Showing posts with label Ali Honour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ali Honour. Show all posts

Sunday, October 9, 2022

Ali Magic The Extra Ingredient In Sketch Menu At Imperial. πŸŽ‰πŸŽ‰πŸŽ‰


Chef Ali Magic

Extra Ingredient On Sketch Menu

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Brunch and lunch customers at Sketch in the Imperial Hotel can expect some delicious surprises in the weeks and months ahead. The menu was always attractive but now you can add in the Ali Honour contribution, the X factor that the well-known chef displayed in abundance at her city centre venue Ali’s Kitchen.  


Ali has just been appointed Executive Head Chef at the Imperial. The comfortable and eye-catching Sketch was the venue last Friday for a media preview of what to expect, an event that also marked the first birthday of Sketch. 

Hash Royal with Goatsbridge trout


“That year has flown by,” said enthusiastic GM Bastien Peyraud as he welcome his guests for the lunchtime tasting. My highlight from the menu was the Hash Royal featuring Goatsbridge Trout with Potato, Poached Egg and Hollandaise sauce, all in its own saucepan! 



On their already famous birdcage (used mostly for Afternoon Tea) came a Savoury French Toast (with Creamy Mushrooms, Spinach and Gruyere). And then there was the Cork Monsieur, Ali’s take on the iconic French snack with the superb O’Connell ham, BΓ©chamel and Gruyere. Local produce is be supported on the new menu and next up was the Corn Fritter with Pea PurΓ©e, Mint Yoghurt and Ardsallagh Feta.

Anyone for steak?


The finish was quite a delight. The Toffee Apple Chia Pot was quite the treat, a well judged combination of the toffee and the crunchy apple itself. And I lingered long over the other dessert, the Sweet French Toast with seasonal compote, vanilla mascarpone and hazelnut crumble. I may well be ordering that again next time I’m in (which will be soon!).

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We had a lovely start as well with an alcohol free Cocktail and an Ardsallagh Crispy Goats Cheese with Romesco, an amuse bouche that certainly engaged the taste-buds, alerting them ready for the delight to come.

The Cork Monsieur. O’Connell’s Ham, Bechamel, Gruyere


Ali herself came out for a chat and she didn’t let us go away empty handed, everyone happy to head off into the afternoon sunshine with one of her renowned Cinnamon Buns. Went down well at home with a late afternoon coffee!


For info on Sketch, including opening times and contact details, please click here 

Brunch Bowl
Poached Egg, Hummus, Tenderstem Broccoli, Quinoa, Roast Peppers, Onions,
Sweet Potato, Salad, Herb Dressing
Dining out in Ireland? Cork in particular. Check out our up to date reviews here
Restaurants, cafΓ©s, and trucks included.

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Monday, October 3, 2022

Celebrating 1 year of Sketch in the City as New Executive Head Chef Ali Honour joins the Imperial Team

 Celebrating 1 year of Sketch in the City! 

New Executive Head Chef Ali Honour joins the Imperial Team just in time to

launch an exciting new brunch menu as part of Sketch’s first birthday celebrations
Welcome from GM Bastien Peyraud and new
Executive Head Chef Ali Honour.

Events planned for the birthday weekend include a live music brunch on Saturday 8th October and a yoga brunch on Sunday 9th October!

Cork’s Grande Dame, the Imperial Hotel, is celebrating this October as they mark one year since the launch of their vibrant cocktail hot spot Sketch, which was recently voted as one of the top cocktail bars in the city. The venue faces onto the newly pedestrianised Pembroke Street, off the South Mall.



The award-winning luxury boutique hotel has also announced the appointment of their new Executive Head Chef, Ali Honour, who is well known in Cork foodie circles, and an exciting new brunch menu.

In the first 12 months since opening, Sketch has become a place to be seen in the city, with its elegant interiors, Instagram walls, sumptuous food sharing platters and
bespoke cocktails, made with fresh ingredients by inhouse mixologists. Sketch offers
both style and substance with its strong focus on local ingredients, delicious food and
sustainability which informs everything that goes on the menus.



The appointment of Ali Honour (formerly of popular Cork eatery Ali’s Kitchen) to the position of Executive Head Chef at Sketch and The Imperial Hotel is exciting news on the Cork food scene and represents a strategic new direction for the hotel. Hotel GM Bastien Peyraud, who took over the role two years ago, has put a strong focus on the hotel as a stand-alone dining and social destination that serves quality local, sustainable food.

