The game of food

Walk your winter-chilled self into Foodgame Food Store and Coffee Bar on South Lotts Road in Dublin 4 and you’ll know Ballymaloe-trained proprietor Ross Staunton is on to a good thing.

Striking a very cool balance between New York-style coffee hang-out and a gourmet food store befitting this soignee corner of the city, Staunton has managed to create an instant picker-upper bound to suck you in.

It’s warm, bright and fresh, with fun features such as a framed collection of old match-books adorning the walls, and the great artisan coffee – brewed in Meath – is just one of the attractions. Just try to order a cup without saying “ah sure why not?” to the suggestion of a toasted and buttered slice of home-made banana bread . . . well it would be rude not to.

And then there’s lunch – with a daily special, and brunch on Saturdays and Sundays – which makes it hard not to turn this outing into an all-day food affair. Luckily, you can either take that yummy toastie and soup back to the office or, in one of Staunton’s inspired ideas to encourage cooks rather than just supply them with ready-made food, copy a recipe down from the black-board, buy your ingredients from the packed-to-the-gills shelves of Irish produce, and whip it up yourself at home.

If that seems a bit daunting, pick up a freshly made meal to take away, such as beef bourguignon with crusty bread for €6.50. Foodgame, 10 South Lotts Road, Dublin 4, tel: 01-2815002.