April's monthly 9 giveaways have landed! Everyone signed up to ATF Insiders will be automatically entered into the draw, and once again we've got some incredible prizes to thank you for your support each month.
Everyone subscribed by midnight on Sunday 17th April will be entered into the draw, and winners will be picked and notified on Monday 18th April, for a very happy Easter. Here's what's in the line up this month...
1) Dinner at Rare 1784, Kinsale, with an overnight stay at the Blue Haven Hotel
If you've been following us for a while, you'll know about our deep, unending love of West Cork, in large part because of all the places we love to eat and drink there, and since our last visit there's a new kid on the block in Kinsale - Rare 1784 at the Blue Haven Hotel. Head chef Meeran Manzoor serves a 5-10 course tasting menu that he says is rooted in his hometown of Cheenai in India, but inspired by Kinsale and the incredible food producers in the region, and serves dishes like octopus corndog with caviar crème fraîche, and John Dory with bouillabaisse and a potato terrine.
Reports from some of our readers who've eaten there in the past few months made us sit up and add it to the "must visit" list, and we've been advised not to miss the bespoke cocktails either. We are delighted (and not at all jealous) to be able to give one of you lucky Insiders a one night stay at the Blue Haven Hotel this month, with breakfast and a five-course tasting menu at Rare 1784. Can you take us with you? (Not redeemable on bank holidays)
2) An overnight stay in Faithlegg House with cocktails and bar bites in Bar 1783
The beautiful Faithlegg House has just opened its very plush new cocktail and whiskey bar, Bar 1783, and we're taking this as a sign to explore more of the food and drink scene in Waterford (including recently featured Tramore which is just 20 mins away). It's named after the year the original Faithlegg House was built, and is perfect for afternoon cocktails in the bay windows, pre-dinner apertifs, post-dinner digestifs, all of the above. The new cocktail menu takes inspiration from the stories, surroundings and figureheads of the house over the years, and showcases Irish ingredients from nearby, like Micil Poitín, Glendalough gin, Clashganny organic apple juice and homemade elderflower syrup.
And to go with all of that? A bar bites menu from head chef Jenny Flynn, designed as a taste of the local region, featuring dishes like Mooncoin beetroot hummus with wild garlic oil and nori crackers; Kalamata olive tapenade with Knockanore cheese biscuits; and Ardcavan Dexter beef croquettes with horseradish cream. We're sending one of you off to Faithlegg House for an overnight stay with cocktails and bar bites in Bar 1783, and breakfast the next morning, and remember - we are always available as travel companions. (Not reedeemable on bank holidays)
3) A €100 voucher for Crow Street to celebrate Dining Week
Next Tuesday sees the start of 'Dining Week', powered by Early Table, and we've got a €100 voucher to give away for Crow Street in Temple Bar to celebrate. Dining week runs from Tuesday 19th - Thursday 28th April and is a great excuse to eat out (as if we needed any more), with 25% off the food bill at loads of restaurants around town (and nationwide) when booked through Early Table, including Crow Street, Hen's Teeth, Charlotte Quay and Dillinger's to name a few. A €1 charity donation will also be added to each bill for St Vincent de Paul. Vist the dining week website to see who's involved and book your table.
4) Food & cocktail pairings for four at Curated by Karen, Roe & Co Distillery
We've featured the chef pop ups at Roe & Co Distillery in Dublin 8 before, and now it's pastry chef Karen Smith's turn to step into the kitchen, for Ireland's first dessert and Irish whiskey tasting menu. Starting this weekend and running until the 24th of April, 'Curated by Karen' will feature a menu including Airfield Jersey milk ice-cream with nasturtium flowers; nettle & dandelion Intelligent Tea jelly; carrot cake with fennel meringue and ginger jelly; and a Valhrona dark chocolate and seaweed dome, paired with cocktails including a mango and hazelnut bellini, and a carrot cake milk punch. The menu costs €35pp, with optional cocktail pairings €30pp (you can book here), and we've got a table for four with food and drinks to give away to one of you this month.
5) Dinner for four with wine and beer from Salt & Vinegar, Rathfarnham
Salt & Vinegar in Rathfarnham opened in January in a blaze of smoked cod, fish fingers sandwiches and pints of prawns with lemon mayo. The guys behind it are Conor Kavanagh (ex-owner of Bresson) and Nicky Higgins (ex-manager of Allta and Fish Shop), and they opened the city's newest hipster chipper to deliver "the freshest, most delicious fish and chips in Ireland", with everything cooked to order. Katy McGuinness in the Irish Independent called it "quite possibly some of the best fish and chips in Dublin", and we're giving away a meal for four including a selection of starters, four mains with chips, sides and dips, plus three bottles of wine from Le Caveau (a crémant rosé, white and a magnum of red) and an 8-beer selection from Grand Cru that they've picked especially to match with seafood and chips. Summer evening dining sorted.
6) A celebration cake worth €100 from Cake Box
We recently featured Cake Box's stunning, floral-inspired Mother's Day cupcakes, and this month we've got a mega celebration cake to give away to one of you. Owner and master baker Marta Wincenty is going to make the winner a personalised celebration cake (15-18 servings) with edible flowers and delivery included (within Dublin), worth €100. Cake Box is based in Dublin 8 and Marta grows her own flowers for her creations, and forages others. She uses seasonal and local ingredients, a lot less sugar than commercial cakes, and she caters for allergies and vegans too. Everything is made from scratch, and she's all about classic, natural designs, using seasonal fruits, flowers and herbs, with no sugar fondant in sight. Check out her beautiful creations here.
7) A €100 voucher for Picnic Park, Malahide
One massive positive to come out of Covid was the increase in food trucks and outdoor dining in general, and Picnic Park in Malahide Marina is one of the best things to happen to the seaside village's food scene in years. We've waxed on about El Milagro's tacos (and if you haven't tried them what are you doing), but there's also Paddy's Pizza Pies serving the best Neapolitan pizza for miles around, and Puck Burger with their freshly made burgers and breakfasts - and a plant-based burger coming soon. Lick Ice-cream has just joined the party too so dessert is covered, and all of the food trucks offer click and collect - which is very handy if you're impatient. We've got a €100 voucher for Picnic Park to give away this month (spread across all vendors), so one of you can head down and enjoy seaside dining, twinkly lights and a bit of everything, and if you're northside beach bound this summer you know where to stop for food.
8) A €100 voucher for Sprout
Sprout were serving up flavour-packed, colour-filled salads long before it was cool, and recently they opened their largest location to date (as well as the first outside Dublin), in Kildare Village. To celebrate they've given us a €100 voucher to give away to one of you, which will easily cover lunch for four, including salads and warm bowls, cold pressed juices, speciality coffee and tumblers of wine. Watch your food being prepared in the open kitchen, with ingredients grown on their organic farm down the road at Rathcoffey, before tucking into their local seasonal menu. Read more about Sprout here.
9) Gin, glasses & passes to the new Gin School from Tribe Gin
There's a new small batch gin in town, and it's inspired by ingredients from the west of Ireland. Tribe Gin, founded by four friends and based in Galway, uses locally sourced seaweed and botanicals from the West coast, along with lemon, heather, cassia and cardamom in their blend, and soon they're going to open Galway's first gin school, in Salthill. Visitors will sample Tribe Gin, learn about how it's made, then get to work creating their own unique gin blend - which sounds like a great excuse for a visit to the 'City of the Tribes'. We've got a bottle of Tribe Gin, two glasses, and two passes for the soon to open gin school to give away this month, and if you need any inspiration on where to eat when you're there, check out six places you need to eat in Galway here.
Everyone signed up to ATF Insiders for April will be automatically entered into the prize draw. If you're not signed up yet join here and support independent content in Dublin and beyond, and get answers to all of your burning questions about eating out, here and abroad, directly from us.
