Ireland's Biggest Street Food Festival takes place in Letterkenny on 28th & 29th July 2018

The Letterkenny Artisan Market and The Lemon Tree Restaurant Letterkenny are presenting their latest two-day Street Food Festival, in the heart of Letterkenny this weekend! The 2018 "Off The Street" Food Festival takes place in a new even bigger location this year, behind The Orchard Inn in Letterkenny, this Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th of July.

The organisers Derek Walker and Chris Molloy say the festival is back with an even bigger and better programme of fun events on the 28th & 29th July in a brand new location behind The Orchard Inn, on the High Road, Letterkenny.

Street Food, can be described as "restaurant quality food, prepared and cooked right in front of you and presented with imagination and flair". Letterkenny Street Food Festival is a vibrant and exciting event where you can to meet up with friends to enjoy some excellent food in a casual, fun way. You can move from stall to stall, chatting with the chefs and watching your food being cooked in front of you!

There are dozens of exciting activities scheduled from chef demonstrations to producer stories, a new wellness corner, over 30 Donegal street food vendors and a selection of local music.

Kenny Maguire of Ken Maguire Demos is providing the ultimate audience experience for the festivals with his state of the art Kitchen Demo Stage complete with large screen TV & Sound system. Donegal chef Zack Gallagher from the Irish Food Guide along with Highland Radio DJ Jimmy Stafford will be keeping things moving in the demo marquee.

Cooking Demonstrations will also be taking place over the whole weekend and the organisers have brought together some of the top chefs from Donegal. Some are working locally and some have moved away to open their own businesses around the country.

Executive Chef for Airbnb, Maurice Mc Geehan 

Chefs on stage over the weekend include Maurice Mc Geehan, Executive Chef for Airbnb EMEA headquarters in Dublin - Brian Mc Monagle, currently heads the kitchen at Arnold's Hotel, Dunfanaghey and Pauline Sugrue, local food enthusiast, full-time chef and part-time blogger.

Also appearing are John and Shane McConnell, award winning butchers in Ballybofey - Joe & Brenda O'Hora, owners of Benny & Co.in Ballybofey - Gary Mc Peake, Head Chef of McGrory's in Culdaff - Martin Anderson, local celebrity chef and owner of Sonder Cafe in Letterkenny - Chris Mc Menamin, Head Chef at Harvey's Point - Colin McKee, Chef at The Restaurant, Harveys Point and Mary Mc Laughlin, Pallas Foods Pastry Chef.

Chef Brian McDermott will be cooking up more delicious Donegal food

This year the organiser are also delighted to welcome back to Donegal, chef Kwanghi Chan, Chef, Food Producer & Owner of Chan Chan Sauce Co. - Paul Brady, Head Chef of the award winning Castlegrove Country House and special guest Chef Brian McDermott, champion of all things Donegal and chef-proprietor of the newly-restored Foyle Hotel in Moville.

There are a huge variety of food stalls selling amazing freshly cooked street, local produce & much more. The two day festival also includes performances of live music by local musicians and you will also get to hear the stories behind some of Donegal’s best local food producers.

The Off the Street Food Festival is an excellent celebration of the vibrant Donegal Food scene, with something for the whole family and a weekend not to be missed!

The 2018 "Off The Street" Food Festival takes place in a new location thus year, behind The Orchard Inn Letterkenny, this Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th of July. See their website www.offthestreetfoodfest.com Check out their Facebook Here and Follow them on Twitter @LKfoodFest

It's going to be a great weekend! See you There!
Zack

Irish Seafood to Top the Bill at Seafood Rocks 2018 this weekend in Clogherhead, Co. Louth

SEAFOOD ROCKS 2018 is an amazing family festival, being held this weekend (13th, 14th & 15th July) in Clogherhead, Co. Louth, to celebrate a love for the Sea, for Food & for Irish Culture!

Organised Red Fish Events, a company founded by David Bradley and Damien Kierans, the Seafood Rocks 2018 festival is offering a bountiful weekend full of movies, music, kids and family entertainment, competitions, adventure zones, street performers, street art, magicians, drama, dancing and an unrivalled selection of delicious seafood offerings.

One of the aims of the festival is to help promote Clogherhead and the surrounding areas by providing a platform for local produce and talent to be celebrated and this is reflected in everything from the food, the bands, the food producers and all the other entertainment over the weekend.

Family Entertainment will consist of Artisan Seafood Food Market, Workshops, an Open Air Movie, Comedy, Loads of Live Music provided by local musicians, a fully licensed Bar serving Irish Craft Beers and much more! The organisers are especially proud of the huge line-up of local bands from the region who are playing on the various stages over the weekend.

