16 July 2008
Taste of Dublin
Taste of Dublin took place in the ever-wonderful Iveagh Gardens just off Harcourt Street, behind the National Concert Hall, 12-15 June. Up until now, every year I have greatly desired to go there but for some reason I always seem to be particularly financially challenged in early June. However, this year I was fortunate enought to receive a pair of tickets as a gift from a friend who worked there.
I have gone to a variety of food and wine fairs in Dublin with great expectations, and despite usually having a reasonably decent time, come out with a twinge of disappointment. They have left me with a feeling of half-heartedness on behalf of the organisers, or, when sincere enthusiasm has been evident, simply a lack of resources. Imagine my surprise, then, when I walked through the gate to the garden and found myself an Alice in a foodie Wonderland impressive even in any international scale. It was all white marquees, smiling and professional representatives, flowing wine and plentiful tidbits of delightful food. There were none of those awkward empty stalls, elsewhere all-too-evident of an exhibitor not turning up, and no tabletops with only a few apologetic little leaflets, or reps more interested in chatting to each other than to the punters.
Admittedly, the glass of champagne I was presented with at the first stall I went to was likely greatly responsible for a good deal of my enjoyment. Alas, it was my only taste of anything alcoholic during the event, as I was driving. Next year, I will be taking the public transport, the convenience of a private car aside. There was too much to be experimented with, and in any case watching one’s friends get merry when one’s own mouth is dry gets old very quickly.
Instead of your bog standard euros, the event used “Florins” as its currency. I had hoped for plastic or wooden tokens, but instead the Florins turned out to be tickets in a small booklet. Regardless, they appeared to have the doubtlessly desired “It’s not real money” effect, and people seemed to be almost carelessly willing to hand them over for food and drink, and when they ran out, they exchanged real money for more. I had to be strict with myself. I decided in advance how much I was going to spend and somehow managed to stick to the limit. The aforementioned inability to go mad with wine was probably crucial.
I had entertained some notions of keeping an eye out for particular restaurants to try out, but in practice it turned out that the best way to go about things was simply to wander around, soak in the atmosphere, watch and pick out something as the mood took you. I will not go into detail regarding whose supplies we tried and what we thought about them, as this is a review of the event itself rather than individual participants. Sufficient to say that what we had was good, summery and cheerful.
This being Ireland, it would be too much to ask to have a summery event without precipitation. Rain fell for a while, but it did not manage to dampen the mood. Raincoat sellers wandered around and people simply gathered under the marquees - that is, those who were more bothered by the dampness than we were did.
The Taste of… festivals seem to have spawned others. Not at all sufficiently publicised, a Taste Kildare (note the lack of the possessive) event will take place in the Victorian walled Garden of K Club in Straffan on 17 August. It is a free event, and I must confess feeling a little cynical about it in advance. I will, however, most certainly be attending, in the hope that the taste of Dublin did not completely spoil me.