1 Too little too late for the Irish hospitality sector
I feel like Irish hospitality professionals have been banging their heads against the same wall for a very long time now. As warned, we’re only in January and already seeing rural hospitality closures being announced.
First, I hear about Pudding Row in Co Sligo. Then, I hear about The Broken Chair in Co Wicklow. Now, this past week we hear about The Kabin Café in Co Cork. It would be one thing if these businesses were serving bad food, gave poor service or were charging a fortune, but this is not the case. They were excellent businesses who had plenty of customers coming through their doors. The fact is, the operating cost increases are simply overwhelming.
Mark my words, these closures will have a knock-on effect within their communities. In some positive news, we now know the new Government plans to reduce the VAT rate from 13.5% to 9% for food services, entertainment and hairdressing in the next budget. A welcome move, but too little too late for the businesses already affected. And again - if we have to wait until the next budget for this reduction, how many other businesses will have closed in the meantime?
2 A little slice of Irish-made heaven
Slice of Life is created by Spoond founder Emi Takakura.
Please don’t ask me how my Dry January is going – or whether I am making use of that new gym membership. That “exercise is a natural anti-depressant” crowd can get into the sea. I will diet in the springtime, when I start craving fresh vegetables again.
That said, I discovered this Irish-made protein pizza in the frozen section of Lidl a while back and it appears the pizza was so popular the retailer has reintroduced it to the shelves. While I feel pizza should only be served one way (greasy, cheesy and loaded with toppings), this pizza, called Slice of Life, is – well – really good.
Slice of Life is Irish-made, uses Irish ingredients and can also be found in Tesco. It contains three of your “five a day” and the crust is made with cauliflower. Each pizza is around 600 calories, but it still feels indulgent. I’ve been keeping one in the freezer for those nights I just can’t be bothered (it also pairs nicely with a few glasses of Sangiovese).
See sliceoflife.ie
3 Kitchen duties under scrutiny
One in four Irish households now equally split kitchen duties like cooking and dishwashing.
I’m not sure this data counts if you’re married to a hospitality professional like my other half (a spoilt man, indeed), but a new survey from meal kit company HelloFresh has explored how much cooking is being done at home and who is the main “executive chef”.
Apparently, one in four Irish households now equally split kitchen duties, like cooking and dishwashing. I’ll tell ya, it was far from the dishwasher my partner was reared.
It looks as though the Boomers (aged 58 and over) are the biggest cohort of kitchen cooks with 78% saying they cook all or most of the time in their households. Gen Z (aged 18-24) are least likely to be doing any cooking. Instead, they rely on convenience foods, dining out and delivery services. This, my friends, is why home economics should be mandatory in secondary schools.
Have you always wanted to learn how to grow your own veg? Now is the chance. \ organicgrowersireland
These days, it’s very ‘in vogue’ to incorporate more home-grown veggies onto restaurant and café menus, and we’re seeing more Irish chefs growing food themselves – just look at Dela in Galway; they are doing some brilliant food with their home-grown veg.
The Organic Growers of Ireland have launched their 2025 internship programme and – I’m not going to lie – with the stresses of the day job weighing heavily, an internship where you work the earth and grow beautiful vegetables sounds like bliss. Am I losing my marbles? Maybe. But this is the kind of professional development I dig (no pun intended).
The internship features six to ninemonth-long paid work placements on some lovely organic farms, like Hometree in Co Clare and Beechlawn Organic Farm in Co Galway. You also attend workshops and at the end you get a QQI Level 5 certificate. They’re accepting applications now until 15 February.
See organicgrowersireland.ie
5 The Irish art of hunkering down
I think we all know this: we tend to lose the run of ourselves amid severe weather warnings. But as your Maître D’ is still hearing reports of folk at higher elevations not being able to get deliveries due to bad road conditions from the snow a few weeks back, maybe, in this case, panic buying was warranted.
I visited the supermarket the afternoon before the snow hit and there was not a loaf of sliced pan to be found on the shelves. According to data from SuperValu, over the weekend of 3-4 January, 100,000 additional loaves of bread were sold in just two days, while milk, butter and egg sales also surged by over 147% in weather-impacted areas. The national retailer also says that demand for tea, coffee and soup spiked as shoppers stocked up on “comforting essentials”.
We might not always be prepared for snowy days – but we Irish certainly know how to hunker down, stay warm and eat well.
