Hot Flavours: Cork On A Fork Fest, Dubai Chocolate, Knight's Bar and more

The tasty lineup has been announced for the Cork On A Fork Fest, which returns to the Real Capital from August 13-17.

The numerous highlights include the VG Shared Table which will find 450 people dining communally on MacCurtain Street; an artisan market at St. Peter’s curated by On The Pig’s Back; Emmet Place Festival Stage demos by the likes of Clodagh McKenna and Takashi Miyazaki; street events on Union Quay lead by L’Atitude 51; a free International Tea Ceramony and more cooking demos at Nano Nagle place; and a Sailing, Shucking & Sea Shanties maritime tour with lots of oysters.

Photo: Joleen Cronin

Meanwhile tickets are on sale for Taste Of Dublin, which descends on Merrion Square from June 12-15 with Bigfan, Parrilla, Little Geno’s, Shalu Maku, Bites By Kwanghi, Bovinity, Daata, Nomo Ramen, Chimac, The Salt Project, Bar Italia, Dosa Dosa and King Sitric among the participating restaurants.

June 22 finds the Bodytonic crew throwing an all-day Brazilian Festa Junina party in The Lighthouse, Dún Laoghaire.

We’re told to expect “Feijão tropeiro, caipirinhas, petisco, coxinhas, traditional games, Brazilian country music, Hopfully beer, DJs and more.” Tickets are available here.

While the Hot Flavours verdict is that it’s desperately over-hyped, there’s good news for lovers of Dubai chocolate who don’t want to have to remortgage the house every time they buy a bar.

As of last week, a Lindt version of the pistachio nut, sweet kadayif pastry and milk chocolate bestseller is available in Dunnes and Tesco.

At €12.50 for a 145g bar it’s still not cheap but some aficionados are saying it’s ever better than the real thing.

“We’re always tapped into consumer trends and after we saw how well the Dubai chocolate craze went down on social media, we knew we had to get involved and create our own recipe/version,” Lindt’s Stefan Bruderer says.

Following the pause on Dublin Airport’s passenger cap, Air Canada has extended the relaunch of its Dublin-Vancouver service.

Originally planned as being June-September, you’ll now be able to grab some West Coast action from May-October with industry whispers that it might go year-round due to demand.

The local delicacies include wild Pacific Salmon, Dungeness Crab, flaky pastry Butter Tarts, JapaDog frankfurters which are smothered in teriyaki, seaweed, miso and wasabi mayo, and Bannock, an Indigenous bread which stars in the local take on tacos.

Then there’s poutine, the Quebecois crispy fries, cheese curds and rich gravy combo which Vancouverites uniquely enjoy with lobster and/or truffle oil.

JapaDog

Team Hot Press was delighted to renew acquaintances this month with Knight’s Bar, the gastropub offering from the Clontarf Castle Hotel which is one our favourite northside boltholes.

The bold, earthy Ardsallagh Goat’s Cheese with Chestnut and Forest Mushrooms on Toast is the pick of the starters; the Tandoori Spiced Buttermilk Chicken with Charred Flatbread, Kashmiri Chilli Slaw, Pickled Onions and Mint & Roasted Mango Mayo steals the meaty mains honours; and Seared Fillet Of North Atlantic Salmon with Summer Greens, Samphire, Heritage Potatoes and Lemon Butter Sauce the fishy go-to.

As for dessert, order the Salted Caramel Cheesecake and send us “thank you” flowers afterwards!

Our pal Neil Hamburger may have made a comedic career out of serially rinsing them, but Hot Flavours is chuffed that the Taco Bell Mexican fast food chain is coming to Ireland in partnership with Applegreen.

Hopefully they’ll be bringing their Cantina Chicken Quesadillas and Beef Chalupa Supremes with them!

The first motorway service station outlet will open this summer, location TBA, with more being rolled as part of a five-year plan to boost Applegreen’s culinary offerings.