Make sure you take note of these special dining experiences and summer pop-ups
Hen’s Teeth X Kai Galway, Dublin 8
Hen’s Teeth gallery in Blackpitts, Dublin 8 has hosted some interesting food events recently. These have included an evening with Tom Booton, head chef at The Grill at the Dorchester; Vito’s, a pop-up trattoria with Soprano’s star Joe Gannascoli and a Bahay x Hen’s Teeth weekend. On Friday and Saturday July 1-2, the creative hub is welcoming the team from Kai, Galway for a two night pop-up, which is exciting news for fans of Jess Murphy’s cuisine. Since 2011, Murphy has relied on a simple and very successful formula of serving high quality produce, sourced locally and cooked intelligently, which has earned the restaurant a Michelin Bib Gourmand in the process. The menu for the pop-up will include favourite dishes from the Galway restaurant including Inis Mór crab with Liam’s tomatillos, fried Knocklara zucchini with hot honey and Connemara lobster thermidor. Bookings can be made through the Hen’s Teeth OpenTable.
Salt of the Earth pop up dinner experience, Ballyneety, Co Limerick
Chef Caomhán de Brí is a recent graduate of TU Dublin’s new Botanical Cuisine course – the first farm-to-plate culinary degree programme of its kind in Europe. He now works at The Salt Project and is preparing to serve a special pop-up dining experience on Friday and Saturday August 5-6 in tandem with Kevin Wallace, of New Leaf Urban Farmers in Ballyneety, Co Limerick.
De Bri’s five-course fine dining menu will see Wallace’s produce showcased in a series of i plant-focused dishes. The idea is to provide guests with a sense of place – De Bri will barbecue ingredients over hot coals on a Hibachi grill or in an Ooni pizza oven, a stone’s throw from where they were grown.
On arrival guests will be greeted with an apéritif and given the opportunity to take a pre-dinner tour of the one-acre farm. Wallace is best known for his Korean natural farming methods (without chemicals or pesticides) and supplies restaurants such The Oak Room at Adare Manor, Ichigo Ichie in Cork and Aniar in Galway. One of his farm’s polytunnels will be the setting for the evening, with guests dining together at two long tables, which will seat up to 100 per night. Tickets for the evenings, which begin at 7pm, cost €95 each including matching wines and craft beers and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
Muse Coffee + Food Summer Series, Kilkenny
As one of the most enjoyable al fresco food experiences in Kilkenny, Muse Café is in grounds of the city’s Butler Gallery (do pop in to see the current exhibition “Generation 2022: New Irish Painting”) and is hosting a summer series of food and wellness pop-ups in its stunning walled garden. These include yoga and Sunday Brunch sessions in the gallery’s courtyard (with a 9.30am start time) led by local yoga instructor David Mooney. These are followed by a healthy two-course Muse Coffee + Food brunch, served at a communal table on the adjoining terrace. Brunch includes fruity overnight oats, a green queen smoothie (with cucumber, celery, spinach and mint) and the choice of a nourish bowl, avocado toast or breakfast bagel and limitless Cloud Picker coffee. Each of the Yoga + Sunday Brunch sessions are priced at €30 per person and will run (weather dependent) on July 17, 24 and 31. There’s also a yoga and cocoa workshop on Sunday, July 10, from 9am-1pm, with Liz Reilly, a meditation and yoga expert from Bhaki Healing. The morning will begin with a traditional cacao ceremony in the garden drinking ceremonial grade Keith’s cacao – a powerful superfood – which will then lead into a connected meditation session. A yoga class to help shift and move stagnant energy will follow. The workshop will end with dishes from the Sunday brunch menu (as above). The cost of the Yoga + Cocoa Workshop and the two-course sit down Brunch afterwards is €60 per person and can be booked online at www.musecoffeefood.ie.
Gin & Gelato pop up at Culloden Estate & Spa, Co Antrim
Not technically a food group, but definitely a feel-good summer essential, guests of The Culloden Estate & Spa can enjoy ice cream floats, drinks and delicious food in its pop up Italian gin garden. This new bar installation can be found outside the Cultra Inn on the grounds of the hotel. It’s a lovely spot to enjoy views over Belfast Lough while enjoying a Ginato Gin – the first Pinot Grigio gin distilled from grapes selected from the wine-growing regions of Friuli, juniper sourced from Tuscany, and citrus fruits from southern Italy. Drinks are complemented by an Italian menu, including sharing boards and small antipasti bowls; there’s a new menu each month during the summer. There’s also an overnight “Gin and Gelato” offer which includes accommodation, breakfast, a reserved table at a Gin & Gelato event, and use of the hotel’s super spa and health club facilities. From £250 per person the offer is valid Monday-Wednesday from now until September; www.cullodenestateandspa.com
