FFT June

The Restaurants Associa-tion of Ireland (RAI) haslaunched a new cam-

paign to retain a reduced rateof value added tax (VAT) in thetourism sector. The measure,introduced two years ago as atemporary policy to help makethe sector competitive, hasyielded impressive results, ac-cording to the RAI.

The RAI launched its ‘KeepVat at 9%’ campaign at its an-nual conference in Dublin,drawing on research con-ducted by Economist AnthonyFoley of Dublin City University(DCU) Business School. Ac-

cording to Foley, 1,000 newjobs had been created in therestaurant sector alone directlyas a result of the VAT reduction,while other sectors such ascatering services, hotels, cine-mas, theatres and hairdressinghave also benefited. Foley saidthat the measure should be re-tained because the difficultiesin the economy that led to thereduction had not gone awayyet, and the sector had signifi-cant potential for job creation.

Foley also called for morejoined-up thinking by the Gov-ernment when it came to taxand the hospitality sector. “TheGovernment brought in thenine per cent VAT rate basicallyto help the hospitality sectorbut in the meantime it in-creased the general rate of VATfrom 21% to 23% which affectsalcohol serving in restaurants.In addition it increased the ex-cise rate on alcohol particularlyin wine, by over 40%,” henoted. “So in fact paradoxically

The European Commis-sion (EC) has scrappedplans to change how

restaurants should serve oliveoil, just one week after intro-ducing proposals.

The EC initially proposedthat restaurants should bebanned from serving oil todiners in refillable glass jugsor dipping bowls from nextyear. However, the move led toaccusations of unwanted inter-

ference across the continent,with British Prime MinisterDavid Cameron joining Franceand the Netherlands in criti-cism. "This is exactly the sortof area that the EuropeanUnion needs to get right out of,in my view," said Cameron. "Itshouldn't even be on the table,to make a false pun."

EU farm commissionerDacian Ciolos announced theu-turn, saying he had taken thedecision once it became clearthat consumers did not sup-port the plans. "This is crucialin my view, so I've decided towithdraw this proposal and notsubmit it for adoption," he re-marked. "I wanted to comehere today to demonstrate thatI've been very alive to the cur-rent debate in the press."

Ciolos said that he will pro-pose revised rules to protectolive oil producers and con-sumers after further consulta-tions with manufacturers,consumer groups and therestaurant industry, and prom-ised to avoid any unnecessaryred tape.

“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.” – Bernard Shaw June 2013

Making the Change:How La Dolce Vita transformedits business. .................Page 6

Local Focus: Donegal:The restaurant scene in thenorth east. ...................Page 8

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Taste of Dublin is set toreturn to Dublin’s IveahGardens this June for

four days of summer eating,drinking and entertainment.

Running from June 13 to

16, the event will feature 20 ofthe city’s most popular restau-rants dishing up their waresfor an al fresco gourmet feast,while 100 producers provide abounty of the best food and

beverages.Restaurants will fashion

special menus of starter sizeddishes for the occasion, in-cluding signature dishes cre-

... cont on page 3

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The EC reversed its plans aftera flurry of criticism.

The Launch of the Keep VAT at9% Campaign

... cont on page 2

EC Changes Tack on Olive Oil

Keep VAT at 9%

Food For Thought June_Layout 1 05/06/2013 21:01 Page 1

News FFT.ie June 20132

In this Issue...Making the ChangeHow La Dolce Vita transformed its business..................................p06

Local Focus: DonegalThe restaurant scene in the north east. ..........................................p08

An Ear to the GroundKilbeg Dairies is going from strength to strength. ........................p10

TheDiningRoom.ieHot news on fine dining....................................................................p12

To BYOB or not to BYOB?A new approach for drinks offering................................................p15

Payments Made EasyA flat-fee card payment solution offers simplicity and value. ......p18

Events and JobsWhat's going on, and new opportunities. ......................................p21

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The TASTE Council of Ire-land and Bord Bia havelaunched the ‘Future is

Food’ education module at thethird national food symposiumat Ballymaloe House in Shana-garry, Cork.

Over 100 artisan food in-dustry and education repre-sentatives attended thesymposium, focused this yearon education in order tobroaden the appeal of localfoods, artisanal foods and spe-ciality foods for future genera-tions. The education module isaimed at increasing TransitionYear students’ awareness andunderstanding of the food in-dustry and the artisan sectorin particular.

“Food Harvest 2020 high-lighted the emergence of asignificant artisan food sector,responding to consumer de-mands for locally produced

and distinctive foods. This hasbrought a new stream of entre-preneurs into the artisan sec-tor, which now directlysupports 3,000 jobs,” notedSimon Coveney, Minister forAgriculture, Food and the Ma-rine, launching the initiative.“The ‘Food is the Future’ Tran-sition Year module will intro-duce a new generation ofstudents to the richness oflocal food and to the skills re-quired for taking micro foodenterprises to the next level. Iwould like to thank and con-gratulate the Taste Counciland the pilot schools for com-mitting to an exciting projecthighlighting food as a driver ofthe local economy.”

Cait Noone, EducationSpokesperson for TASTECouncil of Ireland, explainedthe aims of the initiative. “The‘Food is the Future’ moduleaims to highlight and explorehow practical education canincrease students’ apprecia-tion of the economic, environ-mental and social benefits ofthe food industry. We need toteach the younger generationabout the immense value thatartisan food producers play inIreland’s agricultural land-scape and relay the uniqueproduct and brand stories.”

Ballymaloe House was thevenue for the initiative.

‘Hybrid Consumer’ Polarising Food Sector

Anew report byRabobank Retail hasurged food companies,

food retailers, and food serv-ice companies to take accountof the rise of the ‘hybrid con-sumer’ in their sales strate-gies.

Rabobank researchersfound mid-market consumersare trading down on everydayvalue-for-money items, suchas basic groceries, using sav-ings achieved by this to tradeup to premium, high-endbrands in supermarkets andfine dining. As a result,Rabobank argues, middle-ground players are strugglingto retain market share.

“The implications of thismarket trend are profound andtouch on areas such as prod-uct offerings, distributionchannels, marketing, andbrand management,” saidRabobank senior analyst MarcKennis.“Given the drivingforces of hybrid consumption,i.e. women’s increasing role inhousehold spending and thegrowing importance of Millen-

nials [generations Y and Z], webelieve that hybrid consump-tion is a long-lasting phenom-enon. Therefore, foodprocessors, food retailers, andfood service companies alikewill need to adapt or risk fad-ing away,” he added.

To capture the hybrid mar-ket, Rabobank urged compa-nies to offer healthieralternatives, use more naturalingredients, and build in cor-porate social responsibilityand sustainable businesspractices. The report cites Per-nod Ricard as a company thathas been successful in ‘premi-aumising’ its product offerings.

The report suggests thatfirms can offer ‘value’ productswithin the premium segmentand ‘premium’ products withinthe value segment to cater toconsumers’ polarised needs.Retailers can also use valueproducts to sell premiumproducts, Rabobank said, cit-ing one well known UK-basedcoffee chain offering lowpriced coffee to go linked topremium sandwiches.

Keep VAT at 9% ... contif the Government didn’t main-tain the 9% VAT rate in 2014, itwould leave the restaurant sec-tor worse than it was before itintroduced the nine per centrate in July 2011.”

RAI Chief Executive AdrianCummins said that the reducedrate of VAT helped keeprestaurants on a competitivefooting, and was generatingemployment. “When the econ-omy went into decline, restau-rants endured falling numbersof diners, rising prices, andgreat financial uncertainty withmany facing closure,” he said.“Money generated by this re-duced VAT rate, however, haskick-started a reversal of for-tunes. In the past 18 months,over 10,000 new contractswere issued and this growthwill continue with an additional5,000 jobs to be created overthe next year if VAT at 9% re-mains in effect.”

By contrast, he warned of“shockwaves throughout thesector” if the measure was re-versed. “Not only does it helpbusinesses in our industry butit has had an immense impacton food producers and suppli-ers, workers, and the commu-nities within which theyoperate. The ripple effect is farreaching as many of our tradepartners know to their benefit,”he said.

“Vat at 9% has had a posi-tive effect on all aspects of therestaurant sector specifically,but also the wider tourist indus-try generally. This is why theRAI fervently believes it wouldbe foolhardy to get rid of it. Re-ducing VAT to this level is a realsuccess story so the RAI issending a clear message toGovernment saying keep Vat at9% — because it’s about sup-porting food, tourism, and jobs.The retention of Vat at 9% willundoubtedly lead to further jobcreation in our sector, but alsoin all the sectors that it sup-ports,” he added.

Tourism Minister LeoVaradkar raised expectationsof retaining the low rate of VAT,saying that it had outperformedother initiatives thus far andhad increased competitive-ness. “I know that your sectorsees retention of the reducedVAT rate as crucial and I alsowant to see it continuedthrough 2014 and beyond,” hesaid, addressing restaurantowners. “But I need your helpto make that case. As you know,the VAT reduction costs the ex-chequer €350m a year andthere are many other demandson that money. To keep it inplace, what I need from you ishard evidence that this policyhas worked, and is continuingto work.”

TASTE Council, Bord Bia,Hold Food Summer School

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This Month’s Poll:Have tourist numbers to your restaurant risen in theyear of The Gathering?Answers to [email protected]

Last Month’s Poll:Have customers started to drink less wine followingthe duty increase?Yes: 72%No: 28%

Food For Thought June_Layout 1 05/06/2013 21:01

NewsFFT.ie June 2013 3

ated by chefs to specially re-flect their philosophy andshowcase seasonal and pre-mium ingredients.

Taste of Dublin has set atarget of over 30,000 visitorsfor the four-day event. In infor-mation for restaurants, the or-

ganisation notes that visitorsare 59% female, with 66%aged between 25 and 45. 92%of visitors from 2012, the or-ganisers revealed, said thatthey will visit again in 2013.The event also caters for over3,500 VIP guests each year.

The Restaurants Associa-tion of Ireland (RAI) haselected Padraic Gal-

lagher as its new President.The Leitrim native, who

opened Gallaghers BoxtyHouse in Temple Bar in 1988,has long-standing experiencein the food business, havingworked as a chef in theCaribbean and London. Gal-

lagher has said he was in-spired to open the BoxtyHouse on his travels by watch-ing how other emigrants atetheir native food. The BoxtyHouse produces specialityIrish food such as Boxty, theBoxty wrap and Boxty pan-cakes.

“It’s important that restau-rateurs fight to protect our in-dustry- restaurants representone in four jobs in the hospital-ity industry and it is vital thatwe lobby to keep the VAT at9% and fight any further in-creases to local authorityrates. We, as restaurateurs, justwon’t survive otherwise,” saidGallagher, who succeedsBrian Fallon (owner of Fallonsof Kilcullen) as the RAI’s 17thPresident.

Padraic Gallagher owns Gallagher's Boxty House inTemple Bar.

Gallagher Elected RAI PresidentTaste of Dublin Set for June Return...cont

Stonehouse Addsto Fine Dining inClonmel

Anew fine dining eatery,Stonehouse Restaurant,has appointed Mark

Ahessy as Head Chef.Owned by Jim and

Anthony Smith, who also runthe Lautrec’s Tapas and WineBar in Kilkenny City,Stonehouse Restaurant isbased in Clonmel, Tipperary.Ahessy, 30, has previouslyworked in some of the coun-try's best restaurants includingDublin’s Pichet and theMichelin starred L'Ecrivainand Chapter One.