“We want to become known for heartfelt food in the heart of the city and this is exactly what Ali creates, so we are very excited to announce her appointment. Our new food direction will include more homemade comfort foods packed with flavour, which modern diners crave when eating out, while still maintaining the style and
sophistication you would expect from a luxury boutique hotel.”



A new brunch menu will launch in time for the one-year celebrations at Sketch.
Jampacked with flavoursome treats the menu will include Sweet French Toast with
seasonal compote, vanilla mascarpone and hazelnut crumble or a Savoury French toast topped with creamy mushrooms, spinach, and gruyere cheese. 

If poached eggs are your idea of peak brunch yumminess, then try the Corn Fritters which come with avocado, poached egg, chilli and coriander dressing. Or opt for the Brunch Bowl which has poached egg, hummus, tenderstem broccoli, quinoa, roast peppers, onions, sweet potato, salad and a herb dressing. 


Putting a local twist on a classic the Cork Monsieur Toastie has O’Connells baked ham, bechamel and gruyere. Another toastie option is the Kimchi and Cheese Vegan Toastie. For meat lovers the steak sandwich with fries is sure to appeal, the sandwich features a 6oz sirloin, onions garlic butter, focaccia, lettuce, and tomato. The final menu item is a delicious, spiced lamb flatbread with Ardsallagh feta, mint, yoghurt, mango chutney, salad, tomato and onion. 

The Imperial has also organised two fabulous, brunch events on the weekend of 8th/9th October to showcase the new menu. On the 8 th October from 12-4pm, Sketch will. add live music to their Saturday brunch featuring Cork pop singer Aine Carroll who was contestant on season 5 of The Voice UK.



A ‘Stretch at Sketch’ yoga brunch will take place on Sunday 9th at 11am. Tickets cost €59 an it includes an energising morning with a health shot from the Imperial's head chef Ali, a 45-minute yoga class with yogi Val from Soul Retreats Cork and After the workout guests will enjoy 3-courses of gorgeous fresh local produce from the new Brunch menu at Sketch (vegan and vegetarian catered for), and attendees will be given an energy ball to take home. This event is suitable for all levels of experience. Must bring your own mat.

Brunch with live music on Saturday or the Stretch at Sketch event can be booked
http://imperial-hotel.tablepath.com/ Bastien continued; “We are thrilled to celebrate a hugely successful first year and are excited to continue to elevate and innovate both our food and cocktail offering. I think the appointment of Ali to the Executive Head Chef role will bring a lot of passion, creativity, and flavour to the table. 


Our commitment to sustainability informs everything we do, and she genuinely shares that ethos, making it a great fit. As a leader Ali prides herself on bringing the whole culinary team along on the journey, whether it’s encouraging creativity in terms of designing new dishes or offering ongoing training to upskill everyone in the kitchen to help them progress in their career and allow individual talents to blossom.”

Find Sketch @ The Imperial Hotel on instagram.com/sketchcorkcity. For bookings
use the Table Path booking feature http://imperial-hotel.tablepath.com/ . The events must be pre-booked.

Press release

Monday, May 5, 2014

Afternoon of food, fun and Hope

Afternoon of food, fun and Hope.

We enjoyed ourselves at Ballyseedy (Cobh Cross) yesterday as part one of the Hope Foundation's Eat4StreetKids ended on an enjoyable note. Amateur cooks of all ages brought their sugar and spice dishes - mainly sugar! - to the Bakestone Cafe where judges Lilly Higgins, Joe McNamee, Ali Honour, Gautham Iyers and Christine Girault had the tough (?) task of picking a winner.

While they were deciding, we were royally entertained by a lady originally from the southside of Chicago, Karen Underwood. Karen was delighted to help out and indeed put in a tremendous session.

Then came the judges’ decisions and there were quite a few prizes awarded. But really, all entrants were winners on the day, all willing to put in the effort, just like Karen Underwood and the judges themselves, to help out the underprivileged kids of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta).

We all got a chance to sample the food and must admit that my favourite was the Donkey’s Wedding Cake! Quite an afternoon and indeed, I was a winner myself, picking up a hamper of the famous Clonakilty Black Pudding in the raffle.  I think the only thing I missed out on was the bouncy castle!

The fund-raising for the Kolkata kids goes on and the focus this month switches to participating local restaurants and their customers. There are a number of options for both. One suggests either the customer or the restaurant adding fifty cent for Hope to the bill and another suggests the customer posts a picture of a dish to Twitter or Facebook and the restaurant pays the fifty cent.

Check it all out here or contact organiser Maggie Hogan at maggie@hopefoundation.ie or 021 4292990