Spilling the beans

IN GOOD HANS

Stefan Matthia is hitting all the right notes, delighting the denizens of Thurles with his new Stef Hans cafe in The Source Arts Centre. Having grown up in the restaurant biz at Chez Hans in Cashel — his father opened the fine-dining eatery in 1968, and it’s still family owned and run — Stefan trained in London in the 1990s with Marco Pierre White, and later worked at The Ivy. In 2003, he set up Cafe Hans in Cashel with his brother, Hansi, but has now opened his own place with his wife Ruth, who has a visual arts background, and covers front of house. Using local produce, seafood from Daly’s, veg from Boherlahan, and meat from butcher Martin O’Dwyer in Cashel, Stef Hans is worth a ‘detour’! See facebook.com/Stef-Hans

ROLY’S REVELRY

It’s 25 years since John and Angela O’Sullivan’s Roly’s Bistro hit the ground running. With good food, a great location and a cafe-society clientele, few restaurants have made such an impact. Director Paul Cartwright is at the helm, and head chef Hugh Hyland, below, is in the kitchen — and the celebrations have started at what is a veritable institution. See rolysbistro.ie

CROISSANT CROSSOVER

Bakers are going wild with hybrids! There’s been the Cronut (croissant-doughnut); the Duffin (doughnut-muffin); the Crookie (cookie-stuffed croissant); and the Proissant (pretzel and croissant). The latest madness is Franco-Japanese inspired via San Francisco, where Mr. Holmes Bakehouse have come up with the California Croissant, which is filled with sushi — smoked salmon, nori seaweed, pickled ginger and wasabi!