Weekend BITES

THIS WEEK I’LL BE EATING...

...a freezer buffet. This is a kind of spring cleaning, when I try to use up stuff that has been in the freezer, and taking up space, for just too long. There’s a lot of cooked field mushrooms from last autumn, and that probably means risotto. There’s plenty of various tomato sauces, so this will probably mean pasta, and the cooked ham will almost certainly go into a quiche – remember that? – with leeks. Egg whites will mean a feast of meringues and wild blackberries are sure to end up in a crumble, perhaps with the last of our Bramley apples that remain in the larder.

TURN IT UP TO ELEVEN

David Whelehan’s wine shop in what was once a landmark pub, The Silver Tassie, is outstanding and a place of regular pilgrimage for me. Now, there’s a further draw: John Farrell – of 777, The Butcher Grill, Amy Austin and more – has opened his Eleven restaurant upstairs with a wine list sourced from Whelehan’s brilliant selection. The heart of the restaurant is a wood-fired grill. Open from Wednesday to Sunday for dinner, lunch will be coming soon, and there’s an Oyster Hour (€2 each) on weekdays from 5-7pm. Sundays are devoted to roasts, from €23. See elevendublin.ie.

A REAL BRIGHT SPARK

Éamon Fitzgerald’s winespark.com deserves to be much better known. After a career in the UK as wine buyer for Naked Wines, he is back home and offering outstanding tipples at very reasonable prices to members of the winespark.com scheme (the annual fee is €120). He is currently organising a trip to Bordeaux In September to coincide with the rugby. Éamon knows Bordeaux intimately, so members who join him on this outing are sure to get the inside track view. Just join up and sign on for further details.

PARADISO FOUND

Denis Cotter’s Café Paradiso is so embedded in the city of Cork that it’s strange to think it’s only reaching its 30th birthday. Denis abandoned a career in the bank for vegetarian cooking and has been wowing customers ever since at Lancaster Quay. He’s now launching a six-course menu to mark the move from winter, dominated by root vegetables, into spring and the chef’s much broader palette. Expect Irish asparagus, pan-roasted artichokes, nettle broth, aged Coolea and stout toast with beetroot relish and rhubarb semifreddo with ginger crumb. See paradiso.restaurant.