Frank and Paul apparently looking just a bit too ‘edgy’ for the Irish Independent
In Saturday’s Irish Independent John and Sally McKenna, authors of the new ‘Bridgestone 100 Best Guides to Ireland,’ presented readers with their “Irish Top Ten” favourite places to eat and stay which included our own An Cruibin. Here is what they had to say…
Only in Cork would you get a restaurant as funky, surreal and inspired as An Cruibin. This smart newcomer fits like a glove in this city of idiosyncratic cooks, and you won’t find food like the cooking in the Silk Purse restaurant anywhere else.
If you had your favourite tapas bar from Barcelona re-styled by a hip designer and then dropped down by the River Lee, An Cruibin is what you would get. A whole new way of being a Celt.
Following upon the enjoyable evening last October when Paco Guzman came to the Silk Purse restaurant and cooked some of his signature Catalan dishes with Irish ingredients, Paul and Frank completed the food exchange by going to Barcelona to serve up a Patrick’s day feast in Paco’s restaurant Santa…
Begining their trip with a visit to the atelier of Josep Abril, Paul and Frank arranged to take some of the impeccible catalan style home with them. Abril also organised some uniforms for the staff of Santa to wear during the event, including some green bandanas for the Irish and Spanish Chefs alike…
Paco then organised for Paul, Frank and the staff of his restaurants Santa and Santa Maria to descend upon a traditional Bodega to sample some of the more regional wines Spain has to offer such as Galician and Catalan riojas…
A luncheon of olives, squid, artichoke hearts and numerious other dishes was had in an unassuming tapas bar that was filled with deep rolling laughter, clouds of smoke and a Frenchman filled with the affirmation of Catalan living…
All that remained was for the Chefs-on-Tour to serve up a feast in Santa restaurant. The menu for the evening was:
Salmón salvaje irlandés ahumado con mantequilla y especies.
Bollo de algas y berros irlandés.
Mejillones con puerros, panceta y crema.
Cabeza de cerdo y el pudín negro con salvia y cebolla.
Cordero guisado tradicional con la cebada, zanahorias, patatas y Beamish!
Queso fresco de cabra Irsish con manzana y galletas de avena.
Postre especial, Bram Stoker (escritor irlandés de Drácula), versión de su Drácula, con crema a base de algas irlandesas
Feast your eyes upon this video of the proceedings…
Last week, while Paul and Frank were occupied in the kitchen of Paco Guzman’s resturant, Pol agus Proinsias enjoyed the spoils of everyday life in Barcelona. Who knows where they’ll find themselves next??
