Search Results for 'Hell's Kitchen'

Alan Willliams was born in the heart of the traditional music area that is Doolin/Lisdoonvarna in County Clare. He is one of five children and grew up on a farm. One of his early influences was his grandmother, who regularly cooked his favourite meal of bacon and cabbage. They had five gardens, they killed their own pigs, and were self sufficient in many respects. This seems to be a common thread with good chefs, honest home grown food from an early age.

I may be wrong, but I get the impression that the adoration being heaped on certain chefs may be starting to wane. Perhaps it is the recession; perhaps it is the stories of Gordon Ramsay’s empire in disarray, or perhaps we are just sick of them. I am all for promoting better cooking, better eating, and buying the best local produce, but realistically how many people actually ever cook anything they see demonstrated on television? It is a bit like watching reality TV, except you are watching someone cook rather than wander about a house.

I had been for dinner at The West in Barna shortly after it opened and as I have been noticing that the awards were starting to pile up — particularly for the wine list — I decided that another visit was in order. I chose what I thought would be a quiet Wednesday night (it turned out to be packed) and we were seated at a window table. As the views are not part of the attraction the emphasis is on lots of exotic lighting and more candles than would light a cathedral. The décor really suits an evening meal and with winter approaching it is a perfect ambience to detract from the misery outside.