“Mark brings a fresh ap-proach with a passion forexcellent presentation toClonmel’s first fine diningrestaurant. In keeping withStonehouse’s ethos of usinglocal, sustainable and seasonalproduce, Mark believes in let-ting ingredients speak forthemselves – particularlyIreland’s high quality pro-duce,” said a statement issuedby Stonehouse Restaurant.Ahessy, the statement added,has created Stonehouse’s newsummer menu featuring thebest of local, seasonal pro-duce from Fethard poultry toCashel pork.

Stonehouse was recentlynominated for Best Restaurant,Best Customer Service andBest Chef in Tipperary in theRestaurant Association ofIreland regional awards.

Anew £5m investmentby Linden Foods, whichwill create 179 jobs,

has been hailed by NorthernIreland’s Enterprise MinisterArlene Foster.

Linden Foods, a marketleader withinthe NorthernIreland freshmeat process-ing industry, hasbenefited fromInvest NI assis-tance of£520,000 underits Jobs Fund tosupport itsgrowth plans. “This investmentis very welcome news for thefood industry which is a keycontributor to Northern Ire-land’s economy,” said Foster.“Invest Northern Ireland’ssupport will enable this pro-gressive meat processing firmto recruit its new staff mem-bers quickly and capitalise ongrowth opportunities.”

“This investment is an im-portant part of our long termdevelopment strategy and un-

derlines our commitment tothe Dungannon area. The sup-port from Invest NI through itsJobs Fund will allow us to cre-ate the workforce we need tomeet the demand for ourrange of new and innovative

p r o d u c t samong ex-port cus-tomers andenable us tocement ourleading po-sition withinthe meatprocessingi n d u s t r y,”

said Trevor Lockhart, Chair-man of Linden Foods.

Linden foods opened anew, purpose-built facility ad-jacent to its existing process-ing site at Granville. The 5,740square metre premises in-cludes a dedicated innovationcentre and developmentkitchen enabling the businessto continually innovate andcreate products that are aheadof current trends in the foodretailing sector.

Linden Foods Scaling Up

QT Comments, a newtool for providinganonymous feedback

to business, has been nomi-nated in two categories at theprestigious Startup Awards.

The company is in the run-ning for Food & Drink Entre-preneurial Startup of the Yearand Social Enterprise Startupof the Year, sponsored by BordBia and DCU Respectively. TheStartup Awards aim to recog-nise the very best of youngIrish businesses and reward-ing them for their innovation,endeavour, and graft, with a

judging panel includingBobby Kerr and Vodafone’sJonathon Rutherford.

“It’s a good piece ofrecognition for the product inits very early stages, and weare looking forward to thepresentation night,” saysRonan Morris, Client Directorat Webtogether, which mar-kets QT Comments. “We aredelighted to get to this stage,and anything further would bea bonus.”

The winners of the awardswill be announced on June 10.

QT Comments WelcomesAward Recognition


News FFT.ie June 20134

Fáilte Ireland has an-nounced a new searchfor 12 “food champions”

to help build Ireland’s reputa-tion as a food tourism destina-tion.

The agency is asking thepublic to nominate peoplewho have a resounding pas-sion and belief in Irish foodand could influence the futureof food tourism in their region.The 12 champions must be lo-cated along the Wild AtlanticWay, the 2,500 kilometre driv-ing route stretching from theInishowen peninsula in Done-gal to Kinsale in Cork. Nomi-nees should be involved in afood business for at least twoyears and have received

awards for their work. The 12 people will receive

assistance from Fáilte Irelandto develop networks in foodtourism. The participants willtravel to Norway to see how itpromotes food tourism along anetwork of established drivingroutes.

This is the second year ofthe food champions initiative.Helen McDaid, Food TourismManager for Fáilte Ireland,said that last year’s selectedchampions were already mak-ing a major difference in theirareas. The closing date for en-tries for the initiative is July15th and the winners will beannounced at the Dingle FoodFestival in October.

FSAI Served Nine Enforcement Orders in April

The Food Safety Author-ity of Ireland (FSAI) is-sued seven Closure

Orders, one ImprovementOrder and one ProhibitionOrder on food businessesduring the month of April forbreaches of safety regulations.

Three restaurants in Laois

alone with one restaurant eachin Mayo, Meath, Clare and Tip-perary, were subject to clo-sure orders. The Improvementorder was issued to a Sparstore in Dublin, and a Probhi-tion Order was served underthe FSAI Act, 1998 on a Dublinrestaurant.

Failte Ireland SeeksFood Champions

Arecord number of en-tries have been lodgedby Northern Irish arti-

san food and drinkcompanies for thisyear’s UK Great TasteAwards. A total of 627products have beenentered in the UKGuild of Fine Food’sprestigious event, a29% increase on lastyear’s event.

“The remarkablegrowth in interest inthe awards has clearlybeen stimulated bythe achievements ofmany local companiesin what is the UK’smost important foodevent over the pastfew years,” said InvestNorthern Ireland Trade Direc-tor Dr Vicky Kell. “Entries havegrown rapidly from just 51 in2008 to over 600 for the forth-coming competition. Thismeans entries from Northern

Ireland have increased overten fold since 2008.”

In 2012/13, a total of 47

companies gained almost 200gold stars at the event includ-ing five at three-star level.“Northern Ireland companiesMcCartney Butchers and Han-nan Meats, both from Moira,

gained the overall SupremeChampion Award in succes-sive years, showcasing the out-

standing taste andquality of our food,”added Kell.

The entriesfrom Northern Ire-land are beingjudged at the Dorsetheadquarters of theUK Guild of FineFood. The judgingpanel includes someof the most experi-enced and demand-ing palates fromIreland and the UK,including nationallyacclaimed restau-rant critics, award-winning chefs, foodwriters, journalists

and restaurateurs, food retail-ers and buyers. Invest NI spon-sors the Northern IrelandRegional Champion Award atthe event.

The Restaurants Associa-tion of Ireland (RAI) andthe Nutrition and Health

Foundation (NHF) have an-nounced a new voluntary ini-tiative, Kids Size Me, to providechild size portions of adultmeals in restaurants.

The initiative aims to en-sure that children have accessto healthier food options whendining out as an alternative toordering from the standardchildren's menu. Voluntaryguidelines for Kids Size Mehave been devised by Dr.Muireann Cullen, Dietician

and Manager of the NHF.Suggestions for cooking

and presenting healthier op-tions on both the adult andchildren's menus include nolonger using salt in the prepa-ration and cooking of foods,striving to use fresh fish, meatsand ingredients at all timesrather than processed fare andusing colourful fruit and veg-etables to encourage theirconsumption. If offering chips,the guidelines say, chunkyhomemade oven chips are thehealthier alternative andshould be served salt free.

Meanwhile, if alternatives suchas salads, or potatoes areavailable for the adult menu,these should also be madeavailable for the children'smenu in appropriate portionsizes. Baking or grilling chil-dren’s food, and using whole-meal pastas, wraps andbreads where possible to helpincrease fibre intake is alsorecommended.

Restaurants providingchild sized portions of health-ier adult main courses havebeen urged to permit thechoosing and sharing ofstarters from the adult menu,choose foods that are easy toprovide in reduced portions,to ensure that these dishes arealso the healthier options onthe menu, and provide addi-tional plates where necessary.Using salad plates for half por-tions, the guidelines advisewill make the meal look big-ger and thus help prevent overeating

Fresh fruit, yoghurts, fruitsmoothies, milk puddings andsugar free jelly and ice creamhave been highlighted as idealdesert options for children. Toparticipate in the Kids Size MeInitiative, restaurants can senttheir Children’s Menu [email protected] or the RestaurantsAssociation of Ireland, 11Bridge Court, Citygate, St. Au-gustine Street, Dublin 8.

Great Taste SeesRecord NI Entries

RAI, NHF, Team for VoluntaryKids Meal Initiative

Burger King Returns to Irish Beef

Burger King has an-nounced that it will re-turn to using 100% Irish

and British beef in its burgerssold in Ireland and the UK. Themove follows a new partner-ship with Kepak Group whowill supply beef to its Irish andBritish restaurants.

The fast food chain endeda €30m relationship with ABPin February of this year aftersamples of meat from the sup-plier were found to containtraces of horse DNA. An-nouncing the move, BurgerKing said that Kepak will un-dergo frequent and rigorousaudits to ensure industry lead-ing safety and quality, with theIrish Government committingto on-going inspection andtesting.Minister for Agricul-ture, Food and the MarineSimon Coveney welcomed

the announcement andthanked Burger King for theirsupport for the Irish beef in-dustry. “This is a very positivenews story for the industrytoday and an endorsement ofthe high quality product thatwe are best in the world atproducing,” he remarked.

“The Burger King brand isproud to bring back 100%Irish and British beef to ourrestaurants,” said Raj Varman,Senior Vice-President andGeneral Manager for NorthWest Europe at Burger KingWorldwide. “Our partnershipwith Kepak means that ourguests can continue to haveevery confidence in the prove-nance and high quality of thelocally sourced and great tast-ing burgers they enjoy at ourrestaurants.”


NewsFFT.ie June 2013 5

The Chief Executive ofthe Food Safety Author-ity of Ireland (FSAI), Alan

Reilly, has urged restaurantsand food service businessesto educate themselves on food

safety regulations, pointing toa range of information offeredby the agency.

“Full compliance with foodsafety and hygiene standardsis essential for all food busi-nesses. There is absolutely noexcuse for putting consumers’health at risk through negli-gent practices. We are urgingbusinesses to take full advan-tage of the information andsupport provided by the in-spectorate and the FSAI to en-sure that they have the correctfood safety management sys-tems in place,” said Reilly.

As part of a new aware-ness campaign, the FSAI willbe holding a series of free

‘Breakfast Bites’ events overthe coming months aimed atowners and managers of smallfood businesses as well asthose thinking of setting up asmall food business. Theevents will feature expert talkson everything from starting afood business, through to la-belling requirements and foodsafety practices.

Information on the eventsand registration details are on-line at www.fsai.ie/events.Food business operators canalso contact the FSAI adviceline on 1890 336677 or go tothe food businesses section ofits website www.fsai.ie.

Alan Reilly urged businessesto take advantage of educa-tion.

FSAI Urges Businessesto Sample Information

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 0864416396 0876487670

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EC PublishesBeef Product Survey

The European Commis-sion has published theresults of its coordinated

EU-wide testing for horsemeat DNA and phenylbuta-zone.

The results show that,across the EU, there were4,144 tests under the horsemeat DNA programme, ofwhich 193 were positive. InIreland, all of the results of the50 DNA tests on Irish beefproducts under the EU pro-gramme were negative. In ad-dition, there were 7,951 testsreported for horse DNA car-ried out by food business op-erators across the EU, of which110 were positive.

In testing for phenylbuta-zone, there were 16 positivesrecorded from 3,115 tests. InIreland, only one of the 840tests carried out by the De-partment of Agriculture, Foodand the Marine on horse car-cases for phenylbutazone waspositive. This carcase was de-stroyed and the case is underinvestigation by the Depart-ment of Agriculture, Food andthe Marine, according to theFood Safety Authority of Ire-land (FSAI).

Twenty three competitorsshone at the inauguralFlogas Mayo Masterchef

Competition, held in late Aprilat the Mayo Abbey CookerySchool just outside Claremor-ris.

The event featured bud-ding student chefs from theSchool alongside seasonedprofessionals in vying for tophonours in the five competitionclasses. Michael Keogh, localarea representative for spon-sor Flogas, was on hand topresent the prizes to the win-ners.

