Step Up To The Plate - Workshop for Publicans in the Northwest on 3rd May 2018

Although the tourism trade in the north west of Ireland is booming, there are still many pubs within the industry who feel under siege from a decline in alcohol sales and a drop off in pub use by millennials. In response to this, one-day workshop has been planned for Thursday, May 3rd in the LYIT Tourism College, Killybegs, to help publicans Step Up To The Plate!


The addition of simple tasty food offerings can help rejuvenate your public house and the use of modern social media can help bring your business a whole new customer base that is looking for more than just a pint.

Organiser, Mary McGettigan from the Taste of Donegal, said “We are only too aware that with tourism figures rising, publicans have a golden opportunity to seize the moment and diversify by offering low cost tapa style food, complimented with wines, craft beers and barista style coffees.”

Fellow organiser, Hugh O’Donnell, a well-known publican and chef said “The time has come for publicans to take the step into providing light, easy to assemble plates of food, aimed at daytime tourists looking for an authentic local food experience. It’s a very lucrative market and pubs are ideally located to take advantage of this gap in the market.”



Publicans attending the workshop will be shown a range of easy to prepare dishes by top chef, Peter Campbell, formerly of Cafe Bang and the Village Tavern. Recipes will be emailed to all participants.

There will be a simultaneous wine tasting and food pairing by Wine Direct and a demonstration on producing a barista quality coffee, using an automated coffee machine, by Clint Walsh from Johnsons Coffee. 




After lunch, the focus will switch to creating and managing a digital footprint for the pub business. Participants will be offered a custom-made website, built on a mobile phone platform with an eCommerce facility, presented by Craig Murray, Dublin, winner of 2017 Huffington post online marketing award.
To ensure the website is fully used and managed, top media guru, Michael Gallagher from Maud Communications will create and manage your social media pages, link and manage your website content for a very reasonable weekly fee, exclusively on offer to course participants.  


Included in this package is an innovative new app that allows anyone globally to buy their family and friends a drink in your pub. An ideal way to make pubs relevant for birthdays and celebrations. 
“The day starts early at 9.30am, but we guarantee that by afternoon those attending will go home with an action plan to increase sales and gross profit,” added Hugh O'Donnell.

The organisers are inviting publicans from all over the northwest to attend this important workshop. Bookings are by
texting "Request To Attend Workshop" with your name and contact number to 087 7975704.
A fee is €50 per participant is payable on the day at registration. 

Contacts:  Hugh O’Donnell 0877975704 or Mary McGettigan 0871777140

Zack

Chef Swap at Aniar, Galway, to continue through 2018

The very successful "Chef Swap at Aniar" programme continues into and throughout 2018 and will see more acclaimed international and Irish guest chefs collaborating with Chef/Owner JP McMahon in his Michelin-starred Aniar Restaurant in Galway, Ireland, on different weekend dates throughout 2018.

Chef Christophe Dufau of Michelin star Les Bacchanales restaurant, Vence, France
is coming to Aniar, in Galway, on the 15th and 16th June

Danni Barry, formerly of Michelin star Deanes Eipic, Belfast, and now leading the kitchen at Clenaghans Restaurant, Craigavon, was on the 9th and 10th February; Amanda Cohen of cutting-edge New York City vegetable restaurant Dirt Candy was on the 6th and 7th April; Christophe Dufau of Michelin star Les Bacchanales restaurant, Vence, France is coming on the 15th and 16th June; and rising Russian star Stanislav Pesotskiy of Björn, a new Nordic restaurant in Moscow, will be cooking at Aniar on the 16th and 17th November. Gunnar Karl Gíslason from Michelin star, new Nordic Restaurant Dill in Reykjavík, Iceland is also due to join JP in the Aniar kitchen in 2018 at a date to be confirmed.

ChefSwap at Aniar Galway features Danni Barry, Stanislav Pesotskiy and Amanda Cohen among others

JP McMahon said, "Chef Swap is a wonderful way of visiting chefs to learn more about the produce we have here in Ireland. As part of the experience, I travel with each chef to visit local producers and experience how the produce is harvested. On the other hand, for the team in Aniar and our guests, it gives us an insight into each chef’s unique way of cooking and every time is a surprise. Many chefs bring signature dishes to their menu while challenging themselves to use Irish ingredients. Feedback, both from our guests who book dinner and from the visiting chefs, has been overwhelmingly positive so it’s exciting to extend the programme into 2018.”



The Chef Swap at Aniar programme, which started in 2017, has innovation, education and the strengthening of Irish food at its centre.

In 2017, Aniar welcomed guest chefs Ross Lewis of Chapter One, Dublin; Sasu Laukkonen, now of Ora, Helsinki; Nathan Outlaw of Outlaw’s at the Capital, London, and Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen, Port Isaac; Syrco Bakker of Pure C, The Netherlands; Alexandre Silva of LOCO, Lisbon; Benoit Dewitte of Restaurant Benoit Dewitte, Ghent; Daniel Burns of Luksus-Tørst, Brooklyn; and Adam Reid of The French, Manchester.

The 2018 Chef Swap at Aniar programme kicked off in February 2018 and each of the Chef Swap at Aniar dinner menus follow the same menu format as the regular Aniar tasting menus - 6 courses at 65 euro, 8 courses at 85 euro, or 10 courses at 110 euro.

For more information and reservations see www.aniarrestaurant.ie, or phone +353 (0)91 535947.

Follow Chef Swap at Aniar on Twitter - #ChefSwap | @chef_swap

Zack