Food file

Compiled by MARIE-CLAIRE DIGBY

SUMMER PARTY

Harvey Nichols foodmarket in Dundrum Town Centre will be en fête next Friday evening from 7pm and on Saturday from 11am. Wine and food tasting, gift bags with every purchase over €50, and 20 per cent off cocktails in the First Floor bar will be on offer for the summer fête.

Turn on the sun

Marion Dony, 20-year-old pastry chef at Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud, has won the third Valrhona Pâtisserie Championship for her raspberry and white chocolate dessert, The Sunbeam, which the judges said was “full of the freshness of summer”. Dony, who is French, will return to her homeland for a three-day stage at l’Ecole du Grand Chocolat Valrhona as part of her prize, which also includes a tasting menu at Maison Pic, a Michelin three-star in Valence. The six finalists in the competition had three hours to cook and plate their entries – which had to have a summer theme, include a spice, and use of three Valrhona chocolates – at the Dublin Institute of Technology kitchens in Cathal Brugha Street. Dony’s winning dessert was a raspberry parfait topped with fresh raspberries, an almond tuile and cardamon espuma, encapsulated in Opalys chocolate, with a sablé biscuit and raspberry sorbet. The winning dessert will go on the summer lunch menu at Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud.

the buzz

Elizabeth Auerbach @ElizabethOnFood: Drinks menu on iPad at Le Bar at @Plaza_Athenee

Black Pig Donnybrook @BlackPigWine: @TanneryDungarva Egg into boiling water and singing all 5 verses and chorus of Onward Christian Soldiers works well for the perfect egg too

Fallon & Byrne @FallonandByrne: Sangria in the wine cellar for €5. Muy bien for this fine Spanish weather we’re having

The right way to write

If you’d like to equip yourself with the skills to become a food writer, the food writing workshop with Dianne Jacob (below) at BrookLodge Hotel, Macreddin, Co Wicklow on September 21st and 22nd is a must. Jacob is the author of Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Blogs, Reviews, Memoir and More. The workshop opens with an opportunity for six participants to pre-book 30-minute, one-to-one slots with Jacob on the Friday afternoon, followed by a visit to Gold River organic farm and a Big Table dinner at Macreddin – a fun, family-style feast where the guests serve one another a meal created from locally sourced organic produce.

Saturday’s workshop will run from 9.30am to 5pm, with a break for a spit-roast lunch in the apple orchard. There will be time for networking and socialising, so you can perhaps put a face to the bloggers you follow, but have not met in person. This event has been organised by Dorcas Barry, with sponsorship from Bord Bia and Fáilte Ireland, and can be booked by emailing dorcasbarry@gmail.com, tel: 086-806 1383. The cost is €75 for the workshop and lunch, with additional fees for accommodation, dinner and individual coaching.

On the trail of tapas

If you come across four different groups of 20 jolly people weaving their way around Dublin city centre later this month, chances are they're participants in the Campo Viejo Tapas Trail, which will run between June 27th and August 19th. Every Sunday (2pm-4.30pm) and Wednesday (6.30pm-9pm), the trail will visit four Dublin tapas restaurants – Salamanca, Salamanca Fusion, Havana Tapas Bar and the Market Bar – to sample the best three tapas in each venue, accompanied by a measure of Campo Viejo Reserva wine. Each group of up to 20 participants will begin at a different venue and follow a different trail, with a host to guide them and talk about the Rioja region. There will be Spanish music and entertainment along the way. The cost is a very reasonable €20 and places can be booked from next Wednesday at either campoviejotapastrail.comor facebook.com/campoviejoireland.