Cafe society

It has been a tough year for restaurateurs, but those that moved with the times have survived and even prospered, writes CATHERINE CLEARY

I THINK 2010 WILL go down as a year when Irish restaurants got better. It has been a brutal and testing year of ash clouds, snow clouds and the constant drip of toxic news.

Those whale customers, as Anthony Bourdain called them, with their five figure wine bills, have been beached, their expense accounts dribbling away like so much rotting blubber.

Instead, flocks of early birds have been driving prices down, trimming the fat from every operation and wrecking the heads of chefs and suppliers trying to keep margins in double figures. There is no doubt that some of the country’s restaurants are operating at a loss, backed by deep-pocketed investors and hopes for an upturn ahead.

Suppliers are taking cash only in return for boxes of food or signing up their clients to direct debit payments. And yet the end result for all the sleepless nights has been a better choice for diners. If you were lucky enough to still be able to afford to eat out this year, restaurant land was a transformed landscape. Gone was the guffaw down the phone when you rang for a table, in came infinitely better service, exciting new startups and, in many cases, better food on the plates.

The robust optimism of the Irish food community has meant that falling rents, especially in Dublin, spawned new openings. We finally saw the birth of good Irish gastropub food in places such as L Mulligan Grocer in Dublin’s Stoneybatter and Fallon’s Bar and Cafe in Kilcullen, Co Kildare. Impressive sister operations such as Locks Brasserie in Portobello, the Cliff Townhouse on Stephen’s Green, Ranelagh’s The Butcher Grill and down the road Kinara Kitchen opening a southside location, helped to keep the lights lit in key locations.

New neighbourhood cafes, such as Bibi’s on Emorville Avenue in Dublin 8, brought life and gossipy lunches to previously quiet streets. And in Howth, The House’s jazz nights, and good-value menus pulled the crowds. There were reinventions for Dylan McGrath, moved on from Mint to pack out Rustic Stone, and Conrad Gallagher, who branched out west with Conrad’s Kitchen in Sligo.

In Donegal, Harry’s Restaurant in Brigend proved that if you cook it well they will come. In Galway, Sheridan’s on the Docks sadly closed in May, but there are hopes that Seamus Sheridan will keep the crew together and open in a new location. In Kinsale, Martin Shanahan’s Fishy Fishy restaurant thrived. Georgina Campbell gave The Fatted Calf in the Westmeath village of Glasson her newcomer of the year award. And Waterford got a Michelin star for the Cliffhouse Hotel restaurant, giving the county a trio of talent with Paul Flynn’s Tannery in Dungarvan and O’Brien’s Chop House in Lismore.

So that was 2010, and what of the days ahead? In the immediate future it’s a week of Sundays thanks to the weekend timing of Christmas and New Year. It may be a long, pyjama-clad lull between blowouts for some. But for many it’s a busy shopping and social time. Here are my picks of the locations that are open in those in-between days, listed according to appropriate seasonal activity.

SHOPPING

In Dublin, Cornucopia, the vegetarian restaurant in Wicklow Street, is open from Tuesday, December 28th. Hearty and tasty plates of food served canteen style. The French bistro L’Gueleton on Fade Street is also open on Tuesday (28th), Wednesday (29th) and Thursday (30th). In Cork, The Bodega (the locals pronounce it Bodeega) in St Peter’s Market opens its doors on Stephen’s Day for eager shoppers and is open the rest of the week. Denis Cotter’s Café Paradiso will reopen for dinner on the 29th and 30th and lunch and dinner on New Year’s Eve. In Galway, shoppers can try the new seafood bar at Kirwan’s Lane Restaurant in the city’s Latin Quarter. Owned by Michael O’Grady of O’Grady’s on the Pier at Barna, the restaurant is open from Wednesday, December 29th.

PANTO/ICE SKATING

Yo Sushi is open all week, starting on Monday December 27th on Clarendon Street in Dublin. It’s midway between the Gaiety and the Olympia and a good one for kids, as long as you can keep small hands from grabbing too many of the pricier plates off the conveyor belt. O’Connells in the former Madigans bar in Donnybrook is great for a family feed after ice-skating in the RDS. It is open all week for lunch and dinner from Tuesday, December 28th.

GET-TOGETHER WITH FRIENDS

Ely Gastropub on Grand Canal Square is the only one of the three Ely venues open during next week. It’s open for lunch at noon on Wednesday, December 29th and Thursday, December 30th. The Butcher Grill at 92 Ranelagh Village (the old Burritos’n’Blues) is open all week from Monday. The wonderful Indian restaurant Rasam above the Eagle House in Glasthule is also open all week for dinner, from Monday, December 27th. The Sussex, over O’Brien’s Pub on Leeson Street, a great new restaurant, is also open for lunch and dinner all week, starting Monday.

THE FAMILY GATHERING

The Cliff Townhouse on St Stephen’s Green in Dublin is open from Tuesday, December 28th. And its big sister in Waterford, The Cliffhouse Hotel, is open from Monday. Paul and Maire Flynn’s Tannery in Dungarvan is open for dinner every night from Tuesday, December 28th through to New Year’s Eve and on New Year’s Day.

Twitter.com/catherineeats