FEELING FRUITY? "Shaped like an apple" is how Marilyn Glenville, a nutritional therapist, describes being fat around the middle. It's also the name of her book, which teaches you how to kiss your belly goodbye and say hello to your toes.
If you're feeling a bit spherical, head to Citywest Hotel, in Co Dublin, on March 25th, when Glenville is giving a seminar on why your tummy got like that and how to get rid of it. There will also be a workshop on natural ways to get through the menopause. The organiser is the Natural Medicine Company, 045-865575. Nicoline Greer
IN THE BAG
What's so special about a paper bag? Well, when you buy something at an Amnesty shop in Dublin or Galway, it is presented to you in a nifty carrier made from recycled newspaper. The bags are made by young adults and women at the Karm Marg initiative (meaning "the path of action") in Faridabad, 40km outside New Delhi, in India. The 1.5-acre plot offers a healthy, safe home for street children who live here in family-type communities. They are taught vocational and life skills that will help them to survive when they move on. All Karm Marg's products are made from recycled and eco-friendly materials. (www.karmmarg.org). Amnesty shops are at 48 Fleet Street, Dublin 2, and 2-3 Middle Street, Galway. Jane Powers
If you're feeling a bit spherical, head to Citywest Hotel, in Co Dublin, on March 25th, when Glenville is giving a seminar on why your tummy got like that and how to get rid of it. There will also be a workshop on natural ways to get through the menopause. The organiser is the Natural Medicine Company, 045-865575. Nicoline Greer
GOURMET GOODIES
In a Feelgood Organic Hamper (www.feel goodhampers.com), instead of the usual shortbreads, chutneys and spirits, you'll find a range of organic products, such as non-dairy truffles, handmade ginger biscuits and Sicilian lemonade. And instead of the ubiquitous wicker basket, it comes in a recyclable gift box. Amanda Webb, who set up the company two years ago, sources the products from small companies not usually stocked in supermarkets, and she tries to include items that won't sit unused in the store cupboard. You can choose from a selection of ready-made hampers or get Webb to customise one for you. She has also created Mother's Day hampers, featuring edible goodies, organic cosmetics and charity vouchers. If you donate €5-€20 to charity, a voucher for that amount will be included in the hamper. Proceeds go to Temple Street Children's University Hospital and the Irish tree charity, Crann. Webb also has a stall at Monkstown Village Market, Co Dublin, on Saturdays, 10am-4pm. Eimear McKeith
WINE GLASSES FROM WATERFORD (SORT OF)
Wine drinkers are fond of the Riedel glass - although of late we have been experimenting with the new Eisch "breathable glass", which claims to aerate wine in double-quick time. Now Riedel looks to have a real competitor - and one that is Irish (sort of). Waterford Crystal's Connoisseur Gold Collection is a series of eight beautifully crafted wine, port and brandy glasses that will be available in Ireland from next month. Although the company's glass is much valued in certain circles, only weight-lifting wine drinkers can have appreciated the heavy crystal goblets of the traditional range. This comparatively light collection, on the other hand, is aimed at weaklings with good taste - and, it must be said, deep pockets. Sold in pairs, the cheapest are the champagne glasses, at €50; the generous Bordeaux glasses, with their long, lean stems, cost €110 a pair, as do the elegantly flared Pinot Noir glasses. At the moment these mouth-blown, hand-made glasses are manufactured in the US, but it is planned to produce them in Ireland from September. Joe Breen
DEEP PURPLE
Transform your favourite photographs into works of pop art. Purple Productions can manipulate your photos and stretch them on to canvases. One half of the Purple Productions partnership, Áine Teahan, says that travel photographs often come out really well in the colourful Andy Warhol-style versions, while portraits of people look great in black and white or sepia tones. She and her husband, Mark Byrne, previously worked in IT and finance; on a trip to Australia, they were inspired to turn their photography passion into a career. They have been selling their images of flowers at places such as Cow's Lane Market and now sell from from their home in Gorey, Co Wexford. They can meet you for a consultation, or you can look at their website to get an idea of what they do. Send a photo or a digital image and they will e-mail you back a few different ideas to choose from. www.purpleproductions.com (087-2811067). Nicoline Greer
