One of Northern Ireland’s emerging chefs has been appointed by the new owners to head up the kitchens at Ardtara Country House….with buffalo meat top of his menu.

Eddie Attwell, 28, twice a Roux scholarship finalist, and who once worked in the kitchens at L’Enclume, a Michelin two-star restaