Food 'bible' dishes up frugal treats
Sunday November 01 2009
FOURTEEN of the 100 best restaurants in Dublin, as identified by The Dubliner magazine last year, have since closed and a number of others have an uncertain future.
It is against this somewhat grim background that The Dubliner will next week launch its 2010 'bible' for foodies, a pocket-sized publication which manages to identify the best restaurants in the city and suburbs.
Last year's Chef's Chef Award went to Dylan McGrath of Mint restaurant in Ranelagh, and the Santa Rita People's Choice Award went to Jo'Burger in Rathmines.
Despite a vote of confidence from customers and peers, McGrath was out of business a couple of months later and Jo'burger closed a branch in Blackrock and went into examinership.
The question is whether the winners this year fare any better. Speaking from atop a camel on Abu Dhabi on Friday, where he is attending the Grand Prix this weekend, Michael O'Doherty, the dapper publisher of The Dubliner said: "I bloody well hope so!"
Chefs are notoriously antagonistic towards each other. Dublin chefs often explode into rage at the merest provocation from their rivals. This year The Dubliner asked representatives of the 100 Best Restaurants to name who they truly admired, in secret: the top four nominees are -- Derry Clarke from L'Ecrivain, Ross Lewis from Chapter One, Sebastian Masi from Pearl Brasserie and Kevin Thornton from Thornton's restaurant.
No mention of Richard Corrigan, then, of Bentley's, the popular restaurant which opened on St Stephen's Green just as the recession was getting under way.
There is a measure of compensation for Corrigan, however. The Dubliner's restaurant critic, Helen Lucy Burke, chose as her starter of the year a half lobster at Bentley's restaurant for €22.
"My criterion demands at least an elegant sufficiency but ampleness of portion does not invalidate the candidate. The clear winner is the succulent, tender, lavish lobster at Richard Corrigan's Bentley's. Three ounces more and One Pico's red mullet would have won," she said.
This year's guide is full of the usual asides. The best five restaurants for a first date, for example, are The Cake Café, La Cave, L'Gueuleton, Nonna Valentina and Pearl. There is also a guide to the 'best boozy lunch', 'family friendly', 'groups', 'cheap and cheerful' and 'push the boat out' restaurants.
New arrivals to the list include cheap cafes and neighbourhood hangouts, such as charity restaurant Ten Fourteen in Clontarf, Café Bell in the courtyard of a church, Green Nineteen, where dishes cost less than €10, and Soup Dragon where a liquid lunch costs €6.50. "Over-priced 'institutions' will not be pleased," according to Paul Trainer of The Dubliner.
New exits this year include Les Frere Jacques "which prides itself on their indifferent service, antiquated, Celtic Tiger dining room"; Elephant and Castle, "you'll read about it in every guide to Dublin written by someone who's stumbled through Temple Bar, but the truth is it just isn't that good"; D4's Expresso Café; The Lobster Pot, "beloved of critics who are fawned upon within" and, perhaps surprisingly, the restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel in Ballsbridge.
- JODY CORCORAN
Sunday Independent
