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ONE WARM SPRING evening in Seville, in 1999, Erik Robson and his wife Michelle sat in a bar enjoying some pleasant wines while nibbling on tapas. They asked themselves why this couldn’t be done in Dublin. Back then, if you wanted to drink a nice bottle of wine, you had to go to a restaurant, and that meant a three-course meal with attendant costs.

A short time later the couple opened Ely wine bar in Ely Place. Ten years on, they offer 80 wines by the glass, and close on 400 by the bottle. The idea remains the same. You can drop in and have a glass of wine, a few snacks and wander off again. Or a three-course meal if you want one. “It is not a restaurant,” Robson insists. “It’s a wine bar. You can eat as little or as much as you like.”