Mulling it over:Mulinos is a new neighbourhood Italian that has come to the village of Raheny in Dublin.
hey've attracted a loyal following since opening about three months ago, providing pasta-a-plenty for all ages on those nights when you just don't feel like cooking. A pianist is there to add to the ambience by night, and they're open for lunch, too.
Mulinos, 23 Watermill Road, Raheny, Dublin 5, 01-8313636. Órla Sheils
The right start
Having a baby doesn't mean you give up your eco-friendly ideals. Fleurville's baby bags, a favourite with celebrity parents in the US, have become available in Ireland. The company uses its own fabric treatments, Green-LAM (an alternative to PVC) and Re-Run (made from recycled plastic bottles). Bag designs include the Mothership (€150), with a changing mat and a removable insulated bottle holder, and the smaller Escape Pod (€65), with changing cloth, wipe case and mirror. The DJ Bag (€79) comes as a backpack because it's aimed at retaining dad's all-important street cred - remember that? See www.cleverclogs.ie for your nearest stockist. Clare McCarthy
Oddly enough, we like the new chip-free offerings on the menu at Beshoff's chippers, including cartons of seafood chowder that come with brown bread; yummy smokies served with the prerequisite cheese, mash and cherry tomatoes, and fishy spring rolls - fried, but delicate. Cuts down on the calories, and the guilt. In Clontarf, Howth and O'Connell Street, Dublin.
A state of mind
Castlecomer Discovery Park, between Athy and Kilkenny, is an all-weather gem in which to spend a day tramping through luscious woodland, buying exquisite crafts, squealing in a rambunctious playground, having a hearty lunch and meeting unusual animals. Developed since 2001 on the estate of Castlecomer House, once owned by the Wandesforde family, it is an 80-acre demesne with 6km of clearly-marked walks, two trout lakes and a craft centre. There is also a visitors' centre, housing an interactive exhibition, Footprints in Coal, presenting the history of the area from the formation of the coal 300 million years ago to the closure of the mines in 1969. Also here is the Jarrow Café, with tasty food and large tables.
The estate farm buildings are now home to a craft centre, in which a collection of artists create and sell their work. These include Maeve Coulter's temptingly tactile felt bags and pictures, Rosemarie Durr's sky blue pottery and Polly Minett's ethereal work in paper, as well as an eclectic furniture shop, a photography studio, two jewellery makers and other artists. (You can see a selection of the crafts at www.castlecomerestateyard.com.)
Castlecomer Discovery Park, Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny, 056-4440707. Admission free. Exhibition €8 per adult, €5 per child. Angling fee, €15 for four hours. www.discoverypark.ie. Joyce Hickey
Express shopping
Revamping the house and can't stand the thought of trawling through warehouses and traipsing around industrial parks? Time to board Bus Éireann's IKEA Express, a hassle-free alternative to driving there yourself. The direct route to IKEA Belfast operates four days a week from Busáras in Dublin, and weekends from Drogheda and Dundalk bus stations. Instead of worrying over maps, customers can browse through IKEA catalogues while travelling in style on board a comfortable coach. The service to the largest IKEA store in the UK gives customers just enough time to browse, order, purchase and even eat. The delivery service will take care of any large items, and smaller purchases can be stowed away safely in the hold. IKEA has an enormous restaurant, a Swedish food market, and a play area to entertain the little ones. Tickets can be purchased at www.buseireann.ie or from Busáras, Drogheda and Dundalk bus stations. Adult tickets cost €22.50, while children's tickets cost €18. Rebecca McAdam
NICK MUNIER
I WISH I WAS ...
"Back working with Marco Pierre Whiteat the three-star Oak Room in the Meridien hotel, Piccadilly, in 1999, where every dish was a pleasure to serve and the customers really appreciated them. The sheer opulence of the vast room with its lush deep-pile green carpet, four crystal chandeliers hanging down the centre of the room, the collection of Bugatti bronzes, the Gluck and the Duffy originals, and fresh-cut Grand Prix roses on the centre of every table, was like walking onto the pitch of Wembley stadium every day. And the food . . . it was elegant, fresh and colourful, but not over complicated.
There were dishes such as the signature tagliatelle of oysters poached in Champagne and served with slices of cucumber (this never came off, due to customer demand); tian of crab (layers of fresh tomato, apple and crab on a puree of tomato); poached French pigeons with braised cabbage and thyme; braised pigs' trotters, sweetbreads, pommes purées, sauce Périgueux, and to finish, soufflé Rothschild or tarte fine aux pommes, sauce caramel.
BUT I'M NOT SO . . .
"It was a pleasure to relive the old days with Marco and the boys on the set of Hell's Kitchen, where again we set our standards high with the dish of caviar, blinis and crème fraiche (costing £50 a portion), and watched Barry McGuigan floundering trying to master the pigeon dish. But as we know it was his mash that made the biggest smash!
Being a easy man to please, my most memorable meal this week was a 28-day aged rib-eye steak from my local Superquinn store, with home-made rooster fries, Dijon mustard and green salad, washed down with La Emperatriz Rioja 2001 from Simon Tyrell wines. Now that's a meal for a king.
In conversation with Marie-Claire Digby
Nick Munier, who was Marco Pierre White's maitre d' in the reality TV show, Hell's Kitchen, has an exhibition of his paintings opening next Friday at Gallery 23, Coolmine Business Park, Dublin 15. See www.gallery23.ie