Month: July 2008

New Suppliers

 I’m delighted to announce a few new suppliers of our ice cream. First of all, our very first supplier North of Galway is Kate’s Kitchen at 3 Castle Street, Sligo. This what Good Food Ireland has to say about them:

It’s very easy to spot Kate’s Kitchen in Castle Street in Sligo town, its old-fashioned black painted frontage, bay windows and distinctive red and gold lettering makes it stand out from its surroundings. And you won’t be disappointed when you go inside this ‘Aladdin’s Cave.’ The shelves are packed with goodies of all kinds, beautifully presented and laid out in an inspired style. The shop was established in 1982 by Kate Pettit and Frank Hopper and since then, has gone from strength to strength in terms of product range, quality and service. As a result, it has become a destination in itself, attracting customers from far and wide. Indeed, no visit to Sligo would be complete without a visit to this gourmet food and wine shop and delicatessen.

We’re would also like to welcome as customers the Country Market, Howth and Aya Sushi Bar in Dublin.   

Lunch at the Park

 People in our Killarney shop always ask where to eat, and one of the places I suggest is the Garden Bar at the Park Hotel.  

I’m not usually a fan of hotel food – usually there are much better options to be had.

However, not only is there a great vibe – plush yet very relaxed and comfortable, but the food is just as cozy – I had their take on fish and chips recently and the latter came wrapped in newspaper, and it was one of the best and most enjoyable lunches I’ve had for a while.

Parents take note: it seems very child-friendly as well!

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National Irish Food Awards

 Here’s a bit of breaking news:

I’m delighted to announce that a group of us have secured funding for the 1st Annual National Irish Food Awards (Blas na hÉireann), to be held in Dingle during the Food and Wine Festival. The awards will be open to Irish food producers (except sponsors like me) and will be a way of recognising the talents in this country. Entries will have to be commercially available.

I will post more as we get up the website and tighten up the dates and rules of entry…

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Eason’s Offering 10% Discount

 While Amazon keep frustrating us by listing our book as “out of stock,” I’ve just been told that Eason’s is offering 10% off, when you buy it on-line (here)… You can also pick order it from Mercier or Hugh’s and Hugh’s (or support your local bookshop and buy it locally (in Ireland).

If anyone has any ideas of how to convince Amazon to stock a book, I’d love to hear it…

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Two Scoop Cone

 The other day, I set out to take some photos of a two scoop cone, and I’m kind of proud of the results.
I’m very lucky in photographing ice cream (never an easy job) in that I have an ice cream shop right there to help me, and so have a pretty good chance of getting a good looking cone. All that’s left then is to try to capture it before it melts.
With these photos, I set up simple blue and green sheets of paper next to the window in the office upstairs and used the natural light and the camera on a tripod with a fairly slow exposure.
The photo on the right was my brother’s favourite, and it’s aready up as a poster in our shops.
It’s still astonishing to me how quickly one can do things if you do it in house (well, not the poster printing)…
Anyway, it was a good creative break in a season that keeps getting busier. I’ll be doing more scooping than blogging, so please bear with me if I don’t post quite as regularly as I should…
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