Read more
Spilling the tea with Maitre D'
Spilling the tea with Maitre D'
1 Too little too late for the Irish hospitality sector
I feel like Irish hospitality professionals have been banging their heads against the same wall for a very long time now. As warned, we’re only in January and already seeing rural hospitality closures being announced.
First, I hear about Pudding Row in Co Sligo. Then, I hear about The Broken Chair in Co Wicklow. Now, this past week we hear about The Kabin Café in Co Cork. It would be one thing if these businesses were serving bad food, gave poor service or were charging a fortune, but this is not the case. They were excellent businesses who had plenty of customers coming through their doors. The fact is, the operating cost increases are simply overwhelming.
Mark my words, these closures will have a knock-on effect within their communities. In some positive news, we now know the new Government plans to reduce the VAT rate from 13.5% to 9% for food services, entertainment and hairdressing in the next budget. A welcome move, but too little too late for the businesses already affected. And again - if we have to wait until the next budget for this reduction, how many other businesses will have closed in the meantime?
2 A little slice of Irish-made heaven
Slice of Life is created by Spoond founder Emi Takakura.
Please don’t ask me how my Dry January is going – or whether I am making use of that new gym membership. That “exercise is a natural anti-depressant” crowd can get into the sea. I will diet in the springtime, when I start craving fresh vegetables again.
That said, I discovered this Irish-made protein pizza in the frozen section of Lidl a while back and it appears the pizza was so popular the retailer has reintroduced it to the shelves. While I feel pizza should only be served one way (greasy, cheesy and loaded with toppings), this pizza, called Slice of Life, is – well – really good.
Slice of Life is Irish-made, uses Irish ingredients and can also be found in Tesco. It contains three of your “five a day” and the crust is made with cauliflower. Each pizza is around 600 calories, but it still feels indulgent. I’ve been keeping one in the freezer for those nights I just can’t be bothered (it also pairs nicely with a few glasses of Sangiovese).
See sliceoflife.ie
3 Kitchen duties under scrutiny
One in four Irish households now equally split kitchen duties like cooking and dishwashing.
I’m not sure this data counts if you’re married to a hospitality professional like my other half (a spoilt man, indeed), but a new survey from meal kit company HelloFresh has explored how much cooking is being done at home and who is the main “executive chef”.
Apparently, one in four Irish households now equally split kitchen duties, like cooking and dishwashing. I’ll tell ya, it was far from the dishwasher my partner was reared.
It looks as though the Boomers (aged 58 and over) are the biggest cohort of kitchen cooks with 78% saying they cook all or most of the time in their households. Gen Z (aged 18-24) are least likely to be doing any cooking. Instead, they rely on convenience foods, dining out and delivery services. This, my friends, is why home economics should be mandatory in secondary schools.
Have you always wanted to learn how to grow your own veg? Now is the chance. \ organicgrowersireland
These days, it’s very ‘in vogue’ to incorporate more home-grown veggies onto restaurant and café menus, and we’re seeing more Irish chefs growing food themselves – just look at Dela in Galway; they are doing some brilliant food with their home-grown veg.
The Organic Growers of Ireland have launched their 2025 internship programme and – I’m not going to lie – with the stresses of the day job weighing heavily, an internship where you work the earth and grow beautiful vegetables sounds like bliss. Am I losing my marbles? Maybe. But this is the kind of professional development I dig (no pun intended).
The internship features six to ninemonth-long paid work placements on some lovely organic farms, like Hometree in Co Clare and Beechlawn Organic Farm in Co Galway. You also attend workshops and at the end you get a QQI Level 5 certificate. They’re accepting applications now until 15 February.
See organicgrowersireland.ie
5 The Irish art of hunkering down
I think we all know this: we tend to lose the run of ourselves amid severe weather warnings. But as your Maître D’ is still hearing reports of folk at higher elevations not being able to get deliveries due to bad road conditions from the snow a few weeks back, maybe, in this case, panic buying was warranted.
I visited the supermarket the afternoon before the snow hit and there was not a loaf of sliced pan to be found on the shelves. According to data from SuperValu, over the weekend of 3-4 January, 100,000 additional loaves of bread were sold in just two days, while milk, butter and egg sales also surged by over 147% in weather-impacted areas. The national retailer also says that demand for tea, coffee and soup spiked as shoppers stocked up on “comforting essentials”.
We might not always be prepared for snowy days – but we Irish certainly know how to hunker down, stay warm and eat well.
Read more
Spilling the tea with Maitre D'
Spilling the tea with Maitre D'
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: