MARIE-CLAIRE DIGBYrounds up the latest food news
Top chef trained in Ireland
Stevie Parle, recent winner of the best young chef accolade at the Observer Food Monthly annual awards, is yet another graduate of the Ballymaloe Cookery School to hit the big time. Although only 25 years old, Parle, whose doctor father is from Cork, has already worked at the River Café, Moro and Petersham Nurseries, soaking up the influences of some of the major players in the London restaurant scene, as well as working in New York, Tokyo, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. He got a head start on his peers by beginning his formal culinary education under Darina Allen’s tutelage at the age of just 16, and hasn’t looked back since.
Parle lives on a riverboat in Hammersmith with his wife and baby, and is now cooking at The Dock Kitchen, overlooking the canal at Ladbroke Grove in west London, in a building shared with designer Tom Dixon, who recently revamped the restaurant and its kitchen (above). Parle currently has three Ballymaloe alumni working with him there, and his evening menu is inspired by an author, season, or place, and changes weekly. See dockkitchen.co.uk.
Parle is also one of the most original and fresh new voices in food writing. His first book, Real Food From Near and Far, the second in a “New Voices in Food” series from Quadrille (£14.99), is a collection of recipes and stories that have resonance in his life and travels. Parle is as comfortable with words as he is with food, and this is a terrific read that may inspire you to cook something a bit unusual. The design is a departure from the increasingly lavish productions seen in recent times, and is refreshingly understated.
All the fun of the festival
The “food capital” mantle will pass to Listowel next Thursday to Sunday, November 4th-7th, when the Co Kerry town hosts its long-running annual food fair. A competition to find the Homebaker of the Year kicks off the event on Thursday, so if you think your barm brack or cupcakes are right up there with the best in the country, bring them along to the Listowel Arms Hotel on Thursday at 2pm for judging (first check out the conditions of entry at listowelfoodfair.com). The Sheila Broderick Memorial Cheese Competition will also be judged on the opening day. The full programme of events, which includes many activities suitable for children, is available on the website.
Base, the wood-fired pizza take-out and delivery business in Terenure, Dublin is expanding, with a second outlet due to open in Ballsbridge. “We have signed the lease and lodged our planning application and hope to open in mid-February,” says co-owner Shane Crilly
Just a flick of the wrist
Danish company Royal VKB won a Grand Prix award at the recent Maisons et Objet trade fair in Paris for this clever Boomerang Wok, designed by Nikolaï Carels. The unique shape and cupped edge to the wok encourage cheffy wrist movements, without spillages. A panel of consumers and a professional jury voted for the award for the Teflon-coated pan, which costs €89.95 (plus €15 pp) from royalvkb.com.
