If the wine list matched up to the food, a new Dublin bistro could be a favourite
ISN’T IT STRANGE that there have been almost no major casualties in the restaurant business, despite the times in which we live? The restaurant landscape, however, has changed. I gather that sales of Puligny-Montrachet have gone the way of the property market, and I’m reliably informed that this stuff is now consumed in private, largely by lawyers and senior bankers.
Expensive wine – stuff that costs €80 and upwards – is about as common these days as the purchase of investment properties in Bulgaria, at least as far as restaurant sales are concerned.
And most restaurants have been concentrating very hard on prices. There are certainly good deals to be had (just think of the €25 three-course lunch at Thornton’s), but a lot of people in the business seem to think that this is just an exercise in ticking over, putting bums on seats and getting some cash flow. The strain, in some instances, is starting to show.
Irish restaurateurs, by and large, are not noted for their imagination. Good-value menus mark a major creative leap forward. But why stop there? How many restaurants are doing anything imaginative with their wine lists? There are scattered outbreaks of midweek offers, but that’s about it. You can only do so much with a menu (and those cheap cuts taste good, even if I think I’m going to scream if I see any more intensively reared pork belly).
Why not use the wine list as a marketing tool? Offer a sliding scale of markup? Give a big discount if you order before 7pm? Or, better still, put together a short, brilliant list that offers real interest, value and excitement?
When Coppinger Row opened, it had one of the worst wine lists in the country. But people loved it because of the food (which has a lot to do with having the former number two from L’Gueuleton in the kitchen) and the prices. Fair enough. But why not go the whole hog? Do decent food at fair prices and a wine list that performs in the same way? The list has improved but it could do so much better.
We had a very decent lunch there. Three big tiger prawns, chargrilled with garlic and chilli tasted good – largely thanks to the garlic and chilli, but that is the way with tiger prawns. “Wild mushrooms” were about as wild as the Third Order of St Francis on retreat (comprising flatcap mushrooms with a whiff of balsamic, shiitake and oysters) on toasted sourdough with a “truffle aioli” drizzled on top. But they tasted good, which is the main thing.
An open sandwich of slow roasted lamb, on the other hand, was pretty exceptional at €12.50. The meat was meltingly tender to the point that you could have eaten it with a spoon, there was plenty of toasted sourdough bread and a lot of courgette, red onion, cherry tomatoes and black olives, all softened in olive oil. This was a fine, simple main course.
A couple of big Italian sausages served with cubed potatoes in a tomato and caper sauce was hearty and pleasant.
“Warm” French beans with a sharp, garlicky emulsion on the side, were crisp and rather lovely, while the single pud, chocolate mousse studded with caramelised orange with flourless chocolate sponge, was as rich and comforting as it sounds. Good espressos and homemade, pleasantly chewy macaroons completed the kind of lunch of which I sometimes dream when manacled to the desk.
Prices are certainly keen by the standards to which we have become accustomed, and there’s a sense that there’s a lot of hard work going on in the kitchen. I’m just mildly surprised at the level of breathless enthusiasm for this newish place. Everybody I know seems to love it. For myself, I like it at lot. Maybe if they had a brilliant wine list I would come to love it too.
They do very good filtered water for €1 (50 cents goes to charity), which was very nearly as good as the rather more expensive Vittel, to which we decided to compare it. Dublin 2 tap has never tasted so good. The bill came to €84 before service. tdoorley@irishtimes.com
Read Megabites, Tom Doorley’s blog on all things foodie at irishtimes.com/blogs/megabites
THE SMART MONEY
That open lamb sandwich, at €12.50, would make a fine lunch.
WINE CHOICE
A bizarre list from just two suppliers, both of which have quite decent wines available. I can’t fathom how it was put together. Marques de la Villa, a deadly dull Spanish white, is not worth €22. Our Alaia, a chunky Spanish red, was fine, if at little too dear, at €27. Schlumberger Riesling (€32) is a good buy, Domaine Pellé Menetou-Salon is not worth €39, and Domaine Boisson Côtes du Rhône, pleasant as it is, seems steep at €32. Négociant Fleurie, even from Bouchard Père Fils (€40), is a bit of a joke in this day and age, and I cannot imagine anyone wanting to spend €40 on a lacklustre French fizz called Charles Pelletier. I have never heard of a Champagne called Marie Demets. It costs €85.