SHE SELLS SUSHI Bagels, panini, wraps, rolls, focaccia: it's hard to get away from the basic sandwich concept at lunchtime. Step forward Sushi King, a takeaway sushi bar, run by Audrey Gargan, that opened last month.
Backpacking in Australia some years ago, Gargan was struck by the sushi bars on every city corner. Back home, she decided to set up her own, and now she works with a team of three others to turn out fish, meat and vegetarian sushi and maki, as well as salmon and tuna sashimi, from Monday to Friday. Their biggest seller is the Salmon of Knowledge box, for €6.40, but the best variety box is the 11-piece Delish Fish, for €7.80, with salmon, tuna and prawn nigiri, and salmon and cucumber maki. They also do maki rolls, including duck hoi sin for €3.75; sweet chilli chicken; mango and avocado; and sweet potato and plum, all for €3.60. All their fish comes from
Wrights of Howth, and everything is made fresh daily - essential for anything hoping to be taken seriously as sushi. Gargan's sorry now she didn't call the place Sushi Queen, as she originally wanted - she was advised on a business course that it would put off male customers. Funnily enough, calling it Sushi King hasn't put off female customers. Sushi King, 146 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2, Monday-Friday 7am-6pm. Rosita Boland
ART WITHOUT THE GALLERY Mannequins have been replaced by pictures in the windows of BT2 on Grafton Street and at Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin, in the latest craze for displaying art outside the gallery space. The work of 13 young artists will be displayed in shop windows until the end of the month. Art Dublin, as the result of the collaboration between Art to Order and BT2 is known, includes work by the photographer Vanessa Marsh, the costume designer Lucy McKenna and Lily Forberg. All works are available to buy. Take a note of the number, check the price list in the shop and then call Art to Order on 01-2963020 for more information. See www.artdublin.ie. Nicoline Greer
WILD CHILD LOSES CLOTHES Wild Child, the vintage-clothing shop on South Great George's Street in Dublin, is now entirely devoted to furniture and light fittings, mostly 1960s and 1970s Scandinavian and modernist pieces, varying in quality and price. See its website to get the whole picture. The shop will give a flavour of what's available at its warehouse in Wicklow town, in the Murrough, which is open on the first Sunday of every month. The anything-goes mix of Wild Child clothing has been relocated to Crow Street, in Temple Bar, opposite Urban Outfitters. Wild Child, 61 South Great George's Street, Dublin 2, 01-4755099, www.wildchildoriginals.com. Eoin Lyons
AND SO TO BED If you pass regularly through Donnybrook, in Dublin 4, you might have noticed a new children's furniture shop, called Limari. It sells colourful cots, beds, wardrobes, desks, nightstands, dressing tables and playroom storage units. Some of it is terribly cute: imagine a boy's bed that looks like a boat or a girl's version with flowers on the headboard. The company, which is run by Dubliner Sarah Ryan, will create a concept around any theme. It will also use your room dimensions to make a 3D drawing, so you can see how the whole thing will look before you buy. For a finishing touch, you can commission Limari to design a fabric for the room, too. Limari, 7 Donnybrook Mall, Dublin 4, 01-2602420, www.limari.ie. Eoin Lyons
TEETH ARE THE NEW HAIR Smiles Dental Spa, a swish new clinic in a former bank on O'Connell Street in Dublin, is a one-stop shop for teeth, whether you want general or cosmetic treatment. It will whiten your teeth for €600, veneer one for €750 (or a set for €3,750) and do crowns, bridges, extractions, fillings and more. Or you might just want a check-up or a scale and polish. Open 364 days a year. 28 O'Connell Street, Dublin 1, 1850-323323, www.smiles.ie. Eoin Lyons
GO GO GADGETS Eensy-weensy spider crawled across the floor, down came the Spider Catcher and threw him out the door. This Irish gadget - gun-shaped, with bristles at one end - comes in two sizes, one for close spider contact and one, longer, for true arachnaphobes. The simple mechanism allows for a fast attack. The bristles trap the spider unharmed, allowing you to release it out of a window or door after catching it.
If that doesn' t tickle your fancy, how about a Bendi Board? Pink, punchy and easy to clean, this flexible keyboard connects to any computer via a USB cable, rolling up when not in use. As you can carry it anywhere, you can use it with PDAs, to avoid having to use those minuscule buttons - or you can just use it to funk up your computer.
You can get both gizmos - €15 for the Spider Catcher, €33 for the Bendi Board - from B Cool Gadgets, which has branches in Jervis Shopping Centre, Dublin 1 (01-8728282), and Pavilion Shopping Centre, Swords, Co Dublin (01-8075742), and an online shop at www.bcoolgadgets.com. Orla Tinsley
FROM HORSES TO HANDBAGS Think Hermès and think the Birkin bag, Jackie O and Grace Kelly, but the fashion house began as a saddlemaker in 1830s Paris. It's celebrating its roots with Horse, a photographic exhibition. The 48 images of horses and riders are by Koto Bolofo, a South African photograher who works for Vogue and other magazines. Horse begins on Friday at Hugh O'Regan's refurbished Georgian building at 15 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2; it's then open daily, 10am-5pm. Admission is free