Cork on a Fork: Feasting, fun, and quality food are on the menu at five-day festival
The launch event at Good Day Deli in the Nano Nagle Centre is followed by a sold-out business breakfast in the same venue, hosted by the Irish Examiner, and Cork-based food retail giant, Musgrave, with a breakfast menu featuring finest Cork produce.
The breakfast is followed by a discussion exploring the theme, 'Putting a price on quality — promoting specialty foods in a cost-conscious market' with guest speakers Musgrave chief commercial officer Patricia Blackshields; Alan and Valerie Kingston of Glenilen Farm; Shannon Forrest of Rivesci; and Conrad Howard of the Market Lane Group.
The Cork on a Fork programme features many of the city and county's finest chefs, food businesses, local producers and growers, with over 100 events including unique dining experiences, street feasts, free talks and demos, food trails, and brewery and distillery tours.
Plates & Pairings takes place at Jacques Restaurant on Oliver Plunkett St, one of Cork's original torchbearers for premium local produce. File picture: Eddie O'Hare
Many of the events are free of charge but some of the more high-profile events are ticketed, such as the VQ Shared Table dinner, as the restaurants and hospitality venues in and around MacCurtain St come together to feed 450 diners on a table stretching the length of the iconic city thoroughfare.
Other notable events on the programme include Pig on a Spit and Craicly Stories at Peter Twomey's Glenbrook Farm, including a Blarney Brewing Co drinks reception and pig-on-a-spit dinner.
Lamb shawarma kebabs, Georgian wines, and live music will be on the menu at L'Atitude 51 on Union Quay when it hosts QuayBabs during the Cork on a Fork festival. File picture
L'Atitude 51 will host QuayBabs on the riverside terrace outside their Union Quay premises, featuring lamb shawarma kebabs, Georgian wines, and live music.
Smokin' Soul X Casks sees live fire cooking masters, Smokin' Soul, team up with Cask head chef Robert Birins for a barbecue feast in the restaurant's outdoor space.
Plates & Pairings at Jacques Restaurant, one of the original torch-bearers for premium local produce, will be a celebration of the very best Cork food and drink; and Savour the Spirit is an evening dinner collaboration between Hayfield Manor and Rebel City Distillery.
Among the highlights at the 2025 Cork on a Fork festival will be the VQ Shared Table on MacCurtain St and the Irish Examiner Eats Club dinner. Picture: Joleen Cronin
Inclusivity is intrinsic throughout the programme, with chef Orla McAndrew curating Breaking Bread, an immersive food and community experience set in St Peter's, featuring food from Cork's vibrant migrant community, along with performances by the Cork Shakespearean Company.
An Evening of Flavour and Friendship with Down Syndrome Cork Youth Club will see the group's members showcase their culinary chops in collaboration with Cornstore Head Chef Maura Baxter, for a special three-course dinner, at the Coal Quay restaurant.
Those same youth club members will deliver a live demo on Emmet Place on Sunday morning with their mentor, Chef Hugh.
Come the weekend, the live demo stage outside Cork's Opera House becomes the centre of activity with a packed programme of demos featuring some of Cork's finest ambassadors of the best in Irish food.
The programme continues throughout Sunday, with plenty of family and child-friendly events on the city's streets before the festival finally closes as the Irish Examiner Eats Club, an exclusive dining series for Irish Examiner subscribers, fetches up at The Glass Curtain restaurant for a very special bespoke five-course dinner specially created by chef/proprietor Brian Murray.
• For more about this year's Cork on a Fork keep an eye on the Irish Examiner in print and online and visit CorkOnAForkFest.ie.
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