ISLAND LIFE
InishBofin is the place to be for good food and craic on September 30th- October 2nd, when the island's Bia Bo Finne food festival takes place. There is a full programme of food and drink events, and chef and event caterer Neil Shirt, who holidays on the island regularly, will run cookery demos and host a Ready, Steady, Cook challenge. "Previously I have demonstrated Bofin mackerel, lamb and crab, each five ways, so it's time for the humble InishBofin pollock five ways this year," he says. Two nights B&B and one dinner at one of three hotels on the island, and festival tickets, costs €149 per person (book with the Dolphin, InishBofin or Doonmore hotels); weekend tickets are €35, one-day €15. Biabofinne.ie
ALZHEIMER'S COOK-UP
Five restaurants, from Cork to Cavan, via Adare, Lisdoonvarna and Dublin, are joining forces with interpreter/translator and food lover Manuela Spinelli, to support an Alzheimer's disease fundraiser. Greenes restaurant in Cork (October 4th), 1826 in Adare (October 5th), Burren Storehouse in Lisdoonvarna (October 6th), the Olde Post Inn in Cavan (October 7th) and Chapter One in Dublin (October 9th) are each hosting a dinner or lunch for #SightForHungryEyes, a project aiming to raise funds for families affected by the disease.
Chef Cristina Giacomelli, whose father Renato Giacomelli is an eyewear producer in Italy who has Alzheimer's, will help cook. Diners will have the opportunity to purchase a pair of La Giacoma sunglasses, designed by her, the proceeds of whose sales will directly benefit the families of Alzheimer's patients in each of the five counties the restaurants are located in. Spinelli met Giacomelli through Luciano Tona, who consults for Osteria Lucio in Dublin and he too will help cook at the events. For tickets, contact the restaurants.
RECIPE SAGA
A cookbook that tells a story as well as sending you rushing to the kitchen to try out a recipe can be deemed a success. If it's a beautiful thing to look at too, well, that's a bonus, and The Palomar Cookbook is gorgeous (Mitchell Beazley, £25). Cookbooks don't often have the immediacy that springs from these pages, but London's Palomar, a Middle Eastern restaurant in Soho that draws from southern Spain and north Africa, is different. "In this house we are mongrels, second- and third-generation immigrants who have adopted London and are united by our passion for food," writes Layo Paskin.
