Les Gourmandises the big winners at Munster Restaurants Awards

Top Restaurants in Munster Announced at Santa Rita Irish Restaurants Awards

www.irishrestaurantawards.com

The Munster Regional Final for the Restaurant Awards 2012 sponsored by Santa Rita / Sunday Independent Life Magazine took place in The Imperial Hotel, Tuesday 3^rd April 2012.

Speaking at the awards last night, Adrian Cummins of the Restaurants Association of Ireland said

‘Since their inception, the Irish Restaurant Awards have cast a spotlight on Ireland’s hottest restaurants and chefs. They have become a byword for quality, class and achievement… The awards everyone wants to win. As a testament to their success, the entries have doubled since last year, with 5,000 nominations made for Ireland’sfavourite Restaurants, Chefs, Gastro Pubs, Hotel Restaurants and Local Food Heroes throughout the Country.

We celebrate the award winning cuisines and the great restaurateurs and chefs who have brought international recognition and accolades to the Irish restaurant scene.  We are the economic engine rooms in every town in Ireland, creating and maintaining much needed local employment.  Our industry has annual sales in excess of €2 billion and we employ 64,000 people.  In fact, we are the largest employer within the Irish Tourism Sector. And tonight, everyone is a winner’.

It was great to see  over 240 restaurateurs attend  the awards in the Ulster region this year., we look forward to seeing all of the Ulster County Winners in Dublin on the 14thMay 2012 where Regional and All Ireland winners will be announced’.

Nominations for the awards were made by readers of the Sunday Independent Life Magazine and members of the Restaurants Association of Ireland. All nominees are then assessed by Regional Judging panels, made up of Industry experts across the region.  Votes from the Consumer, Members of the Restaurants Association of Ireland and the Regional Judges are independently assessed by KPMG who give us our County Winner in each category.

All County winners will now compete for the Regional and All Ireland Title which will be announced at the Irish Restaurant Awards in the Burlington Hotel Dublin on Wednesday 14^th May 2012.www.irishrestaurantawards.com . 
There are 3 components to phase two of the process. Each element is independently assessed by KPMG.

1. Mystery Guest Visit (35%) This component of the awards is conducted by Prism Consulting headed by Hugo Arnold, independent food writer and consultant. (http://www.hugoarnold.com). All County Winners receive a mystery guest visit throughout the month of April.

2. National Awards Academy (55%) Our National Awards Academy is made up representatives from each of the regional judging panels and will meet in May to Judge the County Winners.

3. Menu Judging (10%) All County winners and the Dublin Shortlist in each category are asked to submit a copy of their food menu and wine list for judging.

COUNTY	CUSTOMER   SERVICE
CLARE	TOWN HALL   BISTRO
WATERFORD	ATHENAEUM   HOUSE
TIPPERARY	THE FAIRWAYS   BAR
LIMERICK	THE MUSTARD   SEED
KERRY	JACKS   COASTGUARD STATION
CORK	ISAACS   RESTAURANT
COUNTY	GASTROPUB -   SPONSORED BY FAUSTINO
CLARE	THE ROADSIDE   TAVERN
WATERFORD	JACK MEADES
TIPPERARY	LARKINS
LIMERICK	THE LOCK BAR
KERRY	SPILLANES BAR
CORK	THE WOODFORD
COUNTY	CASUAL DINING   - SPONSORED JOSEPH DROUHIN
CLARE	L'ARCO
WATERFORD	MCLEARY'S
TIPPERARY	CAFE HANS
LIMERICK	LA CUCINA
KERRY	SOL Y SOMBRA
CORK	NASH 19
COUNTY	HOTEL   RESTAURANT
CLARE	THE LONG ROOM   @ THE LODGE DOONBEG
CORK	LONGUEVILLE   HOUSE
KERRY	CELLAR ONE   RESTAURANT @ THE ROSS HOTEL
LIMERICK	THE OAKROOM   RESTAURANT @ ADARE MANOR
TIPPERARY	THE OLD   CONVENT
WATERFORD	THE MUNSTER   ROOM@ WATERFORD CASTLE
COUNTY	BEST CHEF -   SPONSORED BY TIPPERARY WATER
CLARE	WADE MURPHY	THE LODGE AT   DOONBEG
CORK	PAT KIELY	LES   GOURMANDISES
KERRY	NOEL ENRIGHT	THE CHART   HOUSE
LIMERICK	MARK DONOHUE	ADARE MANOR
TIPPERARY	DERMOT GANNON	THE OLD   CONVENT
WATERFORD	MICHAEL QUINN	WATERFORD   CASTLE
COUNTY	RESTAURANT-   SPONSORED BY SANTA RITA
CLARE	THE WILD   HONEY INN
CORK	LES   GOURMANDISES
KERRY	CHAPTER 40   RESTAURANT
LIMERICK	CORNSTORE   RESTAURANT
TIPPERARY	BROCKA ON THE   WATER
WATERFORD	O'BRIEN CHOP   HOUSE
MUNSTER WINE   EXPERIENCE	HAYFILED   MANOR, CO. CORK
MUNSTER KIDS   SIZE ME	THE STONE   CUTTERS KITCHEN, CO. CLARE

