TRENDS
Bang on
trend
Tastes change and Irish restaurateurs are quick to
bring the latest global food fashions home,
writes Aoife Carrigy
O
ne of the anomalies of the recession was the unexpected reinvigoration of the Irish dining
scene. Dublin city centre has
more eateries than ever with
change-of-usage building developments
and expansion of existing restaurants leading to an increase of over 1,250 new restaurant seats in the past 18 months. The recovery is slower to show itself beyond the capital in terms of restaurant openings but up
and down the country existing restauranteurs are embracing new ways of securing
their place in diners’ lives. So, who’s eating
where, what are we ordering and how do
our restaurant trends compare with the international dining scene?
Blurring the lines
How, where and when we eat out is up
for grabs. High-end US department
stores are reintroducing in-store eateries
to encourage “dwell time”, while galleries,
bike shops and boutiques are using
in-house cafes to increase footfall. Think
Lennox at The Visual, Carl ow or Dublin’s
Coppa Cafe at the RHA Gallery, Rothar
Bike Café on Fade Street and Tamp &
Stitch in Temple Bar. Casual places in Dublin include Pitt Bros BBQ on South Great
Casual dining
Today’s diners want good food but without the fuss and pomp of formal dining.
Bord Bia’s recent PERIscope 2013 report
ranks “Quick Service Restaurants” as the
strongest food-service sector, now and until 2018 at least. Old-fashioned fast food is
being re-invented with the global move towards “fast good”, often with a focus on a
single-item menu.
First burgers got a makeover,
then burritos and now
sausages are big news, so take
a bow Dublin’s Worscht and
Fritehaus
1
24 |THE IRISH TIMES | March 26, 2014
First burgers got a makeover, then burritos and now sausages are big newsthanks
to restaurants such as Dublin’s Worscht
and Fritehaus and Cork’s Sausage Grill.
2
‘‘
Georges Street, and Pizza e Porchetta on
Grand Canal Quay which offer all-day food
service, meeting the demands of our increasingly fluid lives. Flexible dining menus like those in Etto on Merrion Row, are
based around small plates and welcome
shared experiences. And as the Irish pub
tackles its identity crisis, bars such as The
Taphouse in Ranelagh , Deasy’s in Clonakilty, and Bierhaus and Eat @Massimo Bar,
both in Galway, are answering the call for
craft beers and food to share.
3
EATertainment
The shift from expense-account
spend to leisure spend sees restaurants pitting their skills against the entertainment business . Ground-breaking international chefs are interrogating how sensory stimuli affects our food experience, from
silent suppers and dining in the dark to the
Spanish venture, El Celler de Can Roca’s Il
Somni – a 12-course opera-based banquet
exploring culinary history, landscape and
poetry at El Cellar de Can Roca restaurant
in Girona, Catalunya.
The trickle-down? In Dublin a chef’s table in Chapter One’s kitchen and Forest Av-
enue’s tasting menu hand-delivered by
chefs. News of the Curd supper club decamping to Ballinlough castle , Co Meath to
host a magical banquet at this summer’s
Body & Soul festival.
.
Craft beers and classy cocktails
Irish restaurants traditionally made
money on wine mark-ups rather
than food margins, but recent duty increases have squeezed the consumer’s wine
spend, making the traditional model a challenge. Many restaurateurs are opting to upsell on cocktails (tapping into a thirst for experimentation and affordable luxuries); on
craft beers, local or otherwise (even imported craft beers carry a story and sense of authenticity); or both (the US flirtation with
sour beers and beer cocktails has hit these
shores in the likes of Vintage Cocktail
Club). Newcomer Opium on Dublin’s Wexford Street gives customers a polaroid souvenir of their cocktail to capture the moment.
4
5
Healthy eating
In Bord Bia’s PERIscope survey 2013
comparing 10 European countries,