Food file: Saba marks Thai festival with five-course banquet

Saba restaurant in Clarendon Street, Dublin 2, celebrates its 10th year in existence next month, and to mark the occasion they're running a 10-day Thai festival, kicking off on Friday, September 2nd. Some of the most popular dishes they've served over the past decade will be offered on a lunch special for €10 during the festivities, and there will be a chance to win a trip to Thailand for two people.

The highlight of the festival will be a five-course Thai banquet on Saturday, September 10th. Head chef Taweesak (Tao) Trakoolwattana and his team are drawing inspiration from their family recipes. The menu will feature ma hor, caramelised minced pork on pineapple, and bo, chargrilled fillet beef marinated in Chang beer, as well as the first servings of the restaurant's new chargrilled lobster dish. sabadublin.com

Breadmaking with Clodagh McKenna
Chef and TV presenter Clodagh McKenna is inviting guests to her London home next week for breadmaking demonstrations, followed by supper in the diningroom of her coachhouse overlooking Highbury Fields.

The evenings start at 7pm with aperitifs and canapes in her garden, while she demonstrates how she makes her signature bread, and move from there to her dining room, where she will serve a four-course supper using summer vegetables, wild fish and foraged foods, as well as some of her favourite Irish artisan produce. Wine will be served, and you’ll get to take home a loaf of freshly baked bread.

The suppers are limited to 10 guests per night, and run on August 25th- 27th (with the Saturday night already sold out). If you need a bit more notice to book a flight to London, she will also be running harvest suppers at her home on September 22nd-25th. Tickets cost £75 (£80.24 including booking fee) and can be booked online. clodaghmckenna.com

Taste of west Cork
An incredible 32 towns and villages and eight islands are involved in ambitious plans for this year's A Taste of West Cork food festival (September 9th-18th). A total of 170 food events will run across the region, and the festival hub towns are Castletownbere, Bantry, Schull, Skibbereen, Dunmanway, Clonakilty and Bandon. Guest speakers include film producer and education activist Lord David Puttnam, food writer Trish Deseine and broadcaster Ella McSweeney. Chefs who will do demos include Derry Clarke, Danni Barry, Rachel Allen and Martin Shanahan. For the programme of events, see atasteofwestcork.com.

Inchydoney Island Lodge & Spa (right), near Clonakilty, is offering a festival package to include two nights B&B and a Taste of West Cork tasting menu on either Saturday, September 10th, or the following Saturday 17th, for €245pps. inchydoneyisland.com

Pasta masterclass
Italian chef Alberto Magnano will be teaching a class on how to make fresh pasta and shape it into tagliatelle and ravioli in the Blue Room at the Dean Hotel in Dublin 2 on Friday, August 26th. The class fee of €30 includes Peroni Nastro Azzuro beer and also cocktails created by mixologist Federico Riezzo. The ravioli with have both meat and vegetable fillings, and all the pasta will be cooked after the class for participants to enjoy. It starts at 7.30pm and tickets must be booked online in advance. thehouseofperoni.com