Les Gourmandises. 1er classe!

Risotto

Les Gourmandises - 1er classe

It wasn’t a full house but the chef played a blinder at Les Gourmandises on Friday night. In terms of execution, presentation, taste, creativity and innovation, this was a masterclass, a feast for the eye as much as for the mouth. Exquisite.




CL is not really a Risotto person but her starter (Tomato and Basil Risotto, goat cheese beignet, olive oil and parmesan) captured and captivated her: “one of the best starters ever”. Tomato and Basil are a terrific combination and that came through here. Looked well and tasted really well.




I picked one of the specials: Prawns (shelled) in Filo Pastry with Mango Crème Fraiche and Mango jus. I’ve often had prawns in pastry before but this was in a class of its own. Five or six juicy prawns, all perfectly cooked, stood in the “pond” of gorgeous mango, one of my favourite exotic fruits. Used my hands all through the delicious demolition.

Monkfish Beignets with aubergine puree, tomato chutney and parsnip crisp was the main course that we both ordered. Served on a slate, it looked great. And rather substantial too as you can see from the picture, with three small bowls of beignets and puree and a dish of sautéed potatoes (each not much bigger than a marble) on the side.

Substantial or not, the slate was cleaned. Again, the fish was cooked to perfection and matched so well by the aubergine. By the way, those parsnip crisps weren't just for decoration! A lovely dish.

Now on to the dessert, where we took the sharing plate (sharing slate, really): Coconut panna cotta, Mango posset, chocolate gateau and chocolate crème brûlée. Perhaps a little too much chocolate for us at the end of a gorgeous meal but all perfectly done and very enjoyable indeed.

We picked from the €45.00 menu: three courses and also tea or coffee. We could have had two courses (without tea or coffee) for €38.50. There is an excellent wine list here, dominated by French producers. Just had one glass (7.00) of an un-oaked Beaujolais Chardonnay, Domaine des Nugues. Don’t think I’ve come across it before and it went very well indeed with my monkish.

Though I wouldn’t particularly like to be seated in the middle row, Les Gourmandises is generally quite a comfortable restaurant, with decent seating and well set tables. Service is pleasant, with a smile, and also with information freely volunteered to help you make a decision with your order.

Local suppliers include: Meat - John O'Flynn's & Sons, Marlboro Street
Fish - O’Connell’s, English Market
Shellfish de la Mer - Castletownbere, West Cork
Love Fish - Ballycotton, Co Cork
Springfield Organic Vegetables - Tipperary
Cheesemongers - Iago, English Market

LES GOURMANDISES: Premiere classe

LES GOURMANDISES

With recent Food & Wine kudos for both the chef and the sommelier, you’d have thought we were on a good thing when we visited Les Gourmandises at the weekend. Well, we were but we knew that even before the awards were announced as this Cook Street restaurant is, and has been for some time now, one of the very best in Cork.