"We are one of the leadingsuppliers of LP Gas to thehotel, restaurant and hospital-ity industry. Because of this, weare always looking at ways toencourage and promote stan-dards of culinary excellenceso we were delighted to comeon board and support thisvery worthwhile initiative,”said Keogh.

Ann-Marie Heneghan,manager of the FÁS LTI Cook-ery project at Mayo Abbey,spoke of the project’s achieve-ments to date. "We run coursesall year round including a 48week FAS full time Profes-sional Cookery Programmewhich has proven to be verysuccessful with 85% of last

year's students now in em-ployment. We also run othershort Culinary Skill Pro-grammes. The idea for theMaster Chef Competitionoriginated with me and assis-tant co-ordinator Ronan Fox,when we were looking at waysto demonstrate what our stu-dents are capable of," she re-marked. “We want to thankFlogas very much for theirgenerous sponsorship of theevent, which enabled us topresent prizes to all our win-ners. It helped to ‘sharpen theknives' and give the competi-tion that extra bit of good-hu-moured edge on the day."

The Chefs of Mayo Clubalso supported the initiative,setting out competition rulesand criteria for each class aswell as organising the profes-sional judging panel. The FishOpen Class was won by BarryRalph from the Bayleaf Restau-rant in Castlebar, who pre-pared a dish of Clew Bayscallops with burnt apple andvanilla curd, black puddingand pistachio crumble, cele-riac, pickled apple andsmoked paprika scraps.

Declan Martin from Holly-mount, a mature student at theCookery School, edged outmany professionals to scoop

second place in the Fish Openclass with a dish of SearedFresh Seabass, petite rata-touille, orzo and fresh tomatosauce. "I am just so delightedto be placed second and withthe support I've received frommy family, tutors and class-mates,” revealed Martin. “Ayear ago, my life was very dif-ferent, I was unemployed andspent days trawling the pagesof the local paper looking forwork. I always liked cookingand I couldn't believe my luckwhen a local paper advertiseda course in the Mayo AbbeyCookery School; it was achance to fulfil a lifelong ambi-tion. The skills I gained built upmy confidence and I nowcombine my Level 5 FETACcookery course with part-timework in the Knock House Hotelunder chef Frank Lyons.”

The Mayo Abbey CookerySchool, a charitable non-profitmaking organisation, was setup just over two years ago. It issupported by FAS and is runby a voluntary managementcommittee. A horticulturalschool is based in the samepremises which supplies mostof the fruit and vegetables tothe catering school.

Mayo Masterchef CompetitionCooks Up a Storm


Business Focus FFT.ie June 20136

La Dolce Vita is like manyrestaurants here in Ire-land. Family-owned, it

still relies on a close-knit teamto serve loyal clientele. Itstarted with a small coffeeshop before growing into finedining. And it's coping with asimilar basket of issues to anyother establishment.

A New EnvironmentOne thing that separates LaDolce Vita from its peers, how-ever, is that management de-cided to make a major changein the business model, movingfrom the heart of Sandyfordvillage to the local industrialestate. "We’d been based inSandyford village prior to that,in the catering sphere, for thepast 13 years. But it was get-ting quiet up there and it wastime for a change – sink orswim. We were given an op-portunity by an investor tomove forward, and we took it,"explains Orla Hendley, part ofthe management team and therestaurant's self-described"dogsbody".

The Italian restaurant leaptinto the humming hub of localcommercial activity, takingover a brand new space. Withglass surrounding a spaciousdining room, there's a brightand modern feel to the restau-

rant, in contrast to the cosyspace La Dolce Vita previouslyoccupied. "The initial restau-rant we had was like a cosy lit-tle kitchen. The second onewas a bit more geared to finedining. It was above a pub, buttrying to get that ambience –all carpeted and wallpapered.It was lovely, with lovely light-ing and a beautiful bar. But thisone has so much light in it. It’ssurrounded by glass, so youget a great atmosphere justlooking out the window andgazing at the world. The otherplace was lovely, upmarketand trendy, but also tied in withthe pub. This one is a bit moresleek," Hendley remarks.

Refreshing the AtmosphereThe change has also been re-flected in the general atmos-phere at La Dolce Vita. "Theatmosphere has changed, andthere’s always people there –there’s a buzz about the placenow, and the passing traffic hashelped hugely," says Hendley.A changing environment hasinvigorated the business, par-ticularly at lunchtime. "We’resurrounded by Microsoft andSalesforce is right above us.We’re more corporate now atlunch. There are a few peoplewho come in casually but, be-cause there’s not that much

parking, it’s corporate domi-nated. Still there are a few peo-ple coming in who don’t workin the area. It’s very busy. Thisweek, we’re doing a lot ofteam meetings for JP Morgan,so that’s going very well," shenotes.

To capitalise on this, and tobring people in for the dinnerservice, the restaurant hasmade changes to its openinghours. "We don’t close anymore. We used to close part ofthe restaurant, but now we stayopen from ten in the morning.The night trade starts at four,and we have a full bar nowalso," says Hendley. "What hap-pens is that a lot of people willcome in after work for a drink,because there’s nothing in theindustrial estate. That then car-ries through to the night trade– we’ve great early birds, anda meal deal on at the moment.We’ve the live music also on aFriday. So nights have beenflowing really nicely. We’re alsoright on the Luas line, and Stil-lorgan and Mount Merrion arein walking distance."

Internal ChangesWhile La Dolce Vita had an ef-fective formula, a new marketinevitably has a differentpalate. Reflecting that, Orla re-veals, can be a bit of a balanc-

ing act. "We’re in the processof changing the night-timemenu because we’ve gotten anew chef in. When we movedinitially, the staff that we hadstayed with us, but we’ve takena new chef on, bringing us tothree full-time chefs. In thatprocess, the menu is going tochange and we’ll divert a littlebit," she explains. "Of course, ifyou divert too much, peopleask ‘where’s that gone?’ and‘what’s happening?’. Eventhough they want a change,they still want the old stuff

there. And the menu is quitebroad as it is. We’re going toput a bar menu in as well – afew little bits of tapas and stuff.We’re in the process of doingall those menus up. It’s excit-ing, especially coming into thesummer, as we’ve the outdoorterrace for when it’s sunny." A new change brings with it anew approach to marketing,and Hendley says that workonline has been a big priority."I’m using social media a lotmore than before, Facebookand Twitter. I’m planning a big

Making the ChangeLa Dolce Vita has made a major change, moving from Sandyford Village to the heart of the local in-dustrial estate. FFT talks to Orla Hendley about the move and the issues that poses.

A fresh new diningroom, and a new

location, has invigorated La

Dolce Vita

The new La Dolce Vita has a sleek, modern feel.


Business FocusFFT.ie June 2013 7

leaflet campaign coming upsoon," says Hendley, addingthat the restaurant is also work-ing using restaurant sites topromote itself. "I’ve done a fewbanner ads [online], which I’venever done before. We also doa text message service forcustomers, and will be puttingbanners outside the restau-rant."

Smart investment helpsdraw diners in, though word-of-mouth and appealing re-views are also vital. Luckily, LaDolce Vita earned glowingpraise from one well-knownconnoisseur of Italian fare,Paolo Tulio. "Paolo turned upon a Wednesday night, but wehaven’t had many writers com-ing. I’d like a few to come inafter we change our menu!"laughs Hendley. For now,though, some gushing com-ments from the Irish Inde-pendent writer on therestaurant's fine pizzas willserve to encourage diners.

Groundwork RequiredWhile Hendley says that everychallenge posed by the movewas surmountable, it's clearthat she doesn't take the suc-cess for granted. She's quickto praise the "close-knit, goodteam" at the restaurant, whichhelped scaling up the busi-ness to an all-day opening.Staffing can normally be achallenge, and having built upa team over a number of years

has greatly helped.However, moving to a new

area won't bring immediateresults unless it's accompa-nied by hard work. "We’relucky enough to have corpo-rates during the day, but youhave to work at the passingtrade at night time. It’s a matterof constantly marketing your-self, and always maintainingyour standards. From food tofront of house, you have tokeep an eye on everything. It’sa full time job to keep the qual-ity going and keeping goodstaff. If there’s a failing there, itwill go out onto the floor," saysHendley. For now, though, La

Dolce Vita's busy floor is pos-itively humming thanks to abold relocation move.

La Dolce VitaThe Chase,

Carmenhall Road,

Sandyford

Industrial Estate,

Dublin 18

Tel: (01) 294 6903

Web:

www.ladolcevitasandyford.com

Twitter: @dolceorla

*When you spend over €60 Ex. VAT - Valid till 30/05/13

MASSIVE VING

MVINGSASA

MAS SIVEGGS ON

SSIVE L Y

ERING

LALVING

TERING

L YCA

GS ON

YOOURG

GS ON

G NEEDS

YOUR

Natural light fills the space in daytime.

TopTips Moving to a new location can bedaunting, but following a few simple rules shouldhelp

Know the AreaEven moving a short dis-tance can bring your restau-rant to a completely differentenvironment, and changeyour customer profile dra-matically. Put in time and ef-fort to understand what thepassing trade is like in yourtargeted area, and what kindof customers live nearby.

RetoolKnowing your new targetedcustomer, you need to thinkof any necessary changes toyour business model thatwill appeal to them. Do youneed to spice up the menufor more adventurouspalates, or make things a lit-tle more sedate? Shouldyour opening hours stay thesame? What kind of look willappeal to your new cus-tomers?

StaffRelocating will mean bigchanges for your existingteam, particularly if youropening hours change. Givethem as much notice as pos-sible to let them organisethemselves and make newarrangements - that way, youcan prevent many teethingproblems before they occur

Over-bugetEven though getting build-ing work done is cheaperthan in the boom years, proj-ects often overrun, andproblems can emerge mid-way through. For that reason,ensure that you 'over bud-get', both in terms of timeand resources for convertinga new space and your move.The last thing you need ishalf-finished space, norestaurant open, and no wayto finish the move.

MarketSetting up in a new area islike starting from scratch:you don't enjoy the accumu-lated baseline business thatan established restaurantdoes. So you need to investtime and resources to mar-keting yourself, always con-sidering your new customerprofile when allocating anymarketing spend.


Local Focus FFT.ie June 20138

With rolling hills,breathtaking viewsand tonnes of his-

tory, it's little wonder whyDonegal is a tourism hotspot.The restaurant scene in thenorth-west corner of Irelandlargely reflects that character.Influenced by visitors, tradi-tional Irish restaurants under-standably dominate -moreover, with the largestmainland coastline of anycounty in Ireland, seafood is anatural fit for Donegal.

A Diverse TasteThat's not to say, however, thatrestaurant owners can disre-gard the local palate - Donegalis a food-loving county, and re-fined tastes abound. Indeed, tojudge by Tripadvisor, thehighest-rated restaurant in thecounty is Chandpur, an Indianrestaurant in Donegal Town. "Ahuge amount of our take-awaybusiness comes from locals,very much so. And Donegaltown people are very honest –if you make a mistake, they’lltell you. People will get a take-away week-in, week-out. Andif there is something wrongone time, they’ll tell us. So wehave to be on top of our game.Donegal is a foodie town," saysSusan Miah, who helps hus-band Rana to run the restau-rant with a busy team. The pair

took full ownership of Chand-pur in 2012, though a restau-rant has been on the site since2004. That, coupled with theloyalty of customers, has Miahconfident of future success.

