This year the Halloween barmbracks made by Bewley's to their 100-year-old recipe come wrapped in a handsome beeswax wrapper. The wraps, which can be used as an eco-friendly alternative to cling film once the brack is finished, are being made by hand in the cafe's bakery, using off-cuts of cotton fabric and beeswax from Dingle.
They can be washed (in water up to 60 degrees) and reused, though they are not recommended for wrapping meat or eggs. In the Beweley’s bakery, they are used to cover yeast buns to prevent them drying out during their overnight prove.
The wrapping may have changed, but inside each brack you’ll still find the five traditional charms: a ring, a coin, a stick, a pea and a piece of fabric. The 1,200g family-sized brack costs €25, or €35 with the reusable beeswax wrapper.
Halloween themed Slane Whiskey cocktails, followed by a nine-course autumn tasting menu, will be on offer tomorrow (October 28th) in the third edition of the Supper Series at Charlotte Quay.
The restaurant at the water’s edge in Grand Canal Quay in Dublin 2 will be serving a game-heavy menu featuring quail and celeriac cannelloni, duck liver parfait, sika loin tartare, pigeon tostada, cured Mallard breast, game pithivier, gurnard, braised fallow shank and pumpkin and chocolate tart, for €40, including welcome drinks.
Cocktails are served from 4pm, with dinner at 6pm. Tickets can be booked at charlottequay.ie/cq-halloween/.
Heading west for the holiday weekend? Look out for activities connected with Connemara Sea Week (October 21st-29th), including a morning in the company of chef Michael O'Meara whose book Sea Gastronomy won the best seafood cookbook at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2016 and award winning wild fish smoker Sally Barnes of Woodcock Smokery. The event takes place tomorrow (October 28th) at noon and the venue is at Artisan House in Letterfrack. The €20 fee includes lunch and tickets must be booked in advance at ceecc.org.
Tickets are also on sale there for the community seafood dinner which takes place at the Courtyard Cafe in Letterfrack on Monday, October 29th, at 7pm. Local man Jonathan Keane, who is head chef at The Lodge at Ashford Castle, will be in the kitchen and the four-course dinner costs €30.
Serial restaurateur Joe Macken has devised a fun series of daily special offers for his chicken spot, Crackbird, on South William Street. On Mondays there is 50 per cent off food for pre-booked tables. On Tuesdays it's time for €6 gin and tonics. Wednesdays bring a bottomless wings for €15 person offer. On Thursdays you can roll the dice to win "birds, pitchers, pints and booby prizes".
Tables of five or more, booking after 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays, can get fed for €20 a head. On Sundays, from 5pm, €60 will get you a full chicken, dirty fried rice (much nicer than it sounds, with chicken, bacon, choriso and black beans), two sides, three sauces and a bottle of house wine or cocktail pitcher. There are also seven new bar snacks and small plates on the menu.
