Corti Chianti Classico 2003 (€17.95) is stylish, full yet taut. The outstanding Sole di Sesta Syrah, huge but still crisp and sensitively oaked, is a bargain at €28.95.
Amazingly rare wines include Gaja's Sperss Barolo 1998 (€195; see Joe Breen, opposite) and Barbaresco 2000 (€155), which are very keenly priced. My Weissburgunder from Terlan was €14.95 (or €5.95 a glass). Prices exclude corkage of €5.95.