In any case, she argues,there's a distinct buzz aboutthe county and the town inparticular. "I think Donegal isbucking the trend – it’s a su-perb town, and businesses arespringing up every day of theweek. If you come to Donegal,there are shops, ladies clothesshops, new stores opening. SoDonegal seems to be holdingits own.”TourismAlong with traditional touristspots such as Letterkenny,Donegal Town is a key pointfor tourists, both to visit and totour the county more gener-ally. Tourists remain a key partof the business mix, andrestaurant owners are keenlyconscious of numbers giventhe year of The Gathering.Thus far, however, Susan saysthat the volume of numbers re-mains strong. That's helped,she adds, by having qualityhotels nearby that are happyto recommend quality localrestaurants.

While hotels around thecountry have strived to retaincustomers on the property,sometimes aggressively,

Donegal town hotels havemore of a live-and-let-live ap-proach. "Not all of them[tourists] eat out – some eat inthe hotel – but we’re lucky inthat the hoteliers will eat withus, and they’re very goodabout recommending us. Theyadmit that they want cus-tomers to stay in the hotel, butthey know that’s not always thecase. People might book onenight in the hotel restaurantand, the other two nights,

they’re going out of town. Sothey’ll ask what the bestrestaurant is and we know thatat least three hotels recom-mend us. We’re very lucky inthat respect – there’s no nasti-ness," says Susan. "They dowant to keep customers –Deirdre from Harvey’s Point isa great friend of ours. She ad-mits that they want the cus-tomers to stay in the hotel but,if they’re not going to do that,we do get recommended. I

know that because we’d talk tothe customers and ask themhow they arrived here. Someof them would say ‘Tripadvi-sor’, others would say they’restaying in The Mill Park or Har-vey’s and they recommendedus."

Keeping a Local BuzzA real business community,with restaurants and hotelsmutually supportive, helpseveryone, as evidenced by the

Local Focus DonegalFFT takes an in-depth look at Donegal Town.

The castle is akey draw for

tourists.

Cooking up a storm in the kitchen.


Local FocusFFT.ie June 2013 9

popular Taste of Donegal FoodFestival. The grass-roots initia-tive draws some 20,000 visi-tors to the town every Augustto see leading Irish chefs andtaste the wares of local restau-rants. Run by a committee oflocal business leaders andDonegal Town CommunityChamber, this year's event willbe held in marquees on thenewly refurbished pier area inthe town.

Unsurprisingly, the Chand-pur team all participate in theevent. "We have a stall everyyear, and my husband haswon the gold in the chef’scompetition for the past twoyears in a row. He won silverbefore that, so that’s huge forus," explains Susan. "We sellhot tiffin boxes – based aroundthe idea that tiffin boxes weregiven to Indian workers – for€5. People are getting twostarters, chicken and curryand rice for €5. We’re sellingthings for half price. But peo-ple can smell and taste thefood. We have a great festival– I can’t speak for anyone else,but we’re busy.

"Because we’re open also,it’s a very difficult weekend forus. You spend three weekspreparing, getting everythingready, setting it all up – andeveryone wants to make theirstall look as nice as possible.We’re also open, so half ourstaff are going down to thestall. It’s a stressful weekend,bringing food down and that.So that’s our involvement –paying for a stall and beingpart of it," she explains.Other initiatives also keep thetown humming over. "There’salways a lot going on – there’sa summer festival, though wedon’t get too much from that. Ittends to be based in the Dia-mond in Donegal: they havelive bands, it’s more for theyoung ones. They’re more into

drinking and going to the bars.But anything that brings peo-ple into the town helps!" saysSusan. Donegal has a lot ofthings going on, and we’revery lucky with the hotels inthe town. The Abbey Hotel, forexample, runs country andwestern weekends four timesa year, and they bring hugenumbers of people to thetown. I’m not sure we get aspin-off from that, but wemight.

A Diverse Mix"We’re all involved in the Tasteof Food, and everyone doestheir own thing. We’re the onlyIndian restaurant, so we’re notstepping on anyone’s toes. TheCastle Bar is fantastic forseafood, and right beside the

castle. The Harbour restauranthas a great locale across fromthe pier, so they’ve got their lo-cals, and there’s a Thai restau-rant as well. Everyone seemsto have their own wee slice ofthe action," she adds.Other popular restaurants inthe vicinity include The VillageTavern, a traditional IrishRestaurant, like the Olde Cas-tle Bar and Whites on the Dia-mond. Manhattan Steakhouse,the busy Blueberry Tea Roomand the seafood orientatedHarbour Restaurant are alsopresent, with an Italian twist of-fered by La Bella Donna andSabai Thai represents southeast Asia.

By and large, Susan says,local restaurants operate ahealthy year-round modelrather than relying on threemonths of the year to maketheir money. "We certainlydon’t rely on the summer –we’re open seven nights aweek all year round. We onlyclose on Christmas day. OtherIndian or ethnic restaurants [might be like that. Most of therestaurants are open year-round: they don’t just rely onsummer business. A couple ofrestaurants in Donegal mightopen Thursday to Sunday inwinter, but a lot of them areopen for food seven nights aweek," she says.

"You have your figures –you might look back and see acouple of weeks in a monththat were quiet, that kind ofway. But overall, even thoughthe money’s not there, busytimes – like Valentine’s Day,Mother’s Day, Saint Patrick’sDay – have been fantastic."

Reduced Spending

Despite the buzz, there arepressures on the local restau-rants, including the averagebudget for visitors. "With therecession, people who couldhave afforded to spend €30 aweek can only now afford tospend €10," says Susan. Likemany restaurants, Chandpurtries to cater for that reducedspend. "We’ve introduced aSunday buffet, all you can eatfor €10.95. And for childrenaged five and under, it’s €5.95.That’s been a huge thing forus. We might not make muchmoney off that, but people aretasting our food – and weknow that, when they taste it,they’ll come back," she notes.Other restaurants in the localeare doing something similar."There are lots of people doing

early birds, though I’m notsure that people do what wedo – we offer a set menu fortwo with a bottle of wine for€44.95, and I think we’re thebest value in town for that. Ithink the hotels are doingsomething similar, but they’remore expensive."

Thus, even while Donegaltown is enjoying strong visitornumbers, restaurateurs are stillmodifying their offering to suita reduced consumer budgetlike their peers across the is-land. That flexibility, coupledwith plenty of activities andpro-active moves to entice vis-itors, will help the local restau-rant scene keep ticking over inmore straitened times.

KeyRestaurantsand hotelsChandpur Indian RestaurantMain Street, Donegal Town,Co Donegal. Tel (074) 97 25452

Harvey's PointLough Eske Donegal Town,Co Donegal, Ireland Tel (074) 9722208

The Village TavernMain Street, Donegal Town,Co Donegal. Tel (074) 973 5622

The Olde Castle Bar Castle St, Donegal Town, Co.Donegal. Tel (074) 972 1262

Whites on the DiamondThe Central Hotel, The Dia-mond, Donegal Town, CoDonegal. Tel (074) 972 1027

Manhattan SteakhouseMain Street, Donegal Town,Co Donegal. Tel (0)74 97 40111

Blueberry Tea Room Castle Street, The Diamond,Donegal Town, Co Donegal.Tel (074) 972 2933

La Bella Donna2, Bridge Street, DonegalTown, Co Donegal. Tel (074) 972 5790

Sabai ThaiMain Street, Donegal Town,Co Donegal. Tel (074) 97 21111

The Taste of Donegal festival isa highlight of the local calendar

Chandpur's dining room


The Kilbeg Dairies storystarts with a promisingpassion: a simple love of

food. Jane Cassidy and hus-band Kieran, who togetherfounded the company, havebeen farming and devotingthemselves to quality producefor years. "Our overriding pas-sion has always been qualityfood”. Kieran and Jane use anatural resource of deliciousIrish milk from grass fed cowsto produce the myriad of prod-ucts that they have today.

Getting it RightProducing a delectable quark,a German Fat Free SoftCheese, got the ball rolling forKilbeg Dairies, which now of-fers 13 varieties of cheese,creams and yogurt - includingan excellent fat free range.However, the journey to thesuccess currently enjoyed byKilbeg Dairies wasn't entirelystraightforward. “When we de-veloped the cheeses, we werelooking for full mouth feel,round flavour and the full ex-perience. We wanted a velvetytexture, we wanted a greattaste and we wanted it to per-form well in the kitchen," Janereveals. "Every product ismade with this same thing inmind – even though there aredifferent products, densitiesand many kinds of variety. Nomatter the product we want toachieve a smooth, texture witha full, rounded flavour. To en-sure absolute uniqueness wedevelop each product individ-

ually - and painstakingly Imight add! But it is because ofthis that the flavour of our prod-uct stands up really well”, addsJane.

Chef-FocusedFor the Cassidys, there's al-ways been a focus on servingtop-quality chefs in the kitchen."The object of the whole proj-ect was to enhance the flavourof dishes coming out of allkitchens. It was really just tomake the dishes of very goodchefs, where possible, evenbetter, while providing themwith an Irish product," Jane ex-plains. "What we want to do isto serve chefs. We offer a pre-mium product, which is versa-tile in its usage and offers greatvalue for money.”

Getting FeedbackThrough this fascinating jour-ney Kieran and Jane have kepttheir ears to the ground, takingin feedback from professionalsand distributors alike. "We dis-covered that distributorswanted a long shelf life on abroad range of creams, yo-gurts and cheeses for thekitchen. We learned that, if weprogressed from that basemodel to the premium qualitywe have achieved today, thatchefs would be interested inour products. That's how ourproducts journeyed to suc-cess, simply because we lis-tened to feedback fromdistributors and chefs, andmore importantly acted upon

it," says Jane.In recent years, that feed-

back has been extremely pos-itive. Kilbeg have just receiveda Gold Irish Cheese Award inthe Soft Cheese Category, justannounced at BLOOM 2013. ASilver Medal at the latest instal-ment of the World CheeseAwards was also picked up bythe business in December2012. Through the years Kilbeghas also won multiple GreatTaste Awards and were de-lighted and very proud to winGold at the Food & WineAwards in December 2012.Moreover, an impressive arrayof top chefs have praised theproducts highly with NevanMaguire leading the way withhis continued endorsementand praise for the Kilbegrange.

You might forgive the Cas-sidys for being taken aback bya flood of praise - however, likemany thriving businesses, theapparent overnight successhas taken some years to foster."I think it took a while for it tohappen actually. I think thatdoors were opened by theGreat Taste and the Food &Wine awards. Certainly, chefshave become more aware thatwe are trustworthy and careabout chefs," she remarks,adding that the endorsementshave taken on a momentum oftheir own. "Only last week, Iwas made aware of an en-dorsement from GeorginaCampbell. It all helps."

That momentum took time

to develop. "There's a hugemovement among chefs to tryand use Irish produce. For me,it wasn't one endorsement thatdid it - it was the consistentquality of the products, plus therepeated endorsements we'vereceived that made chefs re-alise we're really serious, we’rehere to help and we’re here tostay," Jane explains, pointingparticularly to the highly-re-garded professional awardsreceived by Kilbeg Dairies."The awards really help be-cause they show people thatwe weren't just here for a yearor so: when we began to winmore, people truly saw that ourquality, consistency and ab-solute commitment was win-ning through and beingrewarded. “Artisan producersneed to be taken seriously.We're not a huge company, butwe are experts at what we do."

