The gourmet dimension to festival week

Forget your green rock buns and shamrock shakes

Forget your green rock buns and shamrock shakes. The ultimate snacks du jour for this year's St Patrick's Festival have a more sophisticated flavour, supplied by our Gallic neighbours at the French Market in Dublin.

The market, situated in the recently refurbished Wolfe Tone Square on Jervis Street, will offer festival-goers a tempting choice of treats including cremé brule, Toulouse sausage, perri cider, crepes, venison and olives.

The addition of continental class will do nothing to take from the essential elements of festival food - it's hot and you get to eat on the side of the street.

The French Market is run by a traders' association, formed 15 years ago and based in Normandy. The festival is the market's first Irish appearance but may not be its last, according to Celine De Meyer of Eurofruit. The reaction of customers has been positive, says Ali Chbon, who runs Cochon D'Or (Golden Pig).

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It is open between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. until tomorrow. Unfortunately, that means it's not there for St Patrick's Day.

Olivia Kelly

Olivia Kelly

Olivia Kelly is Dublin Editor of The Irish Times