IT'S A WRAP
In Japan, the almost sacred art of wearing a kimono has, through the years, passed from mother to daughter, or been taught at special kimono schools. Meticulously made vintage silk and cotton kimonos are for sale at reasonable prices on www.clothaholics.com. They are sourced from auctions at temple markets in Kyoto, Nagoya and Tokyo by weaver Helen Smith. Each one is unique - some date from the 1940s, while others are last year's stock. Most of them are well under €100, which is remarkable considering each one is hand-dyed and sewn in minute detail. To get that kind of work in an equivalent garment made in the West would, says Smith, be couture. A kimono is "not just a piece of clothing, it is a language" - the way they are worn tells, for example, how old a woman is, or if she is married, and to wear an inappropriate kimono could represent a serious faux pas in Japanese etiquette. Smith recommends wearing the long ones as dramatic evening coats and the shorter haori ones with jeans for a casual, elegant look. www.clothaholics.com. Nicoline Greer
NUNSENSE
Phyllis McNamara's shop Cobwebs, near the Spanish Arch in Galway, is well known for its very covetable vintage and contemporary jewellery and an assured selection of antique whatnots, but on a recent flash visit, we found ourselves cackling at a selection of greetings cards on the first floor. Aimed mostly at women of a certain age, they are designed by Leslie Moak Murray (www.murrayslaw.com). The gags won't necessarily work if we repeat them here, so you'll have to take yourself there and have a good laugh. We then admired the reading glasses being worn by the shop assistant, who directed us to McNamara's other shop, Luvit, which "expresses the other side her personality". Nothing vintage here: it's a closet-sized shop crammed with very girly items, including the reading glasses (€16.95), a pair of orange Moroccan slippers (€14.95), a vast selection of bedroom accessories, gems to match a teenage budget and more cards, our favourite of which says: "It's been lovely but I have to scream now." Patsey Murphy
RESTAURANT NEWS: NO PINCH OF SALT REQUIRED
There seems to be unprecedented activity in Dublin's restaurant trade, with several high-profile openings scheduled for the coming months. The Guilbaud family's new brasserie, to be called Venue, is nearing completion on South Anne Street. According to Charles Guilbaud, son of Patrick, this 250-seater restaurant will open around Easter and will offer proper food at "informal prices" in a modern space.
Celebrity chef Gary Rhodes (right) expects to have his Irish offshoot, Rhodes D7 on Capel Street, open by May. The 200-seat restaurant will be in the Capel Building, a project by developer Sean Kelly, and will offer food in the modern Irish-British idiom that Rhodes has helped to develop. He is said to be excited about the quality of Irish artisan produce.
Antonio Carluccio, brother-in-law of Terence Conran and creator of London's Neal Street Restaurant in Soho, has been looking at the possibility of opening in Dublin for some time. He is rumoured to be considering a slot at CHQ in the International Financial Services Centre, Dublin 1. Nothing has been decided as yet, he says, but Dublin is firmly in his sights.
With the refurbished Shelbourne Hotel due to open ahead of schedule and in time for the Ryder Cup in September, the question of a restaurant is becoming urgent. Nobu, the ultra-fashionable, ultra-expensive sushi chain, was tipped before Christmas as the leading contender but negotiations then got bogged down.
Although the Shelbourne will say only that it is talking to a number of candidates, it seems Nobu is once again in the running. Nobu Matsuhisa's Japanese cuisine with - bizarrely - Peruvian influences is amazingly good, but if you have to check the prices you can't afford to eat there. Watch out for his signature black cod with miso.
Our homegrown Ely Wine Bar is on the brink of massive expansion, with two new branches planned. Mid-May will see the opening of a 930 sqm (10,000 sq ft) wine bar with 350 seats at CHQ in the IFSC; a similarly sized establishment will start trading at Hanover Quay in late June or July. Tom Doorley