Continued CommitmentAmidst the joy of creating de-lectable products and bringingthem to Irish kitchens, ofcourse, there has been somestrain, and a major commit-ment from all the Cassidy fam-ily was needed. "Developingeach product was a challenge,but it was a passionate one.Backing it financially was ex-tremely challenging - it wastough. At times, there were somany hours of work for Kieranand I, it seemed daunting butin truth we were really wellsupported and loved by ourchildren and extended family

and friends, which has reallyhelped get us to where we aretoday. We are all committed toKilbeg Dairies, it’s not justKieran and myself. If a cus-tomer needs a product onshort notice, we move quickly.That takes a full commitmentfrom our really wonderful teamof operators and our excellentmanagement team. What wehave achieved is simply notpossible without their expert-ise, passion and committment,"notes Jane. “In this very chal-lenging time we are delightedto have grown and look for-ward to offering further em-ployment to more members ofour community.”

Next on the agenda, how-ever, is capitalising on all thathard work. "Exporting hasbegun and is growing over therecent months" Jane reveals.

"And obviously, we want tohave our product in as manyrestaurants as possible in thecountry. We're also developinga new Soft Cream Cheese atthe moment, which I think willbe interesting based on thefeedback I've had so far, sowatch this space!"

"We develop all our newproducts based on feedbackfrom chefs. The Irish palate isbecoming more and more dis-cerning: menus change andchef requirements change:therefore, we need to adapt ac-cordingly. Between exportsand national sales, we're ex-tremely busy at the minute. Butwe're getting great feedback,and it's always good whenyou're getting that!"

Business Solutions FFT.ie June 201310

An Ear to the

GroundThe success of Kilbeg Dairies has been built by a commitment to quality, and a keen ear for feedback.

Kilbeg DairiesKilbeg Dairies products are offered by the most nationwidewholesale stockists:

Pallas Foods

Paneuro Foods

Gleneely Foods

BD Foods

Corrib Food Products

Seaview

Dairyland Cuisine

Gortaclare

Five Mile Town

Independent Irish Health Foods

Sheridans Cheese Mongers

Jane Cassidy Director Kilbeg Dairies.


Possibly the most un-pleasant combinationI’ve ever experienced in

this respect – and I don’t knowhow it came about – wassmoked salmon and red Bor-deaux. It was like chewing rot-ten fish dusted liberally withiron filings.

Most opportunities forwine and food to have a violentargument are less extreme. Forexample, if you’re in the kind ofrestaurant that does reducedsauces based on Madeira orPort (you’re also in a time warpby the way) there are very fewwines that will survive the ex-perience.

A Cotes du Rhone or Chi-anti, for example, will justshrivel up and die at the firstblow. A steroidal bodybuilderof an Australian Shiraz will putup a manly fight but it will bepretty battered and bruised by

the time you’ve licked theplate.

The commonest question Iget asked on Twitter (where Itweet about wine with the hashtag #tomwines, and where I’m@tomdoorley) is what to drinkwith what. The odd thing is thatI’m rarely asked for advice onchallenging dishes like, for ex-ample, a Thai fish curry (theanswer is German Rieslingwith a little sweetness, as ithappens) but much moreeveryday things like the Sun-day roast.

First things first. There areno rules in wine, apart fromthat which was given inKatharine Whitehorn’s Cook-ing in a Bedsit, which was “redwith lino, white with carpet”.

So, what I’m going to sug-gest here works for me; it maynot work for everyone; andthere may well be better com-

binations, which I’ve yet to ex-perience; with wine, you neverstop learning.

That lovely spring lambthat has just become availableis divine. To me, it comes as agreat relief after the ratherpungent, hoggety lamb thatmarks the winter months. Newseason lamb has a purity thatdances on your palate and it’sonly respectful to partner itwith a wine that doesn’t batterit into oblivion.

My top choice, in an idealworld, would be a Pinot Noirfrom Burgundy. Not one of thetop Burgundies, you under-stand, because (a) that will re-quire an extension of yourmortgage and (b) they tend tohave a bit too much going onin them which means thatthere’s a danger the lamb willget shouted down.

No, what we want here is a

nice middleweight Burgundy. Itcould be a Savigny-les-Beauneor Cotes de Beaune Villages oreven a straight Gevrey-Cham-bertin. There is the occasionalmere Bourgogne Rouge thatwill do the trick. The problemis that they are all far too dearand there’s a consistencyproblem, which means thatmany people who experimentwith this famous wine regionwill be sorely disappointed.

There’s a fine line betweenthe lively acidity, light colourand lithe fruit of a pleasant Bur-gundy, on the one hand, and atart, dried out, tannic anddownright nasty one.

So, maybe leave Burgundyfor the time being. Pinot Noir isgrown very successfully in theNew World, particularly inNew Zealand where the vinesmust put the fear of God intothe extensive local lamb pop-

ulation.The problem is that good

New Zealand Pinot is expen-sive, some examples snappingat the heels of quite seriousBurgundy in terms of price andeven, on occasion, of style too.

Two examples are worthseeking out without breakingthe bank. Lidl’s MarlboroughPinot Noir (€12) is lovely, withthat proper rusty, tawny shadewhich is the hallmark of thegrape, good backbone of acid-ity, ripe but not overpoweringcherry/strawberry fruit and adecent finish.

The other one that has re-cently impressed me is therather more luscious and lushYealands Estate R3 Pinot Noir(€21.99, Marks & Spencer)which has some real complex-ity, true Pinot character and thekind of style that I tend to asso-ciate with stuff costing twicethe price.

There’s plenty of Pinot Noirfrom Chile but what you tend toget here is a ripe, supple,easy-drinking experiencerather than complex noteswhich will have you gropingfor the la mot juste. The verywidely available megabrandCono Sur does a lovely exam-ple for small money.

If you’re in the right neck ofthe woods, you might try yourWicklow Lamb with theArdeche Pinot Noir from theWicklow Wine Company (at avery reasonable €11.25): un-usually dark, well upholsteredwith fruit and underpinned byzippy acidity.

After all that, I have a con-fession to make. If I’m havingnew season lamb I’m just aslikely to have a good red Bor-deaux with it. Or a Rioja. Or, in-deed, pretty well any red thathappens to be in the house atthe time. However, we muststrive for the ideal. And ideallyBordeaux and Rioja go withbeef, of which more anon…

News, views and insight

Wine and Food -A Baa-Baa-Brilliant Combination… A lot of people seem to believe that for every dish in the world there’s a perfect wine to partner it.It’s a fallacy. Wine marriages made in heaven are rare but wine clashes are pretty common.


My favourite places toeat in Ireland wouldgo like this…

Whitefriar Grill – AungierStreetThis is a favourite of mine forbrunch on a Saturday or Sun-day morning after a toughgame. There is a really chilled

atmosphere with a DJ in everyso often playing music you cankick back to. The menu isquite varied but a favourite ofmine would be the crab cakeeggs benedict. It has gottenvery popular recently sobooking would be advised.

The Butcher Grill – Ranelagh

This is a small restaurant in theheart of Ranelagh that pridesitself on its meat cuts and itdoesn’t disappoint. It againhas a cool, kind of industrialvibe with the subway tiles onthe wall. There is a cosy feelabout the place being able tosee into the modest kitchen.The staff are always friendlyand the seats are high barstools which is a bonus forthose of us who are slightlyabove average in height! Youcan’t go here without tryingthe baby back ribs.

Ananda – DundrumSomewhat of a hidden gemon the third floor of the cin-ema building in the DundrumShopping Centre. Easily the

best Indian restaurant that Ihave been to, it takes a con-temporary twist on classicdishes. Ananda doesn’t fallinto the trap that a lot of Indi-ans tend to do with the décor,it has a light, airy feel and por-trays the feeling of a high classrestaurant. It can be a bitpricey but there are a lot of al-ternatives on offer such as setmenus and early birds.

The Oystercatcher Bistro –CarlingfordMy father grew up in Carling-ford and my granny is still aresident so I have a lot of fondmemories of growing up inthis little coastal town in Louth.The Oystercatcher is a small,privately run bistro that usesthe freshest of producestraight out of the sea. Obvi-ously the seafood is the maindraw here and it is alwayscooked to perfection. One of

my favourites is the seafoodchowder but their signaturedish is undoubtedly the oys-ters.

Chapter One – ParnellSquareThis is the choice for an ab-solute treat or a special occa-sion. Can be a bit pricey butfor a celebration the qualitythat you will get is worth pay-ing for. Unrivalled servicecoupled with highest standardof food adds to the occasion. Ifyou’re a foodie and you’refeeling like doing somethingextra special the chef’s table isa must, set in the heart of thekitchen where each course ofthe tasting menu is presentedand described by the chefwho prepared it. This is an ex-perience not to miss: be sureto book well in advancethough.

Andrew Rudd’s Favourite Places to DineAndrew is one of Ireland’s top chefs and has turned a lifelong passion for food into a successful and expanding career,primarily providing cookery demonstrations, private catering and fine dining to food lovers nationwide. He has had afascination with food for over 20 years and has explored the culinary delights of many cities around the world, some ofwhich can be seen on TV3’s Ireland AM breakfast show that Andrew regularly contributes on.

TheDiningRoom wants to promote you and your food,please send us all chef profiles, recipes, videos so thatwe can build public awareness of your brands and

amazing food.

Calling allChefs &Restaurants

Wpal'EcStamCitrShastair

If you want to support TheDiningRoom, please emailKeith Mahon, Managing Director - [email protected] or call 0858504392

Below are my favouriteplaces to dine out in noparticular order…

L’Ecrivain, Merrion RowFor me, food is intrinsicallylinked to people and thepleasure that you gain fromthe overall experience. Notonly is the food exceptional inL’Ecrivain, but Derry and SallyAnne are two of the nicestpeople that you could evermeet.

Pichet, Trinity StreetI love the relaxed ambience ofPichet. Nick and his team are

always so welcoming andStephen never fails to impressin the kitchen.

Thornton’s, Stephen's GreenWhen I’m looking for a realtreat, Thornton’s is my port ofcall. Kevin is one of the mostunassuming people that Ihave ever met, but in thekitchen, he is a genius. Onceagain with me, it’s all aboutthe teamwork and people.Muriel, Kevin’s wife and busi-ness partner is always so wel-coming, warm, andaccommodating.

The Butchers Block, Dun-drumI have been to the ButchersBlock on a number of occa-sions with friends. Honest togoodness food with somegreat wines. The very relax-ing environment and layout ofthe restaurant provides for agreat craic evening

The Trocadero, St Andrew'sStreetThis is a gem of a restaurant,made all the more invitingwith Robert at the helm andhis sister Liz in the kitchen. Itis firmly embedded in the

Dublinrestaurant circuit. The food isconsistently good, and the at-mosphere is second to none.This is a firm favourite withmy friends. The one disap-

point-ment is that Robert does nothave my mugshot framed andin pride of place. Tut tut…

Devin Toner My Favourite RestaurantsDevin Toner is a professional rugby player. Educated at CastleknockCollege, Dublin, he plays in the second-row for Ireland and Leinster. Atnearly seven feet, he is the tallest player in the Heineken Cup. Devinhas established himself with Leinster in recent seasons, chalking upmore than half a century of senior provincial caps. He made his IrelandWolfhounds debut in the Churchill Cup against Canada in June 2009,and helped his side win the tournament in Denver with a memorablewin against the England Saxons. He has six Ireland Wolfhounds caps intotal. In November 2010, he was selected by Ireland’s head coach De-clan Kidney to make his International debut for Ireland against Samoa.He then came off the bench against the All Blacks and Argentina.


To find out about how we can deliver more profit to your business, visit us at www.bewleys.com or call us on 1850 248 484.


