Walking home from school in his native Malaysia, he’d try to guess what his neighbours were cooking for their evening meal by his sense of smell alone.

Head Chef San at My Thai restaurant at The Beacon, Sandyford,

It could be quite a challenge. Malaysia’s Malay, Chinese and Indian ethnic mix has long been famous for its part in creating an incredibly diverse food culture.

Young San was keen to learn. And, fortunately for him, his culinary hero was close to home. ‘That would be my grandmother,’ he says. ’She taught me hundreds of dishes.’

His journey from Malaysia to The Beacon wasn’t exactly planned.

‘I started at 18 years old in the kitchens of the big international hotels in Kuala Lumpur and worked my way up to Chef de Partie, banqueting manager and so on,’ he says.

Along with a friend, he was keen to develop his career abroad. ‘I was thinking about Cambodia but my manager/agent said ‘Why don’t you give Europe a try? It was a good call as Europe was booming back at that time. So I said yes, not knowing he’d put me forward for jobs here.’

While San’s papers came through for Ireland, his friend’s came through for the UK.

‘To be honest, I didn’t really know exactly where Ireland was and I wasn’t sure I wanted to work here. But I did my geography, looked at the maps and I came over in 2001.’

It is hard to imagine now in the early 2000s there were very few Thai restaurants in Dublin. Thai restaurants were rare back then but within five years, everything had changed. ‘Thai restaurants starting coming up like mushrooms,’ he says.

Life as Head Chef in the Beacon has not been without its challenges since San moved to the Sandyford hotel as Head Chef in 2005.

‘The recession was tough,’ says San. ‘But the restaurant was okay. We are lucky to have customers that we know by name, who come back to us time and time again. Not just from Dublin, but from further out too, in places like Wicklow and beyond.’

One innovation born of the recession was a delivery service, which continues to this day.

‘We are not really takeaway people but the service is popular as the food you get delivered to you is exactly the same as you would get in the restaurant,’ says the 46-year-old.

My Thai’s neighbours in The Beacon Hospital are big fans of this service. ‘The doctors, surgeons and staff in the Beacon like our food,’ says San.

Nasi Goreng is a particular favourite of the medical staff and, for that matter, all the customers of My Thai.

‘It’s one of the top items that stays on our menu, even when we change it every three months.’ Other favourites, says San, are green chicken curry, Singapore noodles and dumplings.

Reflecting his background in the eclectic food culture of Malaysia, the friendly chef is keen to stress that My Thai at the Beacon offers more than just Thai food, despite its name.

‘It’s Asian food, fusion if you want. As well as Thai, we have Malaysian, Singapore, Cambodian and some East Indian dishes. ‘

San shows how it’s done at a cookery class in The Beacon,

The Beacon is a place where fresh thinking is appreciated. Since 2006, San and the My Thai team have also branched out into cooking classes.

‘That was a team idea and it’s been successful. We set it up like a mini college and get people making dishes from scratch. They make spring rolls, green chicken curry and other dishes and we look at ingredients people might not have seen like galangal and turmeric root.’

San says he would love to bring in other Asian cooking ingredients into the courses including the infamous Durian fruit – often banned in Asia from public places. ‘I could bring in a Durian,‘ San laughs. ’But I wouldn’t recommend it. It is very smelly.’

He is a man continually on the lookout for new trends, fresh innovations.  ‘We have to change to meet changing tastes,’ he says. The My Thai kitchen in the Beacon, for example, offers hotel guests breakfast and lunch menus and in recent times, caters for demand for gluten-free and celiac-friendly options.

My Thai is also offering a Summer barbeque menu while San also has exciting plans for the new East restaurant which he also runs in the Beacon’s sister hotel The Spencer, located in the IFSC on the River Liffey.

’I would love to bring the experience of steamboat to Dublin,’ he says.  

Steamboat, sometimes called hot pot, is an Asian cooking style where thinly sliced meat, vegetables, mushrooms, wontons, egg dumplings and seafood is cooked by diners at individual tables, each installed with a metal pot of simmering stock. The food is then eaten with a range of dipping sauces.

It’s clear San is a passionate advocate for Asian food.

‘There’s a big difference between Asia and Europe in attitudes to food,’ he says. ‘Where I come from food is more than just food. It can be a remedy if you are ill. You chose your meal depending on what elements your body needs. It’s all very healthy food.’

