Chew The Fat

In this week's episode of Chew The Fat - our podcast sponsored by Marks & Spencer, celebrating 40 years in Ireland! - we're back in the big smoke, taking a table at one of Dublin's most eagerly-awaited new openings, Chimac on Aungier Street, Dublin.

Chimaek (치맥) is a South Korean institution, an industry that's been created from a pleasingly simple, classic combination of fried chicken and beer, but within there's a complex flavour pairing (crisp, spicy, sharp, soft, hoppy, yeasty, crunchy, refreshing) and something actually quite addictive. The phenomenon is seen across Seoul and beyond and began as little chicken shops serving beer alongside, the name being a portmanteau of the two very components: chikin (치킨) and maekju (맥주).

So how did a young couple from Dublin, who had never been to South Korea until a year or two ago come to open up a Korean-influenced fried chicken restaurant on arguably Dublin's restaurant highway right now? We sit down in-situ, a couple of weeks into their successful opening, to Chew The Fat with owners Garret Fitzgerald and Sofie Rooney. Partners in business and life, he runs the kitchen, she's in charge of operations and front of house. Together, they've got an incredibly fascinating story of how they got to where they are now and we hear it all.

From political upbringings to beer brewing, South Korea by way of San Francisco, we chat about free-range birds, the transformative power of serving frosé from a slushie machine, the agonising wait for this place to open and the unique artwork... oh, as well as how to perfect the perfect fried chicken too, in case you wanted to know!

Why is Chimac so good? Free-range chicken, brined, fried and then fried again to-order; fresh fries, never frozen; zingy, punchy flavours that don't taste like they're off-the-shelf, they taste homemade; and a growing selection of great drinks that complement perfectly the delicious bites. Listen in, then GO IN. Trust us, this is a new Dublin restaurant you do not want to miss. Even Korean customers have given it a thumbs up!

This week we take our tentative first steps into unknown territory – the gem of the northwest of Ireland, Co. Donegal. We're meeting the man who everyone is talking about right now: esteemed chef, celebrated restaurateur/hotelier and - now - an award-winning author, Chef Brian McDermott.

Chef-Proprietor of The Foyle Hotel in Moville, Co. Donegal and author of recently-awarded Best Cook Book in the World! Brian McDermott is helping not only put Donegal on the map in Ireland in terms of food and hospitality, but Donegal on the map internationally!

A commitment to seasonal, local Irish produce (particularly Inishowen, his hyper-local catchment area, and in particular those wild Atlantic waters at his doorstep), Chef Brian is a beacon in the Irish food industry for his candor, knowledge, skill and support. Near-fatal health scares have shaped his view on life and how he approaches his everyday, which bountifully abounds every time he opens his mouth and his warmth for people and passion for his 'Donegal Table' style of cookery is evident in every dish.

If you didn't know his name before, you're definitely going to remember it now.

NEW: We’re delighted to announce our wonderful sponsor for the next couple of episodes! You see, this is not just a podcast, this is Chew The Fat – presented by Russell Alford and Patrick Hanlon – and this is a Marks and Spencer-sponsored podcast. We’ve teamed up with this iconic retailer, who really needs no introduction, to tell the stories of fascinating people in food and beyond this summer as they celebrate 40 years in Ireland. Please show your support, as they support us! #ThisIsNotJust #ChewTheFat #MyMarksFave

We're on little Donegall Street in Belfast's city centre, standing outside a unit that's all stripped back, industrial yet craft-y and is an emporium of sorts, but the home of a particular cheese that's seemingly never off menu.

After a mini digesting break at the Chew The Fat table, we're back, we're eyeing up the cheese course and we're in our beloved Belfast once again. Not walking around the streets seeking out the best places to eat with Caroline Wilson (that was way back in series 1, remember?) This time we're in a fancy cheese shop, run by the Mike behind Mikes Fancy Cheese Co and arguably the man who has been mentioned in more episodes of Chew The Fat than any other person at this stage simply because of the stunning blue cheese he produces.