DrinksFFT.ie June 2013 15

For years, it's been an ac-cepted fact that sellingfood is rarely as prof-

itable as it should be, but serv-ing wine is the cash cow thatkeeps businesses rolling.Moreover, the conventionalwisdom states, restaurateursoften get an unexpected wind-fall when they eventually sellup or shut down, discoveringthat the bottles gathering dustin their cellar has appreciatedconsiderably in value.

A Changing MarketA few things have changed thatone-sided perspective, how-ever. Firstly, the recession has

made those boozy corporatelunches rarer, and encouragedmore social diners to stick toone or two drinks. Tax changes- enacted despite bitter oppo-sition from the RAI and others -have been absorbed by manyrestaurants rather than riskingthe wrath of customers. And,thanks to a more diversifiedoff-trade, consumers are oftenable to get the wines you're of-fering off the shelf - given thatthose consumers are moreprickly than ever about theprices they pay, charging ahefty mark-up risks alienatingthem. Even flogging off thewine cellar has taken a hit, as

some high profile scandals inthe wine investment worldhave deterred several retail in-vestors. In any case, the Irishpalate is evolving at a rapidrate, and today's hot bottlemight be passé by September- indeed, some discerningcustomers have been turningto premium beer rather thanwine with their meals.

With these developmentsin mind, it's hard to ignore thefact that restaurants with vastwine cellars are often tying ahuge amount of capital intoproducts that might not sell foryears. Few small businessescan engage in this sort of prac-

tice, but restaurateurs do thiswithout a moment's thought.

The BYOB AlternativeWhat, a vexed owner mightask, is the alternative? Onenovel idea being trialled byrestaurants in Ireland is a bringyour own bottle (BYOB) ap-proach. By reducing the cost ofwine for customers, the logicgoes, a restaurant will attractmore diners, who'll have moremoney to spend on food or hotdrinks. And less pressure tohave a packed cellar cateringto every possible taste re-duces the cost for restaurants.

The Right Kind of CustomerRestaurateurs are understand-ably anxious about a funda-mental shake-up of theirbusiness model, and certainreservations are very muchjustified. In particular, manyowners fear an influx of cus-tomers who'll just want to orderappetisers and drink them-selves silly - the thought ofunfed students ploughingthrough multiple bottles ofBuckfast, before decorating thedining room with their regurgi-tation, fills anyone in the busi-ness with justifiable terror. Sogetting the right kind of cus-tomer - someone who re-

To BYOB or not to

BYOB?Is selling wine themost bankable partof the restaurantbusiness, or is it re-ally a cash strangle-hold on yourbusiness? FFT looksat an alternative.


Drinks FFT.ie June 201316

spects value rather than abus-ing it - is vital.

To do this, certain restau-rants charge a moderate cork-age fee for customers bringingtheir own booze. This is, ofcourse, a balancing act - pitch-ing it too high will have theawkward squad accusing youof profiteering. But it is remark-able how a small fee of just €2to €3 seems reasonable tosensible diners, lets you getsome value our of your serviceand glassware, and deters thetype of person who would oth-erwise just get sozzled at home.

Another idea is pitchingthe BOYB offer as part of a spe-cial set menu. This allows youto tailor the offer to suit the kindof customer who appreciatesvalue but isn't just looking for acheap, warm place to drink - afood lover who would enjoy theopportunity to choose theirown wine. It also allows you toensure that any BYOB cus-

tomers get a substantial meal,minimising the risk of baddrunken behaviour, and guar-antee the profitability of eachservice. Finally, presenting thatoffer lets you dip your toe inthe BYOB water, gauging itsappeal to the local market be-fore you change your funda-mental model.

Keeping an OfferingIndeed, one potential mistakea restaurateur could make isgoing head-first into the BYOBapproach and failing to offerdrinks to customers at all. Thiswould obviously be a shame -some diners, after all, aren't in-clined to stop by the off-licenseon the way to dinner, and ap-preciate being able to takerecommendations or try newwines. If you remove your wineoffering completely, you're notserving these people with theexperience they want, andrestaurants can't afford to shutout potential customers these

days. So, maintaining a drinksoffering is a good idea, buthaving a BYOB offer puts youunder less pressure: you canfocus on the most suitable andpopular wines at your restau-rants without feeling the needto spend thousands on prod-ucts that may not sell.

If you do decide to godown the BYOB route, do makesure that you capitalise on it -you are, after all, foregoing po-tential profits to entice morediners. So actively promote it,whether you adopt a set menuBYOB offer, an open systemwith corkage fees, or a verita-ble free-for all.

Innovation, while offeringcustomers choice and value,has kept many restaurantsafloat through five lean years.This is one innovation thatwon't suit every restaurant but,for some, adding simplicity ofstock management and an at-tractive offer for consumersmakes eminent sense.

Wine ofthe MonthTerra do Lobo,Godello, Monterrei D.O.,2010

This wine is a wonderfulalternative to the more fa-mous neighbouring Al-barinos. Meaning 'wolf'sland' in the Galician di-alect, Terra do Lobo isgrown on granitic soils onsteep slopes, and theGodello grape expressesfreshness, body and aro-mas of the grape sub-limely. Made from 100%Godello, the wine under-goes no aging to pre-serve that character.

Bright yellow in color, thewine has intense aromasof apples and citrus thatcontinue on to the palate.Elegant, clean and freshwith a long and verypleasant finish.

The wine is paired wellwith the subtle taste ofchicken, particularlygrilled or Asian dishes.

Levying a smallcorkage fee still of-

fers value, but keepspeople who'll abuse

BYOB establish-ments away.

Want to runyour catering business more effi ciently?

now you can

CALOR ENERGY

SOLUTIONS

ROI: 1850 812 450NI: 028 9045 5588W: www.calorgas.ie


FFT.ie June 2013 17

Hot Drinks brought to you by

Irish consumers are gettingincreasingly accustomedto taking their caffeine

cold, and the first frappé ofsummer is becoming a per-sonal milestone for many. Icedteas represent a great way totap into the need for a morerefreshing cuppa in the sum-mer.

Based on customer feed-back, Bewley’s have intro-duced iced tea to theirproduct portfolio. Easy tomake and guaranteed toquench any thirst, iced teasadd a touch of the exotic toyour summer menu.chooseWith two tempt-ing flavours to choosefrom - Original Iced Teaand Jasmine & LimeIced Tea - the range canappeal to traditionalistsand more adventurouspalates alike.

Promising marginsof up to 74% from thisproduct, Bewley’s canprovide everything youneed to serve thisdrink, including plasticcups with dome lidsand impactful point ofsale material. You canalso offer pitchers of icetea for groups, or use apitcher by the point ofsale unit to offer free

samples! So, if you're lookingto diversify your caffeine of-fering, Bewleys' iced teas rep-resent a simple and profitableway to offer your customers anew choice.

Iced tea is part of the Be-wley’s summer menu, whichalso includes deliciousflavoured frappes such as ourCherry Cino, Banana Split orHazel Rock and our compre-hensive range of SpecialtyTeas. To find out more aboutstocking our summer drinksmenu, visit www.bewleys.comor call 1850 248 484.

As summer finally kicks into gear, you cancapitalise on the weather by offering yourcustomers delicious iced tea.

Cocktail of the Month

The SazeracSometimes, one stumblesacross a 'cult drink' - a cock-tail with a long and estab-lished history that, despitenever hitting the near-univer-sal popularity of the Martini,or more contemporary con-coctions. The Sazerac fallsneatly into this category.It's easy to understand whythis is for, while it's definitelydelicious, the Sazerac is po-tent, with whiskey, strong bit-ters and an undeniable hint ofabsinthe. While it's not foreveryone, it definitely offers anew experience, and its ori-gins go right back to the ear-liest days of the cocktail.Around 1850, Sewell T. Taylorbegan to import a brand ofcognac named Sazerac-de-Forge et Fils to the USA and,

at the same time, Aaron Birdstarted to offer the Sazeraccocktail using Taylor's spiritand bitters produced by thelocal chemist. A phylloxeraepidemic in Europe deci-mated Europe's grapes, forc-ing a switch to rye whiskey,and the rest is history. Cre-ation has also been attributedto Antoine Amadie Peychaud,the Creole apothecary whomoved to New Orleans fromthe West Indies, andLouisiana has also pro-claimed it as New Orleans' of-ficial cocktail.

The Sazerac can be pitchedas a classic but exotic drink,with a unique flavour and ahint of New Orleans - a must-have with Cajun-Creole fare,with a strong flavour to cutthrough the spice!

Ingredients2-3 drops Peychaud's bitters1 lump sugar5-6 ice cubes1/2 measure still mineral

water1 1/4 measure rye whiskey3 drops absinthe1 strip lemon peel.

MethodDrop the Paychaud's bittersonto the lump of sugar andplace it in a mixing glass.Crush the bitters-soakedsugar with a pestle.Add the ice, water, whiskeyand absinthe. Stir with a mix-ing spoon for 10 seconds.Cut the lemon peel, pinch itbetween your fingers overthe mixing glass to releasethe oils.Strain into a rocks glass andserve immediately.

NotesSourcing Rye Whiskey in thisIrish-and-Scotch-dominatedmarket might be a challenge.However, the Celtic WhiskeyShop have a credible range,and Sazerac is also a brand ofRye Whiskey owned by theSazerac Company and pro-duced at the Buffalo Trace

Distillery. There are two cur-rent expressions, an 18-year-

old and a six-year-old, withboth bottled at 90 proof.

Drinks

Get in on the Ice Action


Politicians are eager tosee Ireland moving to-wards universal card-

based payments but, on theground, merchants are strug-gling to justify the change. Pay-ing through the nose ontransaction fees, rental of hard-ware and initial set-up chargesis a major drain, particularlywhen the volume of businessgenerated by card paymentsisn't exactly transformative."The way that the traditionalterminal providers and acquir-ing banks work, they usuallyconstruct quite complicatedbusiness models. It’s hard forthe small business owner toknow exactly what they arepaying. Usually, it’s split up intoseveral different components.One, there’s the subscriptionfee that you’re obliged to payfor at least a 24-month period,

regardless of how much youtransact. Then, you either leaseor buy a terminal up-front forbetween €200 and €400. Thenthere’s a transaction cost on topof this as well – either a per-centage fee which can varybetween 2% and all the way upto 10%. And it’s not uncommoneither to have a 10c or 20cminimum fee per transaction.So, for small ticket size transac-tions that you might have incoffee shops and small retailstores, it’s really quite expen-sive," notes Petter Made, ChiefOperating Officer and Co-founder of Sumup. "It’s a busi-ness model that locks out avery large number of smallbusinesses out of the market,because they just don’t trans-act enough for it to be worththeir while to have a paymentterminal."

Changing the GameFor Made, a Swedish native,the lack of affordable card-pro-cessing solutions for smallbusinesses represented amajor opportunity. "In Sweden,people generally don’t carrycash anymore – they use cardsfor pretty much everything. I’vetravelled quite a bit, notably inGermany, the UK and Ireland,where it’s quite the opposite.There’s a fairly widespreaduse of cards, but people tendto use them at ATMs to getcash. You can’t really use thecard as a form of payment in alot of places," he notes. "There’sa company in the US that wasvery successful offering cardpayments to small merchants. Isat down with my co-foundersfrom the very beginning, andwe thought that this would be agreat idea in Europe. We went

about looking at what it wouldtake to get this going in Eu-rope. I have over ten years ofexperience in the online cardpayments business myself, soit felt like an interesting area toexplore, bringing the ease ofonline payments into the offlinepoint of sale world.

