Spilling the beans

DINGLE’S DISCOVERY

Next weekend, November 25 and 26, the Dingle Skellig Hotel is holding a Wine and Whiskey Discovery Weekend. Kicking off on Friday evening with a tasting of the first release of the new whiskey from Dingle Distillery, the event continues on Saturday with a Winemaker’s Dinner in the hotel’s Coastguard Restaurant, hosted by the third-generation winemaker Federico Dal Bianco of Masottina Wines in the Veneto region of Italy. A Prosecco tasting on arrival will be followed by an extensive seven-course tasting menu, with matching wines. Two nights’ bed and breakfast with Winemaker’s Dinner, is from €209 per person sharing. Winemaker’s dinner only, €75 per person. See dingleskellig.com

A RED-HOT EMBER

Greg O’Mahoney’s Ember restaurant in Milltown, D6, opens this week. Greg, pictured below, is ex-Chapter One, L’Ecrivain, and has a spell in San Sebastian under his belt. His casual fine dining in Ember will incorporate a Basque-style

plancha, plus a charcoal/ woodburning oven in a chic setting — mosaic tiles, a white marble bar, solid walnut tables and parquet flooring. See ember.ie

THE GETAWAY

The new Bullitt hotel in Belfast may well ‘shoot from the hip’ with their no-nonsense philosophy of ditching mini-bars, bellboys and butlers, to offer ‘neat’ rooms of the ‘Dinky, Comfy, and Roomy’ variety, but it didn’t stop two elderly ‘cowgirls’ walking out with a large picture of legendary actor Steve McQueen. In fact, it was so large, they had to abandon the heist when it wouldn’t fit in their car! See bullitthotel.com