Diners 'on cloud nine' as Long Table event showcases best of Cork produce on MacCurtain Street
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A big gamble paid off handsomely on a warm Wednesday evening for the hospitality practitioners of the VQ area of Cork City as 400 lucky diners experienced a rare opportunity to be wined and dined al fresco-style on a table running the length of MacCurtain Street.
The Long Table initiative is a flagship event for the ongoing Cork on a Fork food festival which continues until Sunday evening, August 18.
As we live through one of the most wildly unpredictable summers in living memory, the notion of planning such an ambitious outdoor event seemed increasingly perilous and the decision to go ahead was only confirmed the day before as the organisers put their faith in a combination of trust in weather analysis technology and even a bit of old school faith in the meteorological magic of the Child of Prague.
While the dinner would still have gone ahead in the event of bad weather, plan B would have resulted in moving the entire affair indoors into the Metropole Hotel. And, with the best will in the world, they could never have hoped to replicate the unique and joyous charm of this very special event and celebration of the newly refurbished centre of what is now undoubtedly a true epicurean heartland of the city.
Guests entered the enclosed dining area in the centre of the street where a 167m (550ft) table, longer than three Olympic swimming pools, ran along the length of the street and enjoyed pre-dinner drinks courtesy of sponsors, Birra Moretti, Rebel City Distillery, and West Cork Distillers, while lapping up live entertainment from a bevy of opera singers and a live jazz band.
Almost 50 waiters served up a five-course menu including delights such as West Cork lobster, Clonakilty black pudding (another major sponsor) tostadas, Low & Slow Glenbrook Farm rare breed free range pork, and West Cork strawberries.
Some 14 front runners from the VQ hospitality group, including nine restaurants (Glass Curtain, Cask, Eco-Fish, Paladar, Thompson’s, Isaac’s, Gabriel House, The Dean and The Metropole) united for a collaborative dinner served on sharing plates, with 22 chefs prepping in their own restaurants and then heading to The Metropole Hotel, using it as a base to apply the finishing touches and ferry the multiple dishes out to waiting guests.
Ensuring a variety of beverages, alcoholic and otherwise, were readily on hand to wash the fine fare down were teams from two of MacCurtain Street’s most renowned pubs, The Shelbourne and Gallagher’s, along with one of the city’s most popular wine bars, MacCurtain Wine Cellar and the ever-popular Son of a Bun burger restaurant.
The meal was a hit — as was the unique way it was consumed.
Ryan O'Sullivan, the Cork-born winner of Hell's Kitchen USA, said: "Never in my life did I think I'd come back to Cork and wind up sitting in the middle of MacCurtain Street eating such an incredible meal. This to me is the epitome of what Cork food is about, and it's not even about food, it's about the people, around the table and the people cooking and serving our food. It's Cork through and through, it's the definition of hospitality at its finest and I'm sitting here with my mother across the table. She's on cloud nine!"
Heralding the event as a success, the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Dan Boyle said, "Food is not only to be enjoyed it is to be celebrated, what we are happening here is a perfect example of the entire Cork food network in action on the plate from farm to fork."
Liam Maher, Chair of the VQ, added, "It's been a fantastic opportunity to showcase the fabulous food and drink offering in the VQ, in such a unique festival atmosphere on the rejuvenated street. It's a magnificent expression of what we do all year round in this new heartland of Cork hospitality."