HONEST GRUB: In Dublin's Georges Street Arcade, LaraLu and Simon's Place have been joined by Honest to Goodness. The newcomer offers something pleasantly straightforward, based around fresh, high-quality ingredients and great bread.
Meats are bought at Smith's Butchers around the corner on Stephen's Street; vegetables are picked up at the markets each day; and the two guys behind the business - Darragh Birkett and Martin Ansbro - make their own bread each day on site with chilli, olive oil and rosemary added to the mix. Interior designer Laura Farrell of Scudding Clouds transformed the narrow, high-ceilinged space with an orange, black, brown and white scheme, along with fun elements such as suspended buckets and painted melon cartons. Mercifully, it's not overly "cool" but has an atmosphere that's welcoming to all. Nearby, the people behind Havana on Grantham Street have opened a second restaurant on Georges Street, serving a similar menu of Spanish-style food, with an emphasis on tapas in the evenings. It opens for lunch from noon. Eoin Lyons
A DIM VIEW: "A very narrow path leads to happiness," warns the brochure for The Happiest Country In The World, an exhibition running at the offices of the OPW on Dublin's St Stephen's Green. Curated by Ruarí Ó Cuív and Cliodhna Shaffrey, the show was developed in response to the findings of the Economist Intelligence Unit 2004, which said that Irish people enjoyed the highest quality of life in the world. "We're both very interested in the aesthetic but we have a strong interest, too, in these kinds of surveys, and in the skewed perspective they give on life," explains Ó Cuív. The exhibition probes complacencies and reveals stagnancies, asking blunt and often comical questions of the suspiciously glossy picture we have built up of ourselves. These photographs, paintings, sculptures, video and found objects are at once provocative and thoughtful. The Happiest Country in the World runs at The Atrium Gallery, OPW, 51 St Stephen's Green until July 11, before moving to Lorient, Brittany to participate in this year's Festival Interceltique. Information: 01-4753857. Belinda McKeon
THE OTHER KIND OF CYBER CAFE: Sick of wasting half your lunch hour queuing for your favourite bagel, only to find the special ingredient is gone by the time you get to the top? Well, queue no more, people, for the crew at www.metromunch.com will do it for you. Dublin's latest online food and drink ordering website allows you to order your favourite nosh, day or night, and will deliver free of charge, anywhere in Dublin. You can order from, among others, Aya, CYO, Mizzoni, Bagel Factory, West Coast Coffee, Pad Thai, Centra, and Deveney's off-licence, should your party need some extra beverages. Prices on the website are the same as in the outlets' walk-in stores, and many have no minimum delivery charge. You can even pay the delivery guy cash when he arrives. Easy peasy. www.metromunch.com. Lauren McCreery
WRITE THE BOOK: For anyone who feels they have a novel inside them bursting to escape, author Jarlath Gregory is running a six-part workshop called Writing The Novel. If you are in the middle of a potential masterpiece, or if your book is still just a germ of an idea, this could offer the crucial guidance to help you get it written. There will be practical exercises in areas such as plot development and writing dialogue, but perhaps one of the best parts could be meeting other people to talk about what is essentially a solitary activity. Gregory is the author of GAAY: One Hundred Ways to Love a Beautiful Loser, which has been receiving rave reviews in literary circles. Writing the Novel runs on Wednesdays (6-8pm) from July 20th to August 24th at Anthology Books, Meeting House Square, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, and costs €160. Further information from 01-6351422. Nicoline Greer
FLUTTER BY: A week ago, Michael Jones had a problem. Hundreds of chrysalises were stuck in customs on their way from Costa Rica, and were due to hatch into butterflies any day. The exotic creatures were en route to the Dublin Butterfly House that Jones runs in the countryside of north County Dublin. The butterflies are all imported from the Philippines and Costa Rica as the conditions are not right in the house for many of them to breed. Once they hatch out and flit around the warm, leafy butterfly house, they live for only one glorious, colourful week before they come to the end of their natural life span. The house is open for visitors until the end of August. There is also a summer plants nursery and aviary. And don't worry about those chrysalises stuck in customs. Thanks to the efficiency of customs, they are safely on their way to becoming butterflies in their new home. Admission costs €5 for adults, and €2.50 for children. On Sunday, July 17th, entry fees will go towards the Hope Foundation's Calcutta Hospital Fund. Further information from Harap Farm, Magillstown, Swords, Co Dublin, 01-8401285, www.dublinbutterfly.ie. Nicoline Greer
FLIP OUT: All the balls will be thrown in the air at the Flip-Flop Fantasmagoria and Open Circus events happening today and tomorrow in Birr, Co Offaly. For the past six months, one of the organisers, Eimhin Shortt, has been making jugglers out of local school children at his circus skills classes. For these performances, he is joined by 10 performers such as Juan the Juggler from China, the acrobatic Jambo brothers from east Africa and John Paul Puppets of Canada. The entourage will be completed by members of the burgeoning Irish circus scene, who will supply fire shows, juggling, projections and sounds, to achieve their aim of a truly fantastical display of noise and colour. Tomorrow, performers will be sharing their skills with the people of Birr at workshops in juggling, plate-spinning and acrobatics. The Flip-Flop Fantasmagoria is at Birr Theatre and Arts Centre today. A matinee (aimed at a younger audience) is at 3pm; tickets cost €10 for adults and €8 for children under 13. A gala performance (for an older audience) is at 8pm today, with tickets costing €15, or a €12 concession rate. Tomorrow sees Open Circus Sunday at Camcor Park, Birr, running from 2pm to 5pm. Free entry, all welcome. Nicoline Greer
UPLIFTED VIEWS: What to buy the person who has everything? Well, a picture of their property, of course. Upshots is a new company specialising in elevated photography, where a camera hoisted up an 18-metre telescopic pole snaps a bird's-eye view of house and garden. A single session costs €200 (plus VAT), and yields a CD of about 20 images. Unedited prints may also be produced on site. This could be a welcome gift for plantaholics who want to capture the garden at its peak performance, or perhaps a selling aid for estate agents; or it could even act as a memento of a big event. Upshots is based in Dalkey, and its operators, Susie Isherwood and Denis O'Brien, work mostly in Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare. www.upshots.ie, 086-2249341. Jane Powers
COFFEEWATCH
We asked you to identify the best, and the cheapest, take-away coffee in the country. Here are some of your suggestions:
"The most delicious coffee you could possibly taste is at Greenacres Fine Food & Wine Shop in Wexford town and it is only 99 cent for a Java Republic coffee, cappuccino or latte. Yours, Marianne."
"Can't match the €1 price, but Prima Deli at 22 Harcourt Street, Dublin does a great cup of cappuccino, latte , espresso for €1.75 takeaway. Go in and try it and tell Jonny that I sent you. Cheers, Adrianne."
"Recently a new coffee shop called the Thomas Read Coffee Co opened up at the Harbourmaster Bar in the IFSC, Dublin. I have to say the coffee in fabulous, but the price is unbelievable - €1.50 for all coffees. It's great for us poor graduates, who earn very little, in the IFSC. Cheers, Tom."
Send more suggestions to: coffee@irish-times.ie