2008 Award Winners FEILE BIA AWARD 2008

The Chart House Restaurant

Each year, in the Guide, we single out for the Féile Bia Award an establishment that we feel is interpeting the Féile Bia message especially well and not only putting into practice the principles of Quality Assurance and traceability, but doing so in a creative and pro-active manner, with the  enthusiastic inclusion of local and speciality foods on their menus.

Jim McCarthy’s renowned restaurant way out in Dingle is one of the many reasons people head west along the peninsula  –  head chef Noel Enright, who has earned national respect for sourcing superb ingredients and having the confidence to keep the cooking simple, leads a talented kitchen team: his menus are based on the best of fully traceable local ingredients, sometimes in dishes with an international tone - a superb speciality starter of Annascaul black pudding is wrapped in filo pastry, and served with apple & date chutney and hollandaise sauce, for example - while other dishes are just gently updated. Rack of Kerry mountain lamb is a favourite, perhaps simply  accompanied by a fondant potato, redcurrant and rosemary jus.

Accurate, confident cooking lends these traditional foods a new character, and a large selection - perhaps half a dozen or more - of simple, perfectly cooked local vegetables are the ideal complement.  And, of course, a bottle of Chateau McCarthy.