Search Results for 'James McGeogh'

There was an amazing sense of nostalgia as I had dinner in this relatively new restaurant on the main street in Loughrea. The building was originally a private house owned by the O’Loughlin family and on many, many, nights in the early seventies I practised all my best moves and chords as we played hits by people like Rory Gallagher, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, and many more in what we thought was the best rock band on the planet. The band had the rather unusual name of Skab Law. How the neighbours put up with the deafening levels of guitars and drums is a credit to their tolerance.

You may be wondering where is the Gallery Restaurant in Furbo? It is part of the Connemara Coast Hotel, and the reason that I have separated it out from the hotel name is that I think it needs special consideration. My memory of the Connemara Coast Hotel goes back to the days of Teach Furbo, and I am sure many readers have a similar association. That’s a long time ago and things have moved on drastically since those days. It is now a four-star hotel with a massive repeat business fom Irish people and a great reputation for excellent wedding receptions and functions. Many visitors book their next year’s holiday as they leave, similar to Kelly’s in Rosslare. The dining room is a large part of the attraction and to some extent is a well kept secret in the locality.

This is the title of the best book ever written about our famous Irish oysters. It was launched in 2004 and immediately won a very coveted prize at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. In 2005 it was named Food Book of the Year by Food and Wine magazine. So why do I bring this to your attention? The reason is simple, I met the author Máirín Uí Chomáin recently and after a brief conversation I realised that she had written an Irish cookery book which I had been unaware of — shame on me.

“Christmas dinner is the most important dinner of the year,” says Ray Colleran, third generation butcher in the city’s Mainguard Street. “And this year it’s more important than ever.” I was challenging Ray on the price of turkeys. One international supermarket chain is selling frozen geese for €25, how can they do that?