The Sunday Times April 3, 2022 21Travel Ireland
Museum of
Decorative Arts
and HistoryMuseum of
Decorative Arts
and HistoryWinding Stair
Bookshop & CaféWinding Stair
Bookshop & CaféChapter OneChapter OneTemple B arTrinity College
Library StreetSt Stephen’s
GreenBrindle
Coffee & WineSt Patrick’s
CathedralZanzibar
LockeRiver (^) Lif
fey
¼ mile
tucked away on a side street
between College Park and St
Stephen’s Green, is the latest
addition to the Michelin guide,
bringing the city’s total to 33
entries, five of which share
seven stars (mains from £24;
librarystreet.ie).
“When I started cooking
you only had a choice of two,
maybe three top restaurants
to work in,” he says. “Now
the choice is incredible, and
they’re all quite different from
each other. You have chefs like
Barry FitzGerald at Bastible
shooting from the hip with
dishes such as lacquered sea
trout or pickled mussels.” He
stands in contrast to Simon
Barrett and Liz Matthews with
their rustic Mediterranean
influences at their pair of
restaurants, Etto and Uno
Mas — and at an even further
remove from Dublin’s more
traditional pub stews.
On the night we ate at
Library Street, we spied Burke
in the kitchen, spinning his
own compelling culinary yarn.
Judging from the minimalist
but lively dining room and the
inventive dishes we shared
— a highlight was the crispy
chicken wing stuffed with
mushroom mousse — it’s only
a matter of time before Dublin
has another Michelin star.
Of course you don’t just
come to Dublin to eat (though
in terms of appetite creation,
it’s a good thing the city centre
is so walkable). We had some
art and culture to fit in too
— first at the Museum of
Decorative Arts and History,
in an 18th-century converted
barracks (free; museum.ie).
Browsing round the
permanent collection felt like
rifling through an eccentric
rich uncle’s belongings:
everything from a 10th-
century wooden four-handled
communal drinking cup to an
old hurdy-gurdy. More moving
was the exhibition — on until
December next year — by the
Northern Ireland-based artist
Alison Lowry. (A)Dressing Our
Hidden Truths, inspired by the
Magdalene Laundries mother
and baby homes scandal,
includes an installation of
nine glass christening robes
suspended in darkened rooms
as a recording recites the 796
names of children missing,
presumed dead, from a home
in Tuam, Co Galway. It was a
spectral, haunting memorial.
We found a glass memorial
of a different kind at the
magnificent 800-year-old
St Patrick’s Cathedral, where
the 19th-century stained-glass
windows tell the story of the
saint himself (you have to read
the panels bottom to top).
They have been beautifully
restored and are an uplifting
sight, even for those of us who
are devoutly nonreligious (£7;
stpatrickscathedral.ie).
The cathedral made a good
starting point for a game of
real-life RightMove, as we
explored the desirable
Southside Portobello
neighbourhood. Quiet side
streets lined with handsome
Victorian townhouses and
attractive mid-century
terraces led us to Brindle
Coffee & Wine for an excellent
brew near the Grand Canal
(brindlecoffeewine.com) and
to the next-door Lennox Street
Grocer to choose a bottle of
wine from fashionable
European producers
(lennoxstreet.ie).
As we wandered back
towards the river just before
midday, the city was already
changing into its weekend glad
rags. Crossing the street near
Trinity College, we passed
a smiling young newlywed
couple, both dressed in ivory
with matching buttonhole and
bouquet. A party bike pedalled
its way past the Irish Houses
of Parliament, its revellers
singing along to Sean Paul.
In Temple Bar a gang of
Hawaiian-shirted lads strode
down Fleet Street in search,
no doubt, of the craic.
We, though, were after
something more sedate than
an Irish pub for our lunchtime
stop. We ducked out of the
increasingly busy streets and
into the charming Winding
Stair Bookshop & Café. The
sun streamed into the quiet
book-filled room where older,
literary-looking types sat deep
in conversation over their
food. Our silky chowder was
packed with Irish seafood
and chorizo made in Co Cork;
our glasses were filled with a
good-value viognier (mains
from £19; winding-stair.com).
It was another example of
everything that’s right about
Dublin’s eclectic food scene.
And we’d not even had a drop
of Guinness.
Andy Lynes was a guest of the
Zanzibar Locke aparthotel,
which has studio doubles from
£100 (lockeliving.com). For
more information see
tourismireland.com
GUINNESS
DUBLIN
BEYOND THE
In terms
of appetite
creation,
it’s a good
thing the
city centre
is so
walkable
With seven Michelin stars now under its belt, the Irish capital is
becoming quite the foodie force to reckon with, says Andy Lynes
St Patrick’s Cathedral; dishes at Library Street, top;
the city from above; the bar at Zanzibar Locke, below
I
f a soup course arrives
as a red pill, you know
you’re in for an
extraordinary dinner.
I thought I would be. I’d
long ago booked into Chapter
One, on an elegant square in
Dublin’s Northside, having
heard the foodie buzz around
its Swedish-born chef, Mickael
Viljanen. When it picked up
two Michelin stars in February
I felt vindicated. And when
I cracked into that red pill,
releasing its liquid borscht
centre of thrilling intensity,
I felt happier still.
Chapter One does fine
dining but with an Irish sense
of humour — Viljanen has been
in Dublin for 22 years, long
enough to become “Mick” to
his friends. So no one minded
when I mopped up the
aromatic shellfish sauce that
had come with a spiced lobster
tail. “You’re making me
nervous,” the suave general
manager, Danny Desmond,
told my wife, who was daintily
picking at a flaky brioche roll.
“Just have at it!”
Chapter One (four courses
£113; chapteronerestaurant.
com) is in fact the latest
chapter in Dublin’s food story.
“Dublin’s restaurant scene
has really taken off in a huge
way over the past five years,”
says the chef Kevin Burke,
who was born in the city. His
Library Street restaurant,
CHRISTOPHER HILL, TUUL AND BRUNO MORANDI//ALAMY; NAOISE CULHANE; ANDREW CAMPION