What could be more perfect? San and the team’s fabulous food tastes good – and does you good too! If you haven’t enjoyed it yet, now’s the time to head to The Beacon – or  The Spencer – and try it for yourself.

My Thai Restaurant
The Beacon Hotel
Beacon Court
Sandyford
Dublin 18

Stillorgan

7 minutes

The post Why San’s the man for Asian food in Sandyford appeared first on On The Line.

‘I thought, no,’ he recalls with a laugh.‘You’ve misread the whole situation – and just what we’re trying to do here.’

The ‘whole situation’ is Nick’s Coffee Company – a tiny but perfectly formed coffee hut, complete with open air seating, at the entrance to the old village market in Ranelagh.

In just six years, it’s become one of the area’s most-treasured spots. Loved by taxi drivers and poets, guards and Luas commuters alike, the star of the show is, quite naturally, Nick’s unique blend of coffee, which has taken him years to perfect.

Hut hits – Nick Seymour and Federica Fandaulli in Ranelagh.

Nick’s story started back in the late 1980s when Norfolk-born coffee fan followed his parents to Ireland. ‘Coffee was always a hobby,’ he says.‘And when I started doing a lot of travelling, I found coffee was like an international language which helped you connect with people in different countries.’

Eventually and inevitably, Nick found himself working in the coffee trade. After a few years, he decided to make his own blend. His first attempt was in the South of France about nine years ago where he worked with a Moroccan colleague, who had no English.

‘Then when I came back to Ireland years later, I brought that blend back with me. I worked with a friend in Belfast to tweak it to get it just right.

‘It was a long process of trial and error. I was always changing things. But I do remember when we first ran this particular blend of coffee, because for some reason, that day I was in foul form. I tasted it and said to the lads, I need a few hours to think about this. When I came back to them later that day I knew, by pure chance, that we’d got it.’

‘Earlier blends had Demerara sugar and liquorice notes.  But when we added that final bean, we were getting toffee and berries, too. It’s a blend that reminded people of coffee they tasted when they were little.’

Word -and samples – got out fast and soon Nick was supplying coffee to restaurants across Ireland – a business that continues to this day. Roasting still takes place in Belfast and, because of demand, may also be carried out as well in the Republic.

‘The flavours of the beans can vary throughout the year so we always have to make sure we tweak the blend and the roasting to get it right,’ says Nick, who explains that over-roasting of a mere 30 seconds can make all the difference.

There are four different beans in his blend, sourced from organic, small scale growers in Brazil, Ethiopia, Guatemala and India. ‘It’s top quality and fresh,’ says Nick. ’Unlike the big brands, we buy our coffee four times a year.’

Nick’s shop is open from 7am to 7pm every day but with demand growing he’s experimenting with even longer hours – and food. ‘We’re now open through the night on Fridays and Saturdays and the reaction so far  has been great. If it is a success, we will be looking at operating round the clock every day in the future.

’‘We’ve also started breakfasts BBQs on Thursdays from 7.30am. That’s been popular too, with sausages  from Hick’s who are providing everything pig.’

Nick’s place is also an arts destination. The Ash Sessions, named after a lyric from Leonard Cohen , sees poets, musicians and writers gather in Nick’s hut for informal, semi-public performances on Sunday afternoons. ‘That was the idea of Dimitra Xidous who came to me with it  - and I thought why not?’

A blackboard, just outside the hut, is also reserved specially for poems, says Nick, who sings the praises of the team who work in the hut.

‘All the guys who work in the shop have a few strings to their bows. Dermot (Carmody), for example, is a great musician and standup’, says Nick, who clearly loves Ranelagh as much as the locals love him and his coffee.

He admits that he would like for more people across Ireland to be able to discover his special blend of coffee, which sells at very reasonable prices in simple, foil packaging in the hut and also in other local independent shops.

But he has no plans to open a bigger  and, dare it be said, cooler and sexier shop in another location.

‘We are happy to be here in Ranelagh,’ he says. ‘ If people come in and ask, we’ll even teach them how to make a good cup of coffee, because at heart, it is still our hobby. We do community sports day and local churches simply because we consider ourselves lucky to be able to make a living out of what we do.’

‘We’re a coffee shop for the people., not a big business. We like to be friendly. It’s a model we are happy with. And it’s one that works for us.’

Nick’s Coffee Company
Entrance to old Ranelagh Village Market
Ranelagh

Ranelagh

1 minute

The post Up all night to get coffee – Nick’s hut hits the spot in Ranelagh appeared first on On The Line.

Des Vallely, of Irish Village Markets, and Nick Seymour, of Nick’s Coffee in Ranelagh, both choose the same song.

Said Des: ‘It has to be Patrick Kavanagh’s poignant Raglan Road, performed by the one and only Luke Kelly.’

Steph Grey, of Live &  Breathe Pilates on Camden Row, picked The Irish Rover by The Pogues,

Steph told OnTheLine: ‘It was always fun for a bit of a dance and a jump around as well. And this version features The Pogues and The Dubliners, each legends in their own right. And they’re on the Late Late Show – another Irish institution.’

Laura O’Brien, of Yoga Dublin, opts for a track you wouldn’t typically associate with St Patrick’s Day.

She said ‘Failte Ireland’s new video “St. Patrick’s Day 2014 #IrelandInspires” with James Vincent McMorrow’s “Higher Love” is definitely making me feel proud to be Irish right now – and happy to be in Ireland.

OnTheLine’s own choice is the magical In A Lifetime by Clannad and Bono, featuring  the great Marie Brennan.

What’s your favourite Irish track? Let us know by emailing info@ontheline.ie or leaving a comment.

The post Poignant, fun and magical – songs for St Patrick’s Day appeared first on On The Line.

‘There’s proper bread, which is very different from the white sliced pan churned out of a factory,’ he says. ‘Or if you want really good chicken or beef, you go to a butcher.’

And, as you might expect from the owner of The Wine Buff in Ranelagh, there’s always the option of buying one type of wine – or another.

Ivor Geraghty and a bottle of Pelan Bellevue

‘Supermarket wine is drinkable and pleasant,’ he says. ‘But it’s a mass produced product, churned out on a conveyor belt. It’s consistent but… it’s boring.’   His store offers an alternative – real wine made by small scale producers.

‘We import direct from small family vineyards,’ says Ivor. ’Our producers are farmers, working in barns that their grandfathers built. You won’t find this wine in a supermarket, they don’t produce enough for them.’

Ivor, well-known for various writing, publishing and radio presenting roles over the years, opened the Ranelagh Wine Buff store in September 2011 in a former maternity wear store on The Triangle.

‘I was a civil servant for many years and I had the option of early retirement I always loved wine and was looking for something else to do. And then I discovered The Wine Buff, and I thought I would give it a go,’ Ivor recalls.

The Wine Buff concept was created back in 2000 by Irishman Paddy O’Flynn, who is based in St Emillion in France, he saw the business opportunity in bringing wines from small vineyards into Ireland. The original Wine Buff store is still located in the front room of a Georgian house in Limerick and now there are 11 other stores with the same name operating on a franchise basis across Ireland.

‘Together we are just the right size to buy up a good chunk of the output of carefully selected small producers,’ says Ivor.

In the same way, people realise that 30 day aged steak bought in a butchers is a superior product to other beef, Ivor explains how small producers create better wine.

‘Maceration, where grape skins sit in their juice, is really important. When you buy supermarket wine they aren’t going to be able to do that for any real length of time.

The producers of the wine he sells have a different approach. ‘The Spanish wines from Le Mancha or Navarra for example, Some wines involve a maceration process that takes as long as 30 days. It means you get wines with real depth, real colour.’

But surely this extra quality must come at a high price? ‘Our wines start at €9.99 but most we sell are between €12 and €16 a bottle,’ says Ivor. ‘It’s mainly Old World wine but we also do some nice South African, New Zealand wines and Chilean bottles. Even the Malbec that we do is closer to that produced back in the 1950s.’

As well as the wine, Ivor also sells a small selection of other ‘real’ products. There’s Nick Seymour’s coffee, famous in Ranelagh and beyond, and a popular selection of gourmet chocolate from ChocoMe and Lough Derg in Nenagh.

Born and bred in nearby Rathmines, where he still lives, Ivor, remains a big fan of the area. ‘It’s an eclectic place with certain bohemian element to it, affluent people, students and young professionals.’

Ivor has been pleasantly surprised by the knowledge of wine possessed by his younger clientele. ‘Maybe they picked it up from their parents. What is interesting is that they start to ask about fine quality port and sherry. Now I drank them as well when I was young – but that was because I was stealing from the drinks cabinet which is not the same thing.’ he laughs.

Ranelagh  is not Ivor’s only market. ‘The fact that we are providing something other people aren’t, means my catchment area is a lot wider that most. People come into me from Wicklow, Kildare and Meath.

‘We are lucky enough to have a good reputation. We do hold wine tasting evenings several times a month but mostly we get new customers through word of mouth.’

But what is Ivor’s star wine?  ‘That would have to be the Pelan Bellevue from Bordeaux, ‘ he says, explaining its winemaket was one of the original suppliers to the Wine Buff when it started back in 2000.

‘The guy who produces it is called Regis Moro. He was from a winemaking family but he didn’t inherit the farm. He worked as a painter and decorator and he got very sick from lead poisoning. When he got better, he decided to do what he really wanted to do and that was to make wine.

‘He’s obsessive about it. He’s the kind of person who goes out and cuts the bad grapes of his vines and lets them fall to the ground and rot into the soil.’

‘You couldn’t get a cleaner wine than his. It’s a lovely wine, made completely without chemicals which means it’s less likely to give you a hangover.

‘I sell more of it, than other bottles by a factor of three to one. And many people, thank God, like to buy it by the case.’

Other favourites include Vacqueyras which is ‘better value than most Châteauneuf-du-Papes’ says Ivor and also wines from Puglia from the heel of Italy. ‘They are all about big sun and big fruit.

‘They don’t call what they do organic. But it is. It’s just the way they do things down there. The wine is great, I call it central heating for adults, ‘ Ivor laughs again.

The campaign for real wine is in good hands.

The Wine Buff

51 Cullenswood Road,

The Triangle

Wine Buff website

Also on Twitter at Ivor@ Wine Buff D6

Ranelagh

6 minutes

The post Great wine made by farmers – how Ivor keeps it real in Ranelagh appeared first on On The Line.

It’s all there – and more – just a short walk from Stillorgan Luas stop at the Sandyford Lunchtime Market. And that’s because from 11.45am to 2pm every Friday, the normally unremarkable and grey Carmanhall Road becomes a little piece of world food heaven.

Spicy offers in Sandyford

The market is popular. More than 2,500 people visit every Friday, says Des Vallely, the man behind the lunchtime attraction, some of them making special trips just to do so.

‘We continue to get great support from people who work for the big employers round here, such as SalesForce, Microsoft and Vodaphone,’ Des told OnTheLine. ‘And we also get visitors who travel to us on the Luas all the way from Cherrywood and Dundrum.’

It’s a proudly multicultural affair. ‘In the food stalls alone, you’ll find people of 15 to 16 different nationalities and that diversity is matched by the people who work around here and come down to us for their lunch,’ says Des.

On a typical Friday, market visitors can choose from more than 22 different food stalls. But what about the weather?  It’s not a worry, says Des, explaining that rain or shine, the market goes ahead. ‘They are a hardy old bunch here.’he laughs.

Des Vallely

‘There are other markets where people run off at the first sign of rain to cafes and restaurants. But customers here will come out no matter what to us, just to get their weekly fix.’

Des runs Irish Village Markets, which operates the Sandyford market, with his wife Tara. The origins of IVM go back to the 1990s with fruit and vegetable stalls outside Monkstown Parish church.

‘We found out later with our farmers markets that when we introduced a few hot food stalls, they started doing good business,’ recalls Des.

That realisation led the couple to a new market model – one held at lunchtime,near offices, with a focus on excellent quality and reasonably priced hot food from around the world.

Today Irish Village Markets runs more than eight markets around Dublin on the same lines. On Fridays, for example, there’s an IVM food market on Grand Canal at Percy Place in Dublin city centre and from March to September, there’s one with 10 stalls even nearer to the Stillorgan Luas stop, just a few steps away from the Northbound platform.

Thai curry anyone?

So why have Sandyford, and its sister markets, been so successful?