"We started the companyin October 2011, and immedi-ately hired a number of devel-opers to start working on thesystem. With the advantage ofbeing from the industry, weknew pretty well what wewanted to build, so there wasno time wasted on figuringthings out. We knew how tobuild the payments gatewayand, after that, designing theapp and developing the hard-ware to bring it all together,"says Made.

SumupThe product of that work isSumup. The company offers afree card reader and appwhich integrates with a smart-phone or table. The hardwareconnects with a smartphone ortablet’s 3.5mm headphonejack, allowing excellent porta-bility, while the software iscompatible with both Androidand Apple devices.Perhaps most importantly,however, Sumup has a simplecharging structure: 2.75% ofany transaction. With no set-up,monthly, or minimum transac-tion fees, the system allowsmerchants to process pay-ments simply and, critically, toknow how much it's costingthem. Moreover, bank transfersto merchants are completedon a daily basis."You can use an iPad, and

Special Feature FFT.ie June 201318

Sumup offers a much-needed antidote to expensive and complex card-processing packages.

A Payments

RevolutionSumup has a simple charging structure:2.75% of any transaction. With no set-up,

monthly, or minimum transaction fees, thesystem allows merchants to process pay-ments simply and, critically, to know how

much it's costing them.


Special FeatureFFT.ie June 2013 19

Sumup for 2.75%, and you’reready to go without worryingabout subscription fees or howmuch you use it. If you use it forone month, then use it twomonths later, that doesn’t mat-ter: you only pay when you’redoing business yourself. That’sthe fairest way to have usagebuilt into the business model.We try to keep it as simple aspossible, so you only pay forthe transaction and don’t haveto worry about other costs:there’s nothing hidden," Madenotes.

Hurdles OvercomeWith such an obviously attrac-tive proposition, you'd be for-given for wondering whynobody has done somethingsimilar already. However, asMade explains, there areplenty of hoops that the Sumupteam had to jump through be-fore talking to businesses."It’s taken a lot of time to get towhere we are today becausethere are a number of signifi-cant hurdles to do what we do.The first and perhaps most sig-nificant is that you need to belicensed as a Payment Institu-tion here in Europe to be ableto act as an aggregator, whereyou’re the merchant of recordfor consumers and all of thesmall business that you workfor are signed up with you. Toget that license is quite a lot ofwork. The advantage is that,when you have it, you can thenpassport it to other Europeancountries," adds Made. "Thenyou have several other chal-

lenges: notably, you need tohave a good relationship withthe card companies, Visa andMastercard. This is a very newarea we’re innovating in and tohave good relationships withthem when we’re running onthe rails of the card schemes isvery important. Thirdly, weneed to have the right hard-ware: to have a cost-efficientsolution so you can reach thesmall businesses and they canafford to use us. That meansthat you need new hardwarebecause the old hardware andterminals that you see every-where is very expensive, andanother part of the prohibi-tively expensive businessmodel that’s currently thenorm if you’re accepting cardpayments," he continues.

"Fourthly, we needed to de-velop our own payments pro-cessing platform and put all ofthese different pieces together– then communicate it out tothe market. So there are a lot ofchallenges and a lot of hurdleswe’ve had to overcome," saysMade..The Take-UpHaving done all that, however,Sumup has hit the ground run-ning. since launching in August2012, the solution has seenbroad take-up in Ireland andother markets. "Ireland in par-ticular is a good example of anarea where there just isn’tenough competition," opinesMade. "We have had a lot of in-terest, particularly from mobilemerchants," Made reveals.

"We’re finding good tractionfrom those segments, and wealso have a lot of interest fromsmaller shops and coffeeshops: small businesses thatmight not make many transac-tions per day, but the transac-tions that they do make areimportant to them."

With partners now rangingfrom mobile tradesmen to bedand breakfasts, Sumup hasgained a substantial foothold inthe local business community,doing more than any politi-cian's promise to make wide-spread card payments a reality.For any small business lookingto offer more flexibility to itscustomers, Sumup offerspeace of mind, predictablepricing and a very affordablesolution.

n

SumupTo find out more about

Sumup, or order a free card

reader visit

www.sumup.ie


Events & Jobs FFT.ie June 201320

All Ireland RestaurantAwardsThe national final of theRestaurants Association ofIreland (RAI) event takesplace in the beautiful sur-roundings of the BurlingtonHotel in Dublin. Dress codeis black tie, and contact 016779901 or [email protected] for tickets.

When: June 10, 18:30Where: The BurlingtonHotel, DublinHow much: €130 (singleticket) / €250 (pair) /€1,000 (table of eight) /€1,200 (table of ten)

EFCEM General Assem-bly 2013 and EuropeanCatering Equipment Con-ference 2013Europe without Barriers, aconference that networksthe European and interna-tional foodservice equip-ment industry and its

supply chain partners, is in-corporated along with theEuropean Federation ofCatering Equipment Manu-facturers's annual assembly.The event includes a tour ofthe House of Lords, net-working events, and an in-depth conferenceprogramme on interna-tional trends in the sector.Presentations will includeThe European and Interna-tional Economic Outlook,The Next Five Years of Euro-pean Legislation and Regu-lation, ExportOpportunities, and Carbonand Energy Reduction - theOpportunities for the Sec-tor.

When: June 26-27Where: Marriot Hotel,County Hall, LondonHow Much: Varies

Waterford Festival ofFood, Fish & Fun

The festival promoting cul-ture and food in pictur-esque Waterfood is beingrun with input from TheLemon Tree restaurant, Az-zurro Bar & Restaurant, TheStrand Inn, the Haven Hotel,The Spinnaker Bar &Restaurant and The Oceanhotel. Saturday June 22 willsee an arts and crafts fair allday in the Fisherman's Hall,and a Famer's Market allday in the harbour. [email protected] phone (051) 383164 andtalk to Joan for more details.

When: From June 21, 21:00Where: The Strand Inn, Wa-terfordHow Much: Free

StreetfeastStreetfeast is a day of locallunches across Ireland onJune 23 hosted by individu-als. Organised in partner-ship with Centra, the

local-centric festival is en-couraging feasts anywhere:out on the street, in a localpark or even private gar-dens. Visitwww.streetfeast.ie to findout more.

When: June 23Where: Various LocationsHow Much: Varies

Taste of DublinIreland's favourite food fes-tival returns to the IveaghGardens in Dublin for twodays of great eating and en-tertainment. 30,000 atten-dees, top restaurants,interactive masterclasses and more are promised.

When: June 13-16Where: Iveah Gardens,DublinHow much: Varies

The Westport Festival ofMusic and Food

An annual 2-day familyfriendly festival, set amidstthe picturesque 400-acregrounds of Westport House.The historic house and es-tate is located in the heart ofone of Ireland’s mostcharming seaside townswhich is renowned for itsmusic, excellent food andwarm welcome. Organiserspromise a fantastic fun-filledweekend of entertainmentwith music from interna-tional and Irish musical acts,comedy, amazing food vil-lage, quality on-site camp-ing, beer tents and winebars in a truly relaxed andwelcoming atmosphere.Find out more at www.west-porthouse.ie

When: June 29-30Where: Westport House,MayoHow Much: From €10

Industry EventsWhat's on in the culinary world.

JobsChef - Crackpots, Kinsale,Cork A full or part-time chef is re-quired to join the team inthis busy, well establishedrestaurant in Kinsale. Theideal candidate will havethree to four years of expe-rience as a Chef in a similarrestaurant. He or she mustbe willing to contribute tothe menu, able to work aspart of a team and fluent inEnglish.Crackpots 3 Cork Street, Kinsale, Co.CorkTel: (021) 477 2847

Chef de Partie - Gilbert'sRestaurant & Townhouse,Cobh, CorkThis role requires a personto be very organised andcomfortable working in ahigh-pressure environment.

They must also be able togive orders, as well as reli-ably carrying out ordershanded down to them. Thecandidate must be able tooversee the preparation,cooking, and presentationof meals in the restaurant.Duties include directingchefs in their section inpreparing, cooking andpresenting culinary dishes,enforcing strict health andhygiene standards in thekitchen, and trouble-shoot-ing any problems that mayarise. Three to four years ofexperience is essential. Gilbert's Restaurant &Townhouse 11 Pearse Square, Cobh,Co. CorkTel: (021) 481 1300

Chef de Partie - Mill ParkHotel, Donegal

This leading hotel is seek-ing a Chef de Partie, report-ing to the head chef. Thesuccessful candidate willensure the cleanliness ofthe kitchen is in line withfood hygiene regulationsand that food preparationand production are carriedout to the highest standardsto ensure customer satisfac-tion. The ideal candidatemust have previous Chef dePartie experience at threeor four star hotel level.Mill Park Hotel The Mullins, Donegal Town,Co. DonegalTel: (074) 972 2880

Head Chef - Dublin CityCentreThree Q Recruitment isseeking to recruit an expe-rienced Head Chef whocan plan, develop and de-

liver for a busy city centrerestaurant. Experience inInternational Asian Cuisine,and the ability to bring awestern influence to a tradi-tional Asian experience,have been highlighted asnecessities, along with fiveyears of experience as aHead Chef in a pub orrestaurant environment. Ex-cellent knowledge, applica-tion and proven trackrecord with HACCP sys-tems and EHO audits, anability to deliver challeng-ing and engaging menuswith your team, confidencein delivering service for100 - 250 customers perday (off peak to peak num-bers), a minimum of twoyears certificate in Cookeryor Chef Qualification, andcurrent and valid HACCPcertification is also re-

quired.Three Q Recruitment 7 Abbey Street Lower,Dublin1Tel: (01) 878 3335

Pastry Chef - Market Lane,Cork CityAn experienced pastrychef is required for busycity centre restaurant. Pro-fessional qualifications areessential, and candidatesshould be able to demon-strate flair, creativity andskill in the Kitchen. Excel-lent communication, inter-personal and organisationalskills are essential, as is theability to work as part of ateam and on one's own ini-tiativeMarket Lane5, Oliver Plunkett Street,Cork, Co. CorkTel: (021) 427 4710

Available positions in the foodservice sector.

Get in TouchDo you have an event you wish to promote,or a job to feature in FFT? [email protected] to let us know.


A place on the web to celebrate amazing culinary destinations acala hthon placeA oo tatacelebrattoweb e nngnzinzitte z culinary te amazing destinations ry


Q&A FFT.ie June 201322

Your Lettersand business queries answered...

NERA Are Calling -Should I be Worried?My small restaurant ischugging along de-cently - we're modestlyin profit and, while cash-flow is always a chal-lenge, we've alwaysbeen able to meet ourobligations. One bigproblem we had lastyear was a Revenueaudit - it seemed to takeforever and, while wewere eventually found tobe compliant, we paidout a lot in accountancyfees.

Now, I've received no-tice of an inspectionfrom the National Em-ployment Rights Author-ity (NERA). I'mextremely worried as I'llstruggle to pay legalfees if this turns into an-other protracted back-and-forth.

While I believe I'vedone everything by thebook, there are a coupleof matters I'm concernedabout. Like many restau-rants, I've had a highlevel of turnover. As I'msitting here, I cannot becertain that every em-ployee who camethrough the door in thepast two years was is-sued with a written con-tract. Also, while I paidtax and social insuranceon every payment to em-ployees - and hadpayslips done up - I'mconcerned as not every-one signed for their pay-ment.I'm worried that an em-ployee might be stirringup trouble and will denybeing paid - I'm alsoconcerned that we mighthave made an honestmistake in relation tosomeone, and that per-son has then decided tocontact the Authorityrather than sort the issuewith me. Should I be pre-emptively making cut-backs to deal with the

fallout from this, or am Ioverreacting?

