Welcome to June’s Irish Times Food & Drink Club Digest

Irish Restaurant Awards 2022

They’re back! After a two-year break due to the pandemic, the Irish Restaurant Awards are up and running again. Since their initiation in 2009, these awards have expanded to a five-month long process that begins with a public vote and also includes judging panels, mystery guest inspections and regional and national events.

The public voting process launched this week and will remain open until June 22nd. There are 21 categories open to the public vote, across everything from best chef to local food hero. You can nominate your favourites here: Restaurant Awards Ireland 2022 | The Irish Times.

As subscribers to the Irish Times Food & Drink Club, we value your expert opinion and thank you for supporting the awards, run by the Restaurants Association of Ireland, which recognise outstanding achievement in hospitality. Everyone who votes will be entered into a draw to win two-night breaks, with dinner one night, at Ireland’s Blue Book properties, Carrig Country House in Co Kerry, and The Mustard Seed in Co Limerick.

County winners will be announced in August, and regional and national winners will be revealed at the All-Ireland Gala Dinner on Monday, September 19th at the Convention centre in Dublin.

Win, win, win

We have two wonderful prizes to be won this month. Scroll down to enter a draw to win an overnight stay and a Champagne afternoon tea, for two people, at the magnificent Cashel Palace hotel in Co Tipperary. We also have a three-course dinner for four at The Creel restaurant in Westport to be won, details below.

Congratulations to Calvin Moreira, who has won a tasting menu dinner for two, with wine pairings, at Aniar in Galway, which this year celebrates a decade in business. Paul O’Connell was the winner of the Bean & Goose chocolate hamper in our last newsletter.

Read all about it

In tomorrow’s Irish Times Magazine, Corinna Hardgrave writes about a new discovery, a café serving “simple, perfect food”. Paul Flynn has recipes for hake, mackerel and prawns, inspired by a lunch cooked by a pal, and JP McMahon shares a Japanese technique with mackerel. Aoife Noonan uses Irish strawberries to make a French classic, while Lilly Higgins turns vegetables into Vietnamese pickles. John Wilson writes about Austrian wines, and they’re not all expensive, he’s found a stunner for a little over €12 at M&S.

Check in with us regularly at irishtimes.com/food for all the latest food and drink news, features and great dishes to cook. If you would like to invite family and friends to join the Irish Times Food & Drink Club, they can do so here. You can also follow us on Facebook here, and on Twitter here.

Thanks for reading.

Marie-Claire Digby