‘Damn good food,’ says Des. ‘And at prices that are not going to break the bank. You can have a bratwurst for five euro or so – but whatever you do, the most you’ll spend is around eight euro.’

He is justifiably proud of the range on offer.’There’s even a Schnitzel Hut here. Ask most people and they won’t know what that it is,’ says Des. (For the record, it’s a German dish of a flat piece of breadcrumbed meat, often pork, which is fried and served with a mushroom sauce.)

‘There’s also traditional Irish food here too like the breakfasts and there’s plenty of steaks. Many of our customers are big meat eaters,’ says Des.

A key part of his role is balancing the number of stalls to the number of visitors.‘You want the selection, you want the variety but you want to the stallholders to make a decent living so they come back next week,’ says Des.

For him, the stallholders are the stars of the show. ‘They come from many different sectors. Some are trained chefs, others would have come in from, say, the building industry. People with an passion for food who turned their hands to this and built up a business.’

Competition is intense. ‘Anyone here who doesn’t do any business, can’t blame the market because we get the numbers. The food has to be good. They have to fight for it,’ explains Des.

‘The food at our markets is up there with restaurant quality and in many cases surpasses it. Our guys may be operating out of makeshift tents as stalls but they know what they are doing. And they are passionate about what they are doing. And that’s what matters.’

Sandyford Lunchtime Market

Fridays from 11.45am to 2pm

Stillorgan

7 minutes

More here on the IVM website about their other markets at Spencer Dock, Waterways Ireland Visitor Centre, EastPoint Business Park, Mespil Road, Blanchardstown Corporate Park and Christ Church Cathedral. It also covers their corporate, wedding and private catering services and a downloadable guide on how to become a food stallholder.

The post World food heaven? That’ll be Sandyford on a Friday appeared first on On The Line.

The spacious store, located at the side of the Dundrum Town Centre complex on the walk in from Balally Luas stop, is run by creative cakemaker Catherine De Groot.

She told OnTheLine:’We had a fair amount of people coming in for our first day on Tuesday.We had everybody from kids and teenagers  to people looking for wedding cakes.’

BakeMyCake has built a great reputation for creating striking novelty cakes for special occasions since it opened its first store in Booterstown just over three years ago.

Some of the loyal customers from Booterstown also made the trip to Dundrum to see Catherine’s new store which has much more space to feature BakeMyCake favorites including novelty and wedding cakes, signature fun filled cupcakes and treats.

‘We are also offering takeaway coffee and milkshakes,’ says Catherine, who said the first day was busier than expected despite the snow and the rain. ‘We heard some people inside the centre were looking for us. More people will know where we are at the weekend when they queue outside to get into the car parks.’

A fully qualified architect who found herself with a little more time on her hands as the recession began to bite hard, Catherine turned her passion for pastry into a business back in 2009.

Since then, she has delighted hundreds of customers, including celebrities and media personalities, by creating once-off cakes.

“It’s so nice to be able to help celebrate someone’s special occasion by making their favourite handbag, jersey or even their dog,” she says. “ We love the challenge of creating something we haven’t done before.”

Balally

5 minutes

The post BakeMyCake now open in Dundrum appeared first on On The Line.

It’s all about feeling good, living a stress-free life and honest to goodness fun, according to the suitably calm and relaxed manager of Yoga Dublin Studios.

‘I think people use health and fitness as their form of entertainment these days,’ she says.’The recession slowed things down for a bit for us but not for long.We are out the door right now.’

Lorna O’Brien ‘Yoga is part of my life now’

Yoga Dublin Studios was founded by its present owner Colm Walsh back in 1999 with classes in a Baggot Street school hall.Today it has three permanent purpose-built studios – two very close to the Luas Green Line.

Yoga Dublin in Ranelagh

Just a few minutes’ walk from the Charlemont stop is Yoga Dublin’s Ranelagh base on Dartmouth Road. Even closer to the Green Line is their Dundrum studio, located on the first floor of the Rockfield Central building , right above the Balally Luas stop.Their newest location, opened last year, is in the Vedas Building, next door to the library on the main street in Dun Laoghaire.

All three studios are open every day with more than 120 classes and workshops being held a week. From as early as 7am some mornings until 9pm at night, the studios are a hive of relaxed activity.

