DOORWAY TO HEAVEN: Ceramic designer Bridget Harte has spotted a gap in the market and is importing beautifully finished doorknobs for kitchen units.
She imports the ceramic knobs from India, where they are handmade and hand thrown, and can also have special commissions made up by a ceramicist in Thomastown, Co Kilkenny. Her new range has just come in and is designed to match worktops such as granite. This range has an earthier feel than those pictured above, but the floral designs in the Punjab and Rajasthan ranges and the contrasting muted colours and Irish feel of the Classic range have lasting appeal. From €6 each, including post and packaging, from www.midastouchdesign.ie or 086-3811065. Nicoline Greer
SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT
The Crow Street Bazaar is a new mini-arcade in Temple Bar, and one of its highlights is Boitatá Crafts, run by Flávia Pawlowski from Brazil. She stocks chunky necklaces, made from Amazonian seeds, which are increasingly used as jewellery materials in Brazil. Pawlowski says, however, that "Irish women can be shy about wearing the bigger beads". She has been living in Ireland for seven years, but is still all too aware of the poverty in Brazil, so most of the products in Boitatá Crafts come from NGOs, fair trade associations and indigenous women's groups. There are handmade shoes, bags made from the rubber of native Brazilian trees, recycled leather, and ironwork created by craftwrokers involved with a homeless project in Sao Paulo. The arcade also includes a Brazilian food shop, a hip-hop CD shop and an outlet called Head Store, which should be of interest to fans of Bob Marley and Withnail and I, if you catch our drift. Crow Street Bazaar, 7 Crow Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2. Nicoline Greer
MAKE-UP FOR NOW
Getting the girls together for a make-up session is a a great thing to do before hitting the town. To really feel like you are stepping out in style, get a makeover done at home. Jacqui Leahy, a professional make-up artist, will come to your house for a fee (€20 for a demonstration, redeemable with purchase, and €50 for a make-up application). She uses Glo-Minerals, a mineral-based natural product from the US. Leahy trained at Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art and Design, and will show you all the tricks of the trade. Contact her on 087-9207496. Nicoline Greer
NOVELLI AT LA STAMPA
The launch party for the new Jean-Christophe Novelli version of La Stampa was cancelled at the last minute as result of the London terrorist attacks, but the temperamental French chef has been refining the menu in the Dawson Street kitchen. He expects to spend roughly a third of his time in Dublin. "But," he adds, "if at first La Stampa needs more than that I will be there." Novelli has become joint-owner of La Stampa with founder Louis Murray, while the other, related businesses, such as Tiger Bec's, remain solely Murray's. "This is not just a consultancy," says Novelli. "This is one of my restaurants." Resident head chef, Nick Woodard, has worked with Novelli in the past. La Stampa has been one of Dublin's most under-achieving restaurants for years, despite the presence in the kitchen, at different times, of such luminaries as Paul Flynn and Michael Martin. Perhaps the new ownership structure will engender an atmosphere where fine cooking can flourish. Novelli is said to have prepared 16 versions of gazpacho last week before he was happy to place one on the La Stampa menu. Quite a change, then. Tom Doorley
LONG LIFE
Do you want to know how long you will live? If you're sure you really want the truth, get in touch with the makers of How Long Will You Live? - a new TV programme which is trying to find out how healthy people really are. Dr Mark Hamilton and a team of experts will look at your actual years and your "lifestyle years", which, they say, could be radically different, according to the life you live. But rather than delivering only a litany of doom and gloom, they will also show you how to up your chances of staying on the planet a little longer by making changes to your life. Taking part in this programme could really have long-term benefits. Call Maggi or Julie on 00-44-2890-427646 for an application form. The deadline is August 1st. Nicoline Greer
PRESERVE US
The notion of pickling may inspire images of war-time housewives but Preserved, a new paperback, is full of colourful diversity. Drying, smoking, salting, fermenting and pickling are just some of the ways that you can give food a longer shelf life. The book uses some of the methods that allowed people throughout history to explore the world by sea, to eat foods from far-off lands and to just survive the winter months. A whole chapter is devoted to sausages, such as Hungarian paprika salami, Spanish chorizo and German frankfurters. There are also recipes suggesting how to use your preserved food, such as smoked beef with creamy horseradish, or slow-cooked lamb with preserved lemons. The really organised could even start pickling their presents for Christmas. Preserved by Nick Sandler and Johnny Acton, is published by Kyle Cathie, (£14.99). Nicoline Greer
SHARPER IMAGES
An award-winning photo of Dublin's Millennium Spire by architectural photographer Donal Murphy of Barry Mason Photography is one of the images in an exhibition currently travelling around Ireland. The images were submitted by members of the Irish Professional Photographers Association for the annual National Photographic Awards, and can be seen in Athlone's new Civic Centre until Tuesday, and at Eyre Square Shopping Centre, Galway, from Thursday until August 4th. Also on view this week is Exodus, the exhibition by world-renowned Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado. It opens in Triskel in Cork on Monday. His photos document six years spent in slums and refugee camps in 40 countries. www.triskelart.com, 021-4272022. If these inspire you to try your own hand, Beacons of Hope is a competition for amateur photographers being run by the Irish Cancer Society and Lymphoma Support Ireland to raise awareness of Lymphoma (cancer of the lymphatic system). Perry Ogden and Irish Times Pictures Editor Peter Thursfield are the judges, and the theme is "Hope and Survivorship". Entry forms are available from www.beaconsofhope.org. Nicoline Greer