Our Second Event - A Quick Summary

The second For Food’s Sake evening was held at the Sugar Club on the 26^th of May and it was another full house! The topic of discussion was “Are Irish Restaurants up the Swanny?” but before that kicked off, the three artisan producers whose delicious foods we sampled all night hit the stage to tell us about their companies. These wonderful food heroes were Dominic Gryson from Gleann Gabhra goat milk products, Maurice Gilbert from Ballyhoura apple farm, Caroline Rigney (represented by Gareth Granville) from Curraghcase Pork products. Much love and thanks to them all for coming down and treating us to such wonderful fare, all for free!

The meat of the discussion rocked on with the panelists enlightening the crowd about the many challenges and hopes facing Irish restaurants these days. The panelists of the evening were:

• Joe Macken, restaurateur (JoBurger and Crackbird)
• Enda McEvoy, chef (Cook Wild Project, plus formerly Sheridan's on the Docks, and recent stints in Gregan’s Castle, Co Clare & Noma, Copenhagen)
• Paul Cadden, restaurateur (Saba, & former President of the Restaurant Association of Ireland)
• Caroline Byrne, Dublin editor of the Bridgestone Guide

For a more detailed analysis of the discussion itself, please check out this post.

After the interval Enda McEvoy gave a presentation about his recent stint in Noma (only the top restaurant in the world) and talked about the prospect of food foraging in Ireland.

Next up was the  highly anticipated Karaoke Cook-off began. Manager of The Sugar Club, Oisin Davis hosted the toasted cheese cook-off between SJ, the lead singer of Rock band Dirty Epics and club DJ David De Valera. Three lucky (or unlucky audience members depending on how you look at it) were picked out to be the judges. After a nail biting conclusion Sarah Jane’s ‘Student’s cheese toastie’ beat off David’s ‘Rib eye, caramelised onion, mushroom and several other ingredients toastie’. David had no choice but to take the microphone to sing Right Said Fred’s 90’s classic ‘I’m Too Sexy’.

Finally a three-way blind tasting was held for a chance to win a weekend trip to Gregans Castle Hotel in Galway. Lychees were the first mysterious taste and after one lucky punter banged his silver spoon to victory, a second head to head blind tasting of cheddar cheese gave away a meal for two in Dax Cafe Wine Bar and a delicious basket of produce from Dennis Healy's Organic Delights.

If you missed out last Thursday, do make sure you catch the next For Food’s Sake on the 28^th of July!