‘Yoga is the main thing for us and we offer classes at all levels from beginners to advanced’, says Lorna.She herself is a convert to yoga, recalling her first days in her jobs with the studios.’Back then I had no experience of yoga at all’, ‘she says.

‘At that time I used to have problems sleeping but since I started doing the classes, those problems disappeared. I find yoga is great in reducing stress, it’s good for your mental well-being and you can really feel the benefit.It’s part of my life now.’

But Yoga Dublin is about more than yoga alone.‘We do almost as many Pilates classes as yoga and we also do Barre Concept,’ says Lorna. ’It’s a new idea from America which mixes yoga, Pilates and ballet. Most of our other classes are mat based so this involves standing at a bar so it’s a bit different. It’s especially good for toning thighs and at the same time burning fat and protecting the joints. Dundrum also offers Zumba classes ‘which continue to be really popular,’ says Lorna.Tai Chi classes are also available and the business has a big focus on classes specifically for mothers.‘We do pre-natal classes and workshops that are designed to help with the actual birth. Then when babies are born, their mothers can do the post natal class. We even have baby massage sessions and classes where mothers can bring their babies into the room which is popular.

The Dundrum studio at the Balally Luas stop

‘We have a great fan base, especially in Ranelagh which is our most established studio,’ says Lorna.

Its location on the edge of the city centre means it also hosts classes for people who work close by.’If there is the demand for a yoga or Pilates class,we can organise a teacher to come to them in their offices or we provide private lunchtime class and they can come to us,’ explains Lorna.

Lorna is quick to dispel a few misconceptions about yoga and similar disciplines.’We have people of all ages, all walks of life.You have to be 16 to come to our classes and we have some young customers but we also get many students, people in their 20s and 30s and then others up right up to their 70s.’

It’s not all women, too, Lorna says. ‘All our classes are mixed. While there are some classes which have no men we have others, especially in Ranelagh, where men outnumber the women.’

Pilates is especially popular with people who play sports. ‘It is great for preventing injuries. So we do get sportspeople here at times for a class, some of them quite well known.’

Another misconception is about the spiritual aspects of yoga. ‘It’s as spiritual as you want it to be’, says Lorna.’ Some of our classes might start and end with a minute or two of meditation but not all of them. It’s really up to the teacher.’

But what does it cost to take up yoga? Says Lorna: ‘We have a few hundred members on monthly subscriptions between the three locations but people can also come down on a pay per class basis.Or they can buy a pass for a whole series of classes.’

A Yoga Dublin class

The cost per class is around €15, €10 for students, senior citizens and people who are unemployed.

‘We also have a 30 days for €59 offer which lets people try different classes, different levels and different teachers so they can see what they prefer. Customers can switch between locations, as well. People like this approach. It means they don’t have to commit to paying a regular fee if they don’t want to,’ says Lorna.

An online booking system and linked smartphone apps make it easy to reserve a space at a class, says Lorna.’It’s better to do this than make your way to a studio and find every class is full. We also have a wait list system to let people know if there are cancellations and spaces become available.’

Yoga Dublin’s teachers are some of the best in Ireland and they come from countries all over the world – as do their students. ‘At weekends we get people from far and wide,’ says Lorna. In Ranelagh, particularly, we get a lot of tourists too who’ve made the effort to seek out a yoga class. It shows how important it is to them.

Learning yoga is best done in a class.’Some people tell me they first did yoga by buying DVDs to watch at home,’ says Lorna. ‘But they say that you need an experienced teacher to look at what you are doing from time to time to make sure you are doing the positions right. That way you prevent yourself from potential injury and get the most out of your yoga.’

Yoga, it seems, is now part of many people’s weekly routines. The new entertainment is here to stay.

Yoga Dublin,
28a Dartmouth Road,
Dublin 6.

www.yogadublin.com

Charlemont

2 minutes

Also at Rockfield Centre, Luas Balally stop and Vedas Building Lower Georges Street, Dún Laoghaire,

The post The new entertainment – yoga and more at Charlemont and Balally appeared first on On The Line.

Walk down from George’s Market towards Fade Street and you’ll see the Asia Market shopfront, similar in size to the other units on Drury Street.

Step inside, turn right into the corridor – and suddenly it opens up into a huge bustling store.