Started with the Les Gourmandises tasting plate: Parsnip Soup, Black Pudding with Foie Gras and breaded John Dory with green puree. The Parsnip soup was delightful; the Black Pudding outshone the Foie Gras while the fish was spot on. A good start is half the battle.

Next up for me was the Roasted duck leg confit with confit potato and cherry. A beautiful piece of duck, so well cooked. It also looked fantastic, a tempting light colour, and it fell away from the bone at the slightest touch. Tasted as well as it looked, much better than similar efforts I ate in the Dordogne in the summer of 2010.

CL was also very happy with Fillet of Cod with Celeriac and Apple puree and mushrooms. The fish and puree combination was top class, every little bit welcomed onto the palate. We both got a side dish of sautéed potatoes, shaped into small globes, not much bigger than marbles (or glassy alleys, as we say around here).

We each had the same dessert: Red Berry Jelly and Lavender Panacotta, with a Lemon Madeleine. I’ve had some variation of this here previously. It was fresh and lively, a really smashing way to finish off a meal, the combination of sight and taste sending two happy customers on our way into the night.

We were on the Prix Fixe menu which is priced at €27.50 for two courses, €29.50 for three. Do the math and you’ll see that the dessert cost just two euro! Two glasses of Lombeline wine, one Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire, the other Syrah/Grenache from the Gard, brought the bill to €72.70.

No complaints with the wines, each was excellent. The following day, by chance, I spotted that The Wine Store sells the Sauvignon Blanc for €10.99 a bottle. The glass at Les Gourmandises is priced at €6.85. The Bridge Bar and Grill in Dublin internet site lists their glass price at €7.00, their bottle at €24.00. These would all seem to be rather large mark ups.

And the other thing about Irish restaurants selling wine by the glass is that you are rarely told how much wine is your glass, whereas in some European countries, Austria for example, you have the choice of one or two decilitres and, in some cases, the glass is marked.

Les Gourmandises

Les Gourmandises 

Delighted with my most recent visit to Les Gourmandises . Fine French Dining is printed on their card and it is no empty motto. They live up to it. Making your way through the courses here is an exercise in delicacy.

If you find yourself in

Les Gourmandises Restaurant in Cork

Different Class

Chocolate Brownie on a slate doesn’t promise much as a dessert but you should try it at Les Gourmandises Restaurant in 17 Cook Street. In fact, you should, I should, try everything at this different class establishment as there are pleasant ambushes in every course.
My starter last evening was mackerel on a red onion bed along with a goat’s cheese panacotta. The advisor had a tasting starter, samples of chicken liver parfait, prawns in filo and a cup of parsnip soup. Besides we both drew from the delicious fresh breads. A very promising opening.
Main course for me (like my starter) was the chef’s recommendation: ham hock moulded to a cylindrical shape, standing on a disc of smoked ham which in turn stood on a bed of Savoy Cabbage, the sauce being apple purée and sage. Well and originally presented and beautiful to eat.
The other main course was another brilliant dish: bream with aubergine purée and a cherry tomato and sage sauce. Gorgeous.
We each had the chef’s recommendation for dessert: a rice pudding, served with, on the side, caramelised banana and that smashing Chocolate Brownie! Just the thing to finish off a smashing meal and put you in the mood to call again.
There is decent selection of wines by glass, half bottle and full bottle. We compromised on the Puilly sur Loire, a crisp refreshing tingling Sauvignon Blanc with a mineral hint. Just the job!
By the way, quite a few of the meals are served on a slate which enables the chef to use his presentation artistry! And he does!
It doesn’t come cheap – three courses cost close to forty euro although there is a market menu for thirty euro.

Check out my review of Les Gourmandises Restaurant - I am cork - on Qype