Locks Brasserie Portobello

Happy Easter everyone!

It was a beautiful day here in Ireland.  In the morning, we walked in to the city with the dog and hung out in St Stephen's Green.  On the way in we met our neighbour who has got a new Shi Tzu - really cute dog called Lady!

We were booked in for lunch in to Locks Brasserie at 2.30pm so we picked up a Dublin Bike and cycled down the canal.  It was a nice short cycle.

We've been wanting to visit Locks for a long while so I was very happy to be eating here today.

This restaurant is so pretty and is in such a nice setting facing out on to the Grand Canal.

We chose from the 2/3 course set menu.  The other alternative was a surprise 5 course tasting menu that you could pair wines with.

We ordered a bottle of Chilean Merlot which I really liked.

The bread was sourdough and potato bread and was served in a sack with warm beads in the bottom to keep the bread warm.

We were served an appetizer of Parmesan Churros with corn puree and compressed gem.

For starter, I chose the Oxtail Risotto which was very creamy, rich and delicious. 

Ciaran had the beetroot starter.  I had asked whether there were nuts in any of the dishes and had been assured there was none so it was a little annoying to see that this dish had candied walnuts in it.  I am allergic to them so if I had ordered this dish it would have been going straight back. 

My cod and lobster main was divine!

Sides were delicious.

Homemade croquettes and pumpkin mash (so good)

For Ciaran's main he had the Beef Cheeks with chorizo.  He found it very rich.

Chocolate Tart with passion fruit sorbet - we shared a dessert.

We had petit fours with coffee (handmade marshmallow and meringues with a fruit filling)

The portions may look small but were so rich and over the top that we really were very full by the time we finished.  The walk home helped us walk the food and wine off.  But we didn't have a whole lot of energy for much else and were asleep by 9pm!

What I'm watching....

I'm currently making my way through a box set of an Australian TV series called "A place called home"

Set in the 1950's it reminds me somewhat of The Thornbirds with a story of forbidden love and life on an Australian homestead. Throw in a mysterious past of the main character, one Sr. Adams played by Marta Dusseldorp, and you've got a gripping tale that will keep you entertained. 

Stopping for a Starbucks at the Wright Venue

On the way to work I decided to stop off and get a drink in Starbucks.  I thought that it would be quicker to go to the one at the Wright Venue rather than go in to the Pavillions.

The Wright Venue is monstrous.

It has a large nightclub and other entertainment options.

I saw a sign for "Hogs & Heifers" - I think it is a bar??  The name reminds me of some of the places in Key West Florida including "The Hogs Breath" and "Scars & Tattoos".

Got my coffee in my reusable cup!

And then I saw this cute little mini van!

Butlers Chocolates, Ranelagh - New Store

After closing and reopening a few times, Coffee Society finally closed a little while back.

Butler's Coffee has now opened in the old Coffee Society location in Ranelagh.

It opened yesterday (Sat) and we visited today.

We would probably have sat outside with the dog but the canopy was not pulled out so the chairs had got wet.

Coffee Society was one of our favourite Sunday morning haunts in Ranelagh.  We will miss it.  We loved the lovely neighbourly atmosphere in it and the staff all knew us and we knew them.  I reckon that Butler's might become a go to spot in Ranelagh once the friendly staff begin to get to know their regulars.

The outside is not changed so much but there is big changes inside!

Love their coffee and also how you get a chocolate with your coffee! 

We expected it to be mobbed because it was the opening weekend but it was relatively quiet.  Maybe it was quiet because the clocks went forward last night and although we were there about 10.30ish that was really 9.30ish?

It's good timing to open a chocolate shop!

Look at the great range of chocolate eggs they are selling for Easter.

New Coffee Table!

Since we completed our house, well over two years ago, we have been saying that we needed a coffee table for the front room to go with the conversation pit.

We have been looking around for a good while for one but never found the perfect one.  The closest one we came to was in Roche Bobois where they have lots of amazing furniture but the coffee table we were looking at there just wasn't big enough.

Ciaran decided that we would have to design one himself as really it needed a bespoke one off piece that fitted perfectly in the space.

So along with Dean Cooper this beauty was created!!  

The whole table is made of honed Zimbabwean granite and needed two men to carry it as in total it weighs over 180kg!!

After the base was set down the table top was put in place.

It's a really simple design.

It's literally a big square hunk of granite.  But the proportions are beautiful and it looks very streamlined.

