Latest news with #CorkonaForkfestival
Irish Independent
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
Two of Ireland's best-known lifestyle celebs say Cork tops the country for sustainability
Diarmuid Gavin and Dónal Skehan both attended a business breakfast in the Rebel County as part of Cork on a Fork Fest Two of Ireland's best-known food personalities say Cork is leading the way in sustainable food production. Broadcaster and food writer Dónal Skehan, whose grandfather hails from Mallow, and celebrity gardener Diarmuid Gavin were both at Dunnes Stores on St Patrick's Street on Friday morning as part of a business breakfast for the Cork on a Fork festival.
RTÉ News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Dining festival Cork on a Fork kicks off
One of Cork city's busiest streets, MacCurtain Street, is closed to traffic from 8.30am this morning until midnight to facilitate the annual shared table dining event which sees around 450 people dine outdoors as part of the Cork on a Fork festival. With 60% of the country's artisan producers in Co Cork, the festival - now in its 4th year - brings together its chefs and food producers, as well as restaurants and pubs, in a celebration of the county's food culture. It is supported by Cork City Council and Fáilte Ireland. Over the week, some 100 events will take place across the city from street events to outdoor dining experiences like the VQ Shared Table, to chef collaborations, live cooking demonstrations, interactive workshops, food and drink pairings, bite-size talks and family-focused food events.
Irish Examiner
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Cork on a Fork: Feasting, fun, and quality food are on the menu at five-day festival
The Cork on a Fork food festival gets underway on Wednesday with a five-day programme of food-related fun, frolics, and feasting in all corners of the city. 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
Irish Examiner
07-08-2025
- General
- Irish Examiner
Working Life: My interest in gardening isn't random... my great grandfather was head gardener at a stately home
Chloe Dempsey, fermenter, forager, gardener (@fermentforagegrow) When I left school, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I worked in content management at Zazzle on Union Quay for a while and then as an administrator in VoxPro. While at Voxpro, I met Ciara Parsons, a permaculturist. Voxpro (now Telus, near Mahon Point) had gardens for the benefit of staff as a lot of them lived in apartments and didn't have gardens of their own. Ciara looked after the garden at Voxpro and she told me about a course in Kinsale College where you can study subjects like permaculture design, sustainable horticulture, and plant identification and use. Covid prompted me to re-evaluate my life, when I found myself working a lot from home. I saw that I could be making better use of my time than spending hours commuting every day from Fermoy to Mahon Point. I started experimenting in the garden and kitchen and got into fermenting and foraging. I lost my mum in 2020 and that made me think about my life too — that we should follow our dreams. I signed up for the course in Kinsale College. My interest in gardening isn't random. My great grandfather was head gardener at Bearforest, a former stately home near Mallow. It was a big deal to be head gardener; you had to train for seven years and were responsible for growing food for use in 'the Big House'. I guess you could say there's a green thumb in the family. It's funny how things thread through time. During my college course, I did my placement at the Fermentation Shed at Ballymaloe Cookery School. I learnt so much there about water kefir, kombucha, and kimchi, fermented goods with potential health benefits. I now run workshops on gardening, foraging, and fermenting with schools, and with social enterprise and not-for-profit groups such as CECAS in West Cork, Regenerate in Kinsale, and formerly with Common Knowledge in County Clare, where Harrison Gardner runs his build school. Later this month (August 14), as part of the Cork on a Fork festival, I will lead a Wild Walk and Garden Tasting evening, which involves taking people on a walk through Fitzgerald's Park, showing them how to identify edible and medicinal plants. Afterwards, we'll head to Proby's Kitchen for a water kefir demonstration, talk, and a nourishing tasting of foraged foods. To book tickets, visit
