Looking down on things

IT would seem likely that Cafe Auriga, the slick new room a few storeys up overlooking Temple Bar Square, will quickly become…

IT would seem likely that Cafe Auriga, the slick new room a few storeys up overlooking Temple Bar Square, will quickly become something of a supermodel space.

Long and lean and lovely, and destined to attract the beautiful people who want to gaze out on the happenings in the square, Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell's design is purest minimalist chic, the kind of modern, amorphous space which could double as a hair salon. But, it's actually a cafe, and the cooking shows some clever, stylish moves: smashing smashed potatoes with thyme (you don't mash any more, by the way, you smash,) underneath a curried fillet of cod: nifty roasted tomato and mozarella dressed with smoked salmon on crusty bread. The food should grow in confidence as time goes by, but this is otherwise an affordable, and very promising, place.