One comment was that we were very brave to bring the '80's back!

I have to agree it does have a very '80's vibe to it.  

But classic '80's I think!!

Or perhaps something you might have seen in Michael Douglas's apartment in Wall Street???!!!

It's great that this is a one off piece, designed for this exact spot (well it is so heavy it won't be moving anywhere on a whim) and you won't find it for sale in any shop or walk in to anyone else's house and see this exact table.

Personally I think it looks even better in real life than the photos - you would not believe how happy I am with how it turned out.

If you have an interest in commissioning a one off piece like this, you can contact ODKM Architects here. 

It gets the nod of approval from Bones (presume he is thinking it is the perfect height for him to eat off if he ever caught sight of a tray of canapes sitting on it - watch this space!)

Perfect table to rest your wine glass on......but I'm missing something......need to put on a jacket with huge shoulder pads!!!  ;-)

What I'm doing......

I'm listening to.....

First Aid Kit's "Stay Gold" 

Great Scandinavian folksy sound - thanks to John Creedon for the introduction!

I'm drinking....

A mocha coffee (made with hot chocolate and Nespresso coffee)

I'm reading....

"Dear Ross" by Evelyn O'Rourke

"Dear Ross" is the true story of how Evelyn O'Rourke got through the situation of discovering she had breast cancer when she was also in the early stages of pregnancy with her second child.  

It is great book and Evelyn is an incredible woman.  Having always enjoyed her on radio and television, I found the book to be written in the exact same matter of fact way that Evelyn is when she talking in person.  The strength and fortitude she showed when going through this struggle and all her treatments is immense.  I am glad to say that the book has a happy ending and I wish her happiness with her family for the future.

Home Of The Year | RTÉ One | Thursday 26th March 8.30pm (Declan O'Donnell, Architect)

A few weeks ago I wrote about having a film crew in my house for a day or two.  Here's more details about the show they were filming and also a few pictures from the day, along with my thoughts about having a film crew in your house.

The show is "Home of the Year" and it involves three expert judges travelling around Ireland and judging amazing homes and ultimately choosing a winner.  I can't wait to see all the fantastic houses (I'm sure they will be very diverse) so will be watching this programme avidly. 

My home, was not entered in to the competition, but instead was used as a filming location and two of the judges were interviewed and filmed in my main living room.  

The first interview was by Judge and Architect Declan O'Donnell of ODKM Architects, who I know well, as Declan along with my husband and Barry Kane are the partners in ODKM Architects (follow on Facebook here).

Declan is a natural on camera and his Belfast lilt comes across really well as he lyrically describes his style and the style of all of the homes that the programme has featured.

The second judge is the charming Hugh Wallace - who you could just listen to forever!

The final judge is Helen James the designer who currently has her Considered range in Dunnes Stores.



The publicity shots were also photographed in my house - here are the three judges with a painting by my husband in the background.

As mentioned at the top of the blog I said I would give my thoughts on having a film crew in your house.  After having a few different crews in filming, my thoughts are that you should:

1. Give over your house to them - they are extremely professional and will clean anything that gets dirty, fix anything that gets broken (which is highly unlikely) and put back anything that they move (and they probably will need to move somethings)

2. Mentally prepare for a lot of people entering your house and it immediately becoming a working location (reread number 1 above!)

3. If you stay and watch the filming process, stay very quiet and ask the crew where you should sit to be out of shot - you wont be able to be doing work like cleaning your house as you may make noise so it may be better to head away for the day.

4.  If you do head away, give the crew a contact number so they can contact you if they finish up early.  Probably best to not arrive back thinking it will take a short amount of time (like I assumed!) - filming is a slow detailed process (although it is incredible to watch and see how good the whole production team are and how much work they get through).

I've included the below pic to show certain things that you can expect when a film crew are working in your house.  I arrived back from the shops to find a light in my garden (shining in to the house to brighten a room) and also the bins were all moved out of shot - they even had to ask my neighbour to move their car!!

 

As you can see Declan is a TV highlight of the week so make sure you tune in to "Home of the Year" on RTE this Thursday at 8.30pm.  If you do watch it let me know what you think and also feel free to ask me any questions if you need further information about a TV crew coming to your house!

EDIT: 

*Just a short note to say that I didn't enter my house in to the competition but that it was only used as a filming location for the judges interviews and also the judges publicity shots.