The heartbeat of Clogherhead is it’s fishing industry and this sets a unique seafood theme for the festival. The Clogherhead Fishermen's Co-Op have rallied in behind the festival team with their full support and are providing the base ingredients for all the cooking demonstrations over the weekend!

The Co-op has a core offering of their famous Clogherhead Prawns and also there will also be whitefish dishes including monkfish, cod and hake. Talks, workshops and discussions about sustainable fishing and seafood will be hosted throughout the weekend with some excellent guest contributors.

Kenny Maguire, of Kenny Maguire Demos and Zack Gallagher, of The Irish Food Guide, have been brought on board to help with organising The Clogherhead Fisherman's Co-Op Food Theatre over the weekend and have helped bring together a fabulous line-up of Chefs, Nutritionists, Foodies and Friends who will demonstrate how to best cook up delicious seafood dishes. They include chef Tara Walker (East Coast Cookery School), Jenny Maltese & Tom Coleman (My Nutrition Ireland), Zack Gallagher (The Irish Food Guide), Killian O'Donohue (Boyne Valley Hotel), Graham Clarke (Fifty4 Seafood Bar) along with other local guest chefs!

Tara Walker, Tom Coleman and Jenny Maltese are among the guest Chefs at Seafood Rocks 2018

The Food Theatre is also hosting local and national food producers exhibiting a wide variety of Cheese, Condiments, Jams, Chutneys, Chocolates, Salad Dressings, Artisan Roasted Coffee, Oils, Salts, Cream Liqueurs, Craft Makers and many more!

To help highlight the growing problem of plastics in the sea, Seafood Rocks 2018 is reducing the amount of plastics and non-biodegradable waste on-site. there are composting bins for all food waste, and the piece de resistance is be a giant octopus over 7m high, made entirely from reclaimed plastics and marine waste.

The Giant Octopus at Seafood Rocks 2018 was made from recycled fishing equipment
and plastic reclaimed from the sea by local groups and schools. 

Seafood Rocks 2018, this weekend (13th, 14th & 15th July) in Clogherhead, Co. Louth, is gearing up to be a festival definitely not to be missed! Tickets for Seafood Rocks 2018 can be found here.

For even more info check out their website www.SeafoodRocks.ie You can follow Seafood Rocks Festival on your favourite social media: Facebook, Twitter and on Instagram and keep an eye on the hashtag #SFR2018

I'm looking forward to the weekend at Seafood Rocks 2018 and I hope to see you there too!
Zack

Irish Beef from Dunnes Stores Simply Better range Wins Gold at World Steak Challenge 2018

Ireland was once again recognised as a producer of world class beef at the World Steak Challenge which saw 22 countries participating in these renowned awards. Dunnes Stores Simply Better Irish Angus Steaks took home three major awards at the event in London on the 5th July.

The Gold Winner Simply Better 28 Day Matured Irish Angus Rib Eye Steak

The Simply Better 28 Day Matured Irish Angus Rib Eye Steak picked up the prestigious Gold and Silver awards, with the Simply Better 14 Day Matured Irish Angus Fillet Steak honoured with a Bronze award. This is the fourth consecutive year for Simply Better Steaks to be recognised at the World Steak Challenge.

The World Steak Challenge judging panel was made up of international industry experts including top butchers, food journalists and meat scientists. Each steak was given a score based on its appearance, aroma, colour, marbling and consistency of fat trim, with the Gold winners progressing to the next stage where the meat was judged after being cooked to an exact temperature and specification by expert chefs.

Chef Neven maguire is an Ambassador for the Dunnes Stores Simply Better brand

The Simply Better Collection is one of the most successful food brands in Ireland with over 320 national and international awards since it was established in 2013, which is the most awards for any Irish food brand. Last night’s success brings the number of awards for the Simply Better Irish Angus Beef range to over 15, with previous awards received at The Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste Awards, the Irish Quality Food Awards, Blas na hEireann and PLMA’s Salute to Excellence Awards.

Diarmuid Murphy, Simply Better Brand Manager, said, “We are absolutely thrilled that our Simply Better Irish Angus Steaks have been named some of the world’s best steaks. We are proud to source our Irish Angus Beef from Jennings in Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo, and it comes only from Bord Bia Approved Quality Assured Irish Farms. Our dedicated team of butchers in Tendermeats carefully select and mature our beef to ensure it always delivers on flavour, and this recognition from the World Steak Challenge is a testimony to our commitment to sourcing only the best Irish Angus Beef for our customers.”

The Simply Better 14 Day Matured Irish Angus Fillet Steak

All of the Award Winning Products which are part of the Simply Better Collection are available in selected Dunnes Stores nationwide.  For more information on the Dunnes Stores Simply Better Collection visit www.dunnesstores.com or on social media - @simplybetterds.