The backdrop to this year’s fashion shoot with Ireland AM presenters Tommy Bowe and Muireann O’Connell is the newly opened Big Mike’s in Blackrock village. Providing the perfect setting for the textured looks on show (think rich velvets, sequins and fake fur), Big Mike’s has a Mad Men feel to it, with lots of dark wood and moody lighting. There’s also a nod to 1970s disco with a mirrorball, and an iPad to select your own music in the loos – such as Sister Sledge’s Lost in Music or Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive.
Gaz Smith opened the sister venue to Michael’s in Mount Merrion and the more casual Little Mike’s in October, and the restaurant serves his signature seafood platters and steak frites. The large bar out front is the perfect place for a pre-dinner cocktail or a glass of bubbles, and the restaurant is an excellent setting for that Christmas party if not yet organised.
– Mimi Murray