The Tardis-style Asia Market sells more than 3,000 foodstuffs, sourced from mainland China, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam.

This is the place to go for your noodles, your rice, your soy sauce, your prawns, your galangal, your ginger… you name it.The range is extensive but it’s not expensive.The Asia Market are wholesales and importers so you usually find the prices are very keen, especially if you buy in bulk.

And what better time to discover the Asia Market than this week – as it plays a supporting role in the seventh Dublin Chinese New Year Festival, celebrating the Year of the Wood Horse.

Celebrating the Chinese New Year

On Sunday the Asia Market was part of the Chinese New Year carnival in Temple Bar as it presented an Asian cooking demonstration with Chef Liu Guangcheng from Chinatown in London.

Last Friday back in the Asia Market, the store’s friendly and knowledgeable Eva Pau held another of her rave-reviewed ‘Secrets of the Asian Kitchen’ tours.The hour-long trips round the Asia Market’s aisles are just made for anyone interested in Asian food and cooking – and demonstrate in some style the vast range of foodstuffs they offer.

Asia Market
18 Drury Street
Dublin

St  Stephen’s Green

6 minutes

The post Discover the Asia Market’s Tardis-like secrets this Chinese New Year appeared first on On The Line.

But what else can you call a business established in 1909, which has occupied the same corner site in Dundrum for forty years and today is run by Ruth, justifiably proud to tell you she’s one of the fourth generation of shopkeeping Deveneys.

It’s not a stuffy institution, though.In fact, it’s hard to imagine a friendlier shop, where there’s always someone on hand to guide your search for something good to drink at a price that represents good value.

Truth be told, Deveneys has always been evolving.The original Deveneys was in Rathgar, explains Ruth, and it was a general groceries store. ‘It was my grandparents who first started selling wine, spirits and beer back in the 1950s,’ she says.

Ruth Deveney with her extensive selection of international craft beers.

Today two wine shops in the city bear the name.Ruth’s store on Main Street, Dundrum and another in Rathmines, run independently by a cousin of her father’s.

Recent times have been challenging for off-licences.’The big change happened six or seven years ago,’says Ruth.’Our sales of commercial lagers fell through the floor.’

In 2005 the Groceries Order, which banned the selling of goods below cost price, was abolished.Then in the years that followed, the supermarkets, who generally were new to off sales, used their buying power to attract customers with low price New World wines and big, inexpensive boxes of major brand beers.

For Ruth, the change in the drinks market forced her to take a close look at the family business. ‘I had to work out how to make it work,’ she recalls.

Salvation came in the unlikely shape of imported craft beer.At the time, Ruth wasn’t a fan.’I didn’t have that much passion for beer back then.After all, I was in the business of selling wine and spirits.’

But soon Ruth was smitten.‘There was no way really to learn about beer at that time in Ireland. So I had to do it myself, through tastings and eventually a monthly beer club. I started my blog at this time which was about learning about beer from an amateur perspective.’

It became a serious proposition pretty quickly. Seeing a gap in the market, Ruth staged a series of international beer festivals, which drew appreciative crowds to Dublin and Dundrum locations year after year.

The right beer for the right occasion.

Today, craft beer is everywhere and, on the back of Ruth’s blog and festivals, Deveneys has a enviable reputation for the depth and quality of its choice of ales from all over the world.

Craft beer sales are increasing year on year but Ruth still feels that in Ireland there’s still some way to go.

‘Some people hear the word ale and associate it with that dark, murky stuff you see a character in Coronation Street drinking in the bar of The Rover’s Return.

‘It’s a bit of a mental block to get over for some but more and more are realising the variety of beers available now.Craft beer is quite a seasonal product. This time of year people go for darker styles like Belgian Doubles and Triples. Once you hit the summer you are looking at pale ales, IPAs and Weiss beers which go well with salads.’

Most craft beer fans still tend to be older men, says Ruth, but that’s changing too, ‘It’s quite nice to see younger guys moving into craft beers instead of their cans of commercial lagers.’

Ruth hopes the rise in popularity of craft beer is part of the move to more responsible drinking, with a focus on quality, rather than quantity.

She’s also noticed an inversion of usual male/ female shopping traits.’Women will buy beauty products, for example, because of the packaging alone.They tend to shop with their eyes. Men normally are not like that. They tend to do their research before they go shopping and only buy with solid evidence that something is good.