Michael Thomson is the man behind Young Buck –– arguably THE Irish cheese of the moment. It's the catchy name on everyone's lips, but the lingering flavour sating tastebuds with its intensely creamy, intensely saccharine linger that's styled on a Stilton, except better. He tells us he doesn't know where the 'Mike' in the moniker came from, as he was always called 'Michael' growing up, but, sure, here we are. He also tells us all about how he created the most in-demand cheese of the moment from practically nothing but a passion for cheesemaking. He explains where the name 'Young Buck' came from in a roundabout way. He tells us his ultimate cheese board picks. This episode is particularly delicious, if we do say so ourselves.

This raw cow's milk blue cheese is the stuff of phenomenon, appointing the finest menus of the best establishments across Ireland –– from Ox here in Belfast to Aimsir (listen to Jordan and Majken in a recent Chew The Fat episode too!) in Kildare. Maybe not what you'd expect from such an esteemed cheesemaker, Michael is a bundle of talkative energy (and a busy man with a fledgling shop and cheesemaking empire to run) so, kick back and listen to the guts of an hour with this absolute legend. You can find Michael at his MF Cheese Co website, Instagram and Twitter.

NEW: We're delighted to announce our wonderful sponsor for the next couple of episodes! You see, this is not just a podcast, this is Chew The Fat - presented by Russell Alford and Patrick Hanlon - and this is a Marks and Spencer-sponsored podcast. We've teamed up with this iconic retailer, who really needs no introduction, to tell the stories of fascinating people in food and beyond this summer as they celebrate 40 years in Ireland. Please show your support, as they support us! #ThisIsNotJust #ChewTheFat #MyMarksFave

Coffee is big business in Dublin. Actually, cafes are big business in Dublin. Can the capital sustain more coffee-slinging, casual, all-day spots? If they make 'em like the newly-opened Cloud Picker Cafe over and over, the capital can sustain them all for sure! In this week's episode of Chew The Fat, we sit down with Frank Kavanagh and Peter Sztal, owners of Cloud Picker Coffee and the new-on-the-scene Cloud Picker Cafe on Pearse Street, Dublin 2.

Sipping an espresso martini in a corner of the new cafe - all bare brick, stripped-back minimalism and elongated galley-style coffee bar with open kitchen at the back - we hear all about how Frank and Peter found the cafe of their dreams directly across the road from the cafe they used to run. The pair are well-known for being the brains, braun and the coffee muscle behind the Science Gallery's offering for the past number of years.

Having started as a roastery, the Cloud Picker pair have always wanted a cafe to call their own and as fate (or luck... or a combination of both) would have it – they stumbled upon that very space directly across the road.

Now with a bonafide, fledgling cafe, a huge roastery business (outgrowing their premises on the other side of the Liffey on Sheriff Street with export orders literally piling up) and also trying to navigate life and work as a couple, we managed to nab these two to get to know them a little better, chewing the fat in a quiet corner of what is Dublin's most exciting new cafe and newest coffee destination.

If you wish to help support us with the costs of making this podcast:

Buy us a coffee

We've wanted this woman on Chew The Fat a long time and we're delighted to spend this episode of our podcast Chew The Fat getting to know Birgitta Hedin-Curtin of Burren Smokehouse that little bit better and sharing her story with everyone. A notable feature and indeed a veritable force within the Irish food industry, Swedish-born and Lisdoonvarna-based Birgitta Hedin-Curtin started Burren Smokehouse with her husband Peter in a small town along Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way in 1989. Fast forward to today and Birgitta is one of the most prominent, vocal, passionate food producers in all the land, having brought the traditional smoking and curing techniques of her Swedish upbringing and applying it to the freshest fish here on the rugged coast of the west of Ireland.

If you're in the Irish food industry, you already know Birgitta (or you should, at least) but more importantly if you're not part of the industry, this is someone you need to get to know. Birgitta's passion for Ireland, Irish produce, Irish culture, Irish tourism and Ireland having potential as a key player on the world stage is infectious and inspiring. So, sit back and get to know this wonderful woman who we adore and we learn from every time we speak to her...

