Spilling the tea with Maître D'

1. Michelin makes foodie magic in Dublin’s fair city

The Michelin Awards roadshow came to Dublin for the first time this month, stirring up many emotions.

There was delight that the very glitzy awards were being held in our capital city, but disapproval about there being not enough support from Government agencies, criticism of this celebration of what can – occasionally – be toxic workplaces along with real joy and delight for the winners. There was also disappointment about the fact that no Irish restaurant was awarded three stars to join the five establishments that already have two stars and the 18 that hold one Michelin star. That’s what we might call first world problems.

Chances for most of us to go to a two or one star restaurant are few and far between. But Michelin also gives what are called Bib Gourmand awards to restaurants that serve high quality meals that are good value.

There are 19 of these in Ireland, none prohibitively priced, and they’re dotted throughout the country, from Sha-Roe Bistro in the lovely Carlow village of Clonegal, John and Tara Coffey’s Thyme in Athlone and, newly anointed, the Farmgate in Lismore, Máróg and Sally O’Brien’s comeback after their original Farmgate was forced to close after 40 years in Midleton due to flooding.

Seeing St Francis Provisions in Kinsale take the award for Best Service was undoubtedly the best moment of the night. To watch owner Barbara Nealon and her cracking team dance around in that space, pouring natural wines and serving joyful food from chef Rebeca Recarey Sanchez is a thing of real beauty.

Congratulations also to Ireland’s newest Michelin-starred restaurants: Forest Avenue in Dublin and Galway’s The Pullman. It may have detractors but Michelin is still the smartest show in town.

2. IFWG Food Awards at Ananda

Michelin might celebrate the chefs but the Irish Food Writers’ Guild celebrates the people that produce the food that goes into restaurants and into our home kitchens. Since 1993, the IFWG Food Awards has been shining a light on outstanding food products, beverages, individuals and initiatives in Ireland.

The winners of these awards are a roll call of the great and the good of Irish food, from last year’s lifetime achievement award winners Jane and Louis Grubb of Cashel Blue through Cork’s Woodcock Smokery kippers in 2001 and Wexford-raised organic chicken from Regan Organic Farm in 2024. And here’s the kicker: no one can nominate themselves, it’s all done by IFWG members so the winners are in for a big surprise. It all adds an extra frisson of anticipation to Tuesday 4 March, when the 2026 awards will be announced over a carefully curated lunch in Ananda Restaurant in Dublin.

3. Corleggy in Cavan say cheese, please

Blessed are the cheesemakers, and the cheesemaking teachers.

Corleggy Cheese has a well established and deliciously funky place in the Irish cheese firmament. Based in Belturbet, Co Cavan, Silke Cropp started making cheese in 1985 using milk from her own goats; by 1989, Corleggy was described as “a gorgeous cheese” by John and Sally McKenna in their first Irish Food Guide.

Over the last 46 years, Silke and her family have continued to make cheese by hand using raw milk from local goats, sheep and cows, including that original hard Corleggy goat cheese, sheep milk Creeny and camembert-style Cavanbert. They’re also passing on the knowledge. Together with her son Tom, Silke has a series of cheese making classes this year, starting on Sunday 19 April. You don’t need specialist equipment or ingredients as these day-long, hands-on classes (€150) are focused on a back to basics style of making cheese using, says Tom, what you already have available in your own kitchen.

You’ll get to make a hard cheese to mature at home and a soft cheese that can be consumed straight away. From milk, to maturable foodstuff one day – that’s the delicious magic of cheesemaking.

4. Get ‘All Shucked Up’ for festival

he best of meals start with a half dozen briny oysters from some of the fantastic producers around the Irish coastline. Eaten by themselves, they’re a perfect little something to wake up the tastebuds and whet the appetite.

That’s why it’s fitting that the first food festival of the year is All Shucked Up, the Howth Guinness, Oyster and Music Festival which is running in this peninsular fishing town from 27 February to 1 March. Don’t miss the shucking – the East Coast Oyster Shucking Championships will have MC Marcus O’Laoire there to whip up the crowds in his usual ebullient style. It’s always a thrill to watch highly skilled folk going up against each other with speed, armed with no more than an oyster knife.

There’s also an Oyster Master Class with chef and oyster expert Sarah Browne. Tickets are €45, from tickets.ie.

5. Darling, dinner is served in Kinsale

If you’ve ever eaten at Cork City restaurant Goldie, you might have spotted Anna Hevers in the open kitchen, cooking and plating with aplomb. She’s chef de partie at this Bib Gourmand restaurant (Michelin, it’s everywhere) and she’s just about to launch her own private catering company. Anna Darling Dining is kicking off in style, holding a special collaboration dinner with Goldie on Sunday 8 March at the Dockhouse in Kinsale.

Tickets (€75) for that dinner disappeared almost as soon as they went on sale, but this is just the beginning for this talented Kinsale-based chef.