‘But that doesn’t seem to apply to craft beer. US ales are fantastic but part of their success is because they are so inventive, so creative with their labels. The look of Sierra Nevada, for example, really helped it launch the brand into Ireland.’

So what are Ruth’s current favourites?

‘Stones is a San Diego brewery which is fairly new to Ireland and their range is great. But the best beer I have tasted so far this year is a limited edition from Irish brewer Porterhouse called The Devil’s Half Acre. It’s a black IPA which is aged in Kilbeggan casks. It is brewed at around 6.5% abv but when it is put in the casks, the alcohol level goes up to 13.5%. It’s smashing.’

Ruth’s beer blog
Deveneys of Dundrum
31 Main Street,
Dundrum,
Dublin

Dundrum

6 minutes

The post Still here for the beer – how Deveneys of Dundrum is thriving 105 years on appeared first on On The Line.

It’s a self-confessed ‘labour of love’ for owners Mike O’Donovan and Mary Doyle  whose first names provided the inspiration for its name.

Mima’s slogan is Love Our Coffee. So it’s not surprising that this is a place where bean selection is all important.

Mike told OnTheLine,’Our freshly ground coffee is a blend of beans from four different origins, each roasted separately to guarantee the best flavour, aroma and colour.

‘Be they from Brazil or Columbia, we’ll be letting customers know all about the beans we use, all of them ethically sourced.

Mike O’Donovan – ‘We have to be consistent in the way we use the coffee so we deliver a quality cup every time.’

Mima is also offering time-pressured commuters a quick cup of good quality filter coffee for just €2 – with coins dropped in an honesty box. It means they can be in and out in 30 seconds.

‘The message we want to get over is that if you look down the track from Beechwood and can see a Luas tram at Cowper or Ranelagh, you can still get into us and have a coffee with our express service. We also thinking of offering smaller coffee shots for 50 cents,’ explains Mike.

There’s more to the bright, modern Mima than just coffee and speciality teas, however. Food on offer includes excellent home made cakes and mini scones as well as croissants and pastries.

‘We offer gluten, sugar and wheat free options too and we will also cater for those who prefer soya milk with their coffee and tea,’ says Mary.

It’s the first business the Ranelagh couple have owned themselves, though Mike has extensive experience in running bars and restaurants across Ireland.

Mary’s career expertise is also an asset. ‘I worked at Microsoft for more than 22 years. I was a project manager at Sandyford.’

And that’s a more than useful skillset when Mike outlines all the upcoming plans for Mima.

“We have a hatch which we are going to use for serving soft scoop ice-cream,’ says Mike ‘And we also be offering food at lunchtime like paninis and wraps – and we are also hoping to do crepes.

‘It’s small shop but we are trying to cater for all our different markets. We have the commuters first thing but there’s also mothers in the mornings, schoolkids and students looking for a bite to eat at lunchtime and senior citizens who like to come down the line and pop in for drink and a chat.’

A top priority is more tables.’We intend to have an outdoor, covered seating area soon, ‘ says Mike.

The coffee shop’s initial operating hours see it open from 7.30am to 6pm weekdays, 8am to 6pm on Saturdays and 9am to 1pm on Sundays but these hours may change to best suit demand.

Their first day of opening was a week last Saturday when it was ‘lashing rain’, Mike laughs, recalling as well their first Monday morning. ‘Wogans on this site had been closed for about a year and half and I think people had got used to not looking at the kiosk and suddenly we were here – and many of them did a second take.’

Inside Mima -the coffee now arriving….
Photo by Marion Keogh Twitter @MKeoghGardens

Mike and Mary are using Facebook to get the message out to a wider audience about Mima’s arrival on Dunville Avenue.

Already they have launched once-off freebies for Lycra-clad weekend cyclists and promotions where people who like their page can win free coffee and pastries for a week .

Last week a Luas tram and a car were involved in an accident at the Beechwood crossing and Mary was quick to act.

‘I was in the shop when I heard the bang so I went out and offered free coffee to people delayed after the incident,’ says Mary.

‘We got a positive response to that.It’s all part of our approach to be a coffee shop that’s part of the local community.’

Mima,