If you wish to help support us with the costs of making this podcast:

Buy us a coffee

Making this podcast is a lot of fun- we get to spend time with people we find fascinating, people we have great respect and admiration for, and people who make us smile. Sheena Dignam (Galway Food Tours) is all three. Founder and tour guide extraordinaire, you will see Sheena out and about in Galway town showing locals and visitors what and where to eat in one of Ireland's best culinary hot spots right now. We sit down over a glass of bubbles to learn more about Sheena, her life and her love of Galway and beyond.

We wrote about Sheena's tour here a few years back, as mentioned in the podcast . For more details on the Galway Food Tours, visit Sheena's website.

If you wish to help support us with the costs of making this podcast:

Buy us a coffee

Aimsir is a restaurant you will be hearing and reading a lot about over the coming months. But believe us, it's justified. One of the most anticipated new openings in quite some time, and finally, the doors are open. At the pass is Cornwall-born chef Jordan Bailey, former head chef at 3-star Michelin restaurant Maaemo in Oslo, and his Danish restaurant manager and sommelier wife Majken Bech-Bailey, who is not only exceptional in terms of service but is also a budding culinary alchemist herself with her already-iconic juice and alcohol-free pairings.

This husband and wife duo have made Ireland their home, but also embarked on a 15 month mission to travel across as much of the country, sourcing the best ingredients for their ultimate fine-dining experience. Every dish you will have is Irish, through and through (except sugar... for now), so truly it's Ireland on a plate.

Though we interviewed Jordan and Majken the day after their opening night, we knew something incredibly special and unique was emerging from the culinary cocoon and we had a hunch that they were destined for serious accolade. Indeed, the team managed to achieve two Michelin stars within six months of opening.

Aimsir is considered, cutting-edge and clear in its vision. It's refined, resplendent and really deserving of all the praise lauded upon it –– but don't let our words do the talking, hear the story and vision of both co-owners (husband and wife Jordan Bailey and Majken Bech-Bailey) in this episode of Chew The Fat...

Aimsir is located at the Cliff At Lyons, Cellbridge Co. Kildare. Full details on the property can be found here. To make a booking at Aimsir, visit their website, but be warned they operate a waiting list that opens monthly for following months, and sells out in mere seconds each month. Believe us, it is an experience worth tryings, so do everything you can to get to experience this.

If you wish to help support us with the costs of making this podcast:

Buy us a coffee

Anna Haugh is a truly wonderful example of an Irish-born Londoner, having spent the guts of the past two decades in the city, it's safe to say she's made her mark on the restaurant scene.. but not as a restaurant owner, until now!

Following tenures in the kitchens of the Gordon Ramsay Group, then a stint as Head Chef of Soho's iconic Bob Bob Ricard, plus starring, recurring turns on BBC's Saturday Kitchen and Royal Recipes, Anna Haugh is becoming a household name in the UK – and is Ireland pulling up the rear with that? Now for the first time, she's going solo as she opens her own restaurant from scratch. Myrtle, named after Myrtle Allen, the late founder of Ballymaloe Cookery School, opens May 2019, and will showcase Irish ingredients in a modern European style.

For this episode of Chew The Fat, we sit down in Anna's London home for a proper chat about her ideas, her culinary adventures over the years and her ambitions for this long-awaited, incredibly exciting new venture.

We spoke to Anna a few years ago for an interview on the blog which you can read here. Check out more about Myrtle on their website, and be sure to follow Anna on Twitter and Instagram too.

Anna will also be appearing at Guinness X Meatopia in Dublin in July 2019! Full details here.

Listen to Chew The Fat on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play Music and Stitcher

If you wish to help support us with the costs of making this podcast:

Buy us a coffee

Follow Jess on Twitter and Instagram and check out Kai's website (and menu!) | You can also find Jess' Irish Times features and recipes here

Listen to Chew The Fat on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play Music and Stitcher

If you wish to help support us with the costs of making this podcast:

Buy us a coffee

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