The food was stunning, as it would be from a two star Michelin restaurant. What really marks it out for me is the service. The service in restaurants that know they’re special is non-intrusive, warm and not at all pretentious. I’ve been to restaurants where the staff think they and their workplace are special and have a snotty attitude towards everyone. Normally this gives them validation to have sloppy service, serving up variations of chicken currys. They’re the “it” place for a blip in time and love the attention of the fickle public. Guilbaud’s, Chapter One, Thornton’s, Cliffhouse Hotel and other Michelin-like restaurants almost seem timeless inside their doors. They’ll keep doing what they do to an amazing standard no matter the weather or economic climate outside their doors.

All the staff in Guilbaud’s appear to be French and it seems obvious they are drilled as if they were in the military. With their black tux like uniforms you sometimes see the room flowing with black and white as they go about their work. Dishes are served with panache, on silver trays, covered with silver covers that are removed at the exact same time for everyone. Nice flair. No clapping allowed! Well, we didn’t. In between courses someone with a silver crumber in the shape of a razor fish comes along to wipe the crumbs off the table. If you leave the table, someone is over to reposition your chair and refold your napkin. Tempting to do a Homer Simpson “lights go on, lights go off” type situation with getting up every few minutes.

I think any business that works in the service industry (and I think anyone that works with the public is such a company) would learn a lot about providing good customer care from dining at this restaurant. Everything seems to flow easily but you know tradition, training and thought have gone into everything. Every detail has been considered and whether you think this makes everything artificial or not, it still makes you appreciative. I was reminded of the Steve Jobs biography and how obsessive he was about everything. Not that I have read it but every second paragraph from it appears to have been quoted online already.

So yes, food, here’s a surprise starter and the main course of veal. Surprise starter, starter, main course, desert, petitis fours and espresso came to €48 which for the food alone was worth it but the service we received will stay with me and inspire me to try and be that good with my own business. From communications, to product, to presentation of the product to (the hardest bit) making all of this seamless. Thanks Guildbaud’s.

On that, the Restaurant Patrick Guildbaud has a book celebrating the first 30 years and it retails at €50. Profits will go to The Irish Hospice Foundation. Available at Avoca stores, Brown Thomas, Dubray Books, Fallon & Byrne, House of Frasier, The Irish Hospice Foundation and the restaurant itself at 21 Upper Merrion Street. The book is quite beautiful.

And of course I’ll have to try the food at Harry’s.

Streaky bacon weaved together

Sausage meat plastered on top

Barbecue sauce put on that

Cooked bacon bits sprinkled on top

Rolled and then weaved

It was fantastic too to meet so many of the food bloggers I’ve been reading for years. More blogs too to add to FoodFight.ie I was going to call Caroline the grand dame of Irish food bloggers but she’s far far too young for that. She has a great summary of the day, a good deal of which comprised of Irish Pork. I think it would be good to have regular foodie blogger get togethers and get such creative talent (both in the kitchen and on their blogs) to network more.

Lorraine Fitzmaurice of Blazing Salads kicked off the practical demos and showed how to make spelt bread and miso pesto.

Then came Pat Conway from GMIT on butchering some Irish Pork. I think his demo was a favourite of many, well except the poor veggies having to watch as he showed the art form of butchery. I got up close and recorded him doing his magic, ten minute video embedded:

Maire Dufficy of Bord Bia then did some cookery demos with various types of Irish pork, minced pork was new to me. This demo was tough as it was nearing lunch and the smell wafting through the room was a killer for most people.

I was up next to talk briefly on marketing your blog and suggested (selfishly as I was starving now) we move me to after lunch but the kitchen wasn’t ready, so I wittered on fo 10 mins about marketing and getting yourself attention.

Then lunch, guess what we had? And then dessert:

Eoin Purcell from Green Lamp Media then gave a great quick talk on what publishers want and also what areas are underserved in the cooking book industry. Some brilliant tips were shared. One main takeaway is that a pre-existing audience and even a mailing list of blog readers makes selling books and getting a book deal a little easier.

After lunch there was a talk on food styling and photography from Erica Ryan and Jocasta Clarke. Eoin mentioned in his talk that food bloggers with great photos have an advantage in terms of book deals so this talk proved very valuable. Again, loads and loads of tips were shared.

And then some nice swag was given away as the day wrapped up.

The day was good in many ways, it brought the vibrant food blogger community together, some meeting each other for the first time. It gave Bord Bia a nice opportunity to meet opinion formers and sharers and to tell them about the quality processes around Irish pork. It also was a nice training day for people passionate about food allowing them to up their game. Hopefully there’ll be more of these events for food bloggers, I’d love to see a food fair showing off Irish produce to food bloggers for example. This event is a perfect example of earned media, with the likes of Bord Bia not marketing or broadcasting to a community but working with them and helping to enrichen it with knowledge.

Well done Donal and Bord Bia.

If you’re a bit obsessed with food as I am you might agree that good food and good surroundings can seriously change your mood for hours and days. We giggled all through the meal last night as it was so good and tickled all parts of our palettes. We were stuffed after all the food too so decided to walk around town for a bit and we were still smiling and laughing and even this morning I was in a damned good move.

And they now have the Chef’s table where you can sit in the kitchen and sample everything at a special table. We got a quick tour last night of it. Birthday, here I come!

Yes, it’s expensive but I have to say in terms of the food I’ve had so far in my life, it was value for money.

Food porn pics from a dodgy iPhone, in real life they looked amazing, never mind that they tasted better again:

Starter was: Duck sausage, fricasse of lentil, egg poached in red wine, horseradish cream

Main was: Rump of wild venison, mushroom pithivier, creamed cabbage, pickled walnuts and raisins, sauce grand veneur

Desert was: Warm chocolate mousse, caramel jelly, espresso mousse, lime ice cream and honeycomb

With the tea came chocolates:

Gazpacho soup:

Salted cod cakes with lemon mayonnaise:

Lamb’s heart with pork and chorizo:

oh and pistachio ice cream:

and Flannery’s has been refurbished the past few years so comfortable spacious rooms aplenty. After forking over €150 for rooms in some dodgy London hotels, this is a steal. And I won’t apologise for the constant foodporn people see on my Facebook.

• Ireland’s chocolate market is the 12th biggest in Europe and is Britain’s biggest confectionery export market.
• Cadbury’s Dairy Milk has been Ireland’s favourite chocolate for more than 75 years, bought by more than 60% of the population and is Ireland’s number one confectionery brand.
• The Mars Bar is the number one filled bar.
• Maltesers is the number one cinema brand.
• Tayto holds a 28.4 per cent share of the crisps market.
• King Crisps holds an 11.6 per cent share of the crisps market and is the number one crisp by pack sales in the capital.
• Hunky Dorys is the number one crinkle cut crisp, with a 13.4 per cent share of the market.
• Harvest Fare is Ireland’s leading nut range.
• Doritos and Sensations are number one and number two sharing bags in Ireland.
• The gum and mints market is worth €53.4 million annually, with Wrigley holding a 76.5 per cent value share.
• Nestlé Rowntree is the number one brand in impulse sugar confectionery.

I love the terminology used.

Photo owned by norwichnuts (cc)

Donal Skehan from The Good Mood Food blog is launching his fantastic book on healthy eating/cooking next week. If you’re about pop in and say hello to him.

Mercier Press invite nicked from Donal’s blog:

Manila Rhythm – Bohemian Rhapsody