If you're expecting a simi-lar process to RevenueAudits, you might bepleasantly surprised.NERA officials take theirjob seriously, but are a bitmore collaborative in theirapproach than their tax-collecting cousins.

While the inspectioncould have arisen fromthe complaint by the em-ployee, NERA also con-duct inspections based onrandom selection. Theyalso expect employees totry and resolve issueswith their employers be-fore calling them in – so, ifsomeone's gone to thembefore alerting you to anissue, you can expect acomparatively sympa-thetic ear. For an em-ployee, an approach toNERA should be a last re-sort rather than a first re-sponse - they don't like tobe used as a tool to ha-rass honest businesspeo-ple.

The process for moststandard inspections isstraightforward. They'lllook for an example ofyour contracts and a list ofemployee names and ad-dresses with PPS numbersand pay rates. Officialswill write to about 10% ofthese with a standardquestionnaire. They'll alsostudy payments over a setperiod of four weeks, al-most always including abank holiday, and ask forcopies of payslips for allstaff for that period.They'll also want holidayrecords and details of howpeople are paid for holi-days.

Using that information,they'll be able to work outwhether you're calculat-ing things like overtime,holiday pay and bank hol-iday pay correctly. They'llalso see whether you'recomplying with the rules

on breaks set out in theOrganisation of WorkingTime Act.

Unless they believeyou're deliberately short-changing your employ-ees, they will most likelyadvise you of anythingthat needs to change, andsimply look to ensure thatall employees have beenfairly remunerated. Inother words, if you'vebeen calculating thingscorrectly, it shouldn't be apainful or expensiveprocess.

However, from whatyou've said, you mayneed to set up a more re-liable process for payingstaff. In this day and age,not issuing contracts andmaking cash paymentswithout acknowledgementis asking for trouble. Thisdoesn't need to entail anongoing cost - you canget a basic, user-friendlysoftware package, or payan expert to get you or-ganising your own payrollproperly. NERA them-selves will likely suggestsome positive changesyou can apply in the busi-ness.

Can I Be Chased onthis LoanAbout five years ago, Iwas a director in thecompany behind a fairlysuccessful restaurant. Idecided to get out whilethings were good,though, so resigned as adirector in 2008 andhave had no dealingswith the company since.

However, while I wasa director of the com-pany, I signed a personalguarantee for a businessloan. While I was guidedby a solicitor through myresignation, and in-formed the bank of it, itappears that this loanguarantee was neverdealt with by eitherparty.

The two current di-

rectors have since filedaudited accounts, butthe restaurant is goingbelly-up. The bank iscalling in the loan - andchasing me as a guaran-tor. I'm wondering whythe bank hadn't changedthe terms of the loan. AmI on the hook for this or,given than I had nothingto do with the businessin the last five years, willI be given a reprieve?

Unfortunately, it looks likeyou're on the hook for thisone. From what you'vesaid, it appears that theoriginal guarantee is inplace and wasn't changedby the new directors -after all, they had no rea-son to. From the bank'spoint of view, it probablywould have been better torestructure the loan secu-rity, but a personal guar-antee is a personalguarantee - they wouldn'tbe too concerned eitherway.

Unless you expresslyinstructed your solicitor toget your name off the loan(if you did, and he or sheneglected to do so, youmay well have a case topursue litigation), then theresponsibility lies withyou alone. This may provean expensive lesson onthe importance of tyingup loose ends when youexit a business.

Leafletting Worth-while?I've recently set up myrestaurant. While I'vehad a bit of an early rushfrom curious locals, Idon't want to rest on mylaurels, and really wantto tap the local area forcustomers.

I'm not a techy per-son at all, and the localage profile would bequite high. Because ofthis, I'd be tempted toinvest in some leaflet-ting. I've spoken to some

companies about print-ing and delivering aleaflet, and the costs arequite affordable. But is itworthwhile in this dayand age? And can Iguarantee that peoplewill actually read it?

First of all, fair play forsetting up, and also fortaking a pro-active ap-proach to building thebusiness. It is worth not-ing that, even if you're nottechnically minded, yourpotential audience maywell be: localised onlineadvertising, dealsproviders and prestigesites likeThediningroom.ie, arevery cost-effective waysto reach people.

That said, there is stilla place for leaflets, evenin the age of 'no junk mail'stickers. However, ratherthan just announcing yourexistence, you shouldprobably offer somethingthat really grabs the atten-tion - something like avoucher for a specialmeal deal, or 10% off aperson's first order, willmake people more likelyto save your leaflet. Interms of delivery, don'tautomatically choose thecheapest firm, as thereare some cowboys outthere. Go for a reputabledelivery outfit - getting areferral if possible - or setaside a few hours withyour family to deliverthem yourself. That ap-proach might even getyou face to face with po-tential customers, givingyou the best possible op-portunity to sell yourrestaurant.


Less Serious StuffFFT.ie June 2013 23

Less Serious Stuff Bizarre stories from theworld of foodservice

Meat-Tastic

Argentineans are known tolove meat of all shades - withthat in mind, offering diners akilogramme worth of meatmakes sense! Sugar Bar inswinging Buenos Aires is offer-ing the 'Sugar Daddy', a trulyhefty creation with onion rings,alioli, papas fritas, egg and ofcourse multiple patties. What'smore, they've offered the megaburger with a drink at a specialpromotional price of 75 pesos(just over €10) - a dangerouslytempting combination.

A Stranger Kind ofTaco

Tex-mex fare is taking theworld by storm - it's cheap,flavourful, and has plenty of va-riety. But that's not enough forsome. A Florida taquería, TacoFusion, specialises in "exotictacos", containing meats fromsharks, kangaroos, beavers andother non-traditional fillers.The restaurant has been opensince February, making a namefor itself locally. It came to ourattention, however, when it wasforced to remove its latestmenu addition - lion tacos - inthe wake of social media up-roar.

The big cat tacos cost ahefty $35 per shell, and therestaurant claimed that its lionmeat came from a reputablevendor in Illinois. Despite BigCat Rescue reassuring localmedia that lions are not endan-gered, and Taco Fusion's Oper-ation Manager Brad Barnett'sbest efforts, many were out-raged by the meat's mere sale.Since pulling the controversialitem from its menu, Taco Fusionhas issued a statement con-firming that it has no plans tooffer lion tacos again. However,anyone with an adventurous (orsimply weird) palate won't bedisappointed - gator, gazelleand camel meat remain on themenu, while Taco Fusion plansto introduce iguana, zebra andbear meat in the foreseeablefuture.

A Real KitchenNightmare

Restaurant reality TV oftenbecomes a damp squib and,when sparks do fly, you wonderwhy a restaurateur let the cam-eras in. One Arizona owner,though, is facing bigger conse-quences than some bad pub-licity: he's been earmarked forpossible deportation by the USauthorities after participating inKitchen Nightmares.

Samy Bouzaglo, co-ownerof Amy's Baking Company Bak-ery Boutique & Bistro, has beenaccused of failing to report acriminal past when he enteredthe country. With a rap sheetincluding drug distribution andextortion, he's already per-sona-non-grata in Germanyand France. That apparentlydidn't stop him seeking addedexposure for the restaurant.

To go on national TV whenyou're on shaky ground withauthorities, you'd imagine aperson needs to be slightlybatty: Bouzaglo and his wifeAmy didn't disappoint. Oncamera, they were seen shout-ing and physically threateningcustomers before calling thepolice, allegedly withholdingtips from employees and re-sponding in less-than-genteelfashion to Ramsey's suggestedimprovements. Eventually, thefiery celebrity chef walked outon the project, the first timehe's cut-and-run - one couldhardly blame him.

Undeterred by the public-ity, the pair enlisted a PR com-pany and organised a pressconference so they could tellthe real story of their KitchenNightmare. However, KitchenNightmares' production com-pany sent the Bouzaglos a let-ter reminding them of theirnon-disclosure contract, andthe PR company resigned theaccount, citing differences withthe pair on the strategy toadopt.

Amy's Baking Company re-cently launched its week-long"Grand Reopening" and, whilecustomers without reservationswere turned away, at least onediner reported that "Samy wasreally nice" adding that "thefood was good." Perhaps thepair have learned some harshlessons in the publicityfirestorm, but we doubt this isthe last we've heard from thebizarre Bouzaglo.

RoughInjustice

If you think your patronscan be beastly, here's somesobering perspective: a world-renowned Japanese chef hasdied after two customers bru-tally attacked him.

Miki Nozawa, whosesought after Japanese-Italianfusion dishes have pleased thepalates of Mikhail Gorbachevand Denzel Washington, suf-fered a cerebral hemorrhagewhen two German patronsturned on him. The two men,local media report, visited hispopular eponymous restaurantin the resort island of Sylt. Afterhaving a beef, vegetable andfried noodle dish, the pair al-legedly refused to pay and left.

Nozawa, however, ran intothe pair again at a strip club,and the by-now intoxicatedmen were in no mood to partwith the €20 they owed him. Afierce quarrel turned physical

and Nowaza was rushed to alocal hospital with massive in-ternal bleeding.

Nozawa, the former headchef at Flavio Briatore's Billion-aire Club in Sardinia, suc-cumbed to his injuries despitethe best efforts of doctors. Thetwo men were detained butsubsequently released, and aninvestigation into the incident isongoing.

Food Photos FoilFraudsters

Two seasoned identitythieves have been undone bymany a diner's compulsion -Instagramming their food.Nathaniel Troy Maye and Ti-wanna Tenise Thomason, whobetween them have stolenthousands of identities, couldn'thelp uploading a picture of aMorton's steak with macaroniand cheese to the popularphoto-sharing site. For most diners, this would

have brought nothing morethan a raised eyebrow from thewaiting staff. But IRS agents hadbeen tracking this tearawaypair for some time. In fact, theduo met with an IRS informantat YOLO Restaurant in FortLauderdale, though the agencycouldn't yet track down theirreal identities. However, two days later, the in-formant arranged to meet withthe couple at Morton's to dis-cuss exciting new techniquesin identity theft. The couplehanded over a flash drive ofidentities, and agents parssed itfor data linking it to the realowner. Finding Maye's publicInstagram profile, completewith a photograph of the din-ner he ate with the informant,confirmed that they had theirculprit identified. After an IRS swoop, the casemade judicial history: for thefirst time ever, an Instagramfood photo was cited as evi-dence in the federal felonycomplaint. The couple havepleaded guilty Friday to aggra-vated identity theft and posses-sion of unathorised accessdevices, and now face up to 12years in federal prison.

Send your completed puzzle into Food for Thought at 49Fitzwilliam Square Dublin 2 andbe in with a chance of winning anew set of Wusthof Tridentknives worth over €400

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Pallas Foods,Newcastle West,Limerick,Ireland.

T: +353 (0)69 20200F: +353 (0)69 20400W: www.pallasfoods.euE: [email protected]

Crossgar Foodservice,Farranfad Road,Seaforde,BT30 8NH

T: +44 (0)28 4481 1500F: +44 (0)28 4481 2500W: www.crossgar.ieE: [email protected]

eland.IrreLimerick,

est,Newcastle WPallas Foods,

BT30 8NHde,Seafor

Farranfad Road,ossgar Foodservice,Cr

ossgar Foodservice,

[email protected]: .pallasfoods.eu wwwW:

+353 (0)69 20400F: +353 (0)69 20200T:

ossgar sales@crE: .ossgarr..cr wwwW:

+44 (0)28 4481 2500F: +44 (0)28 4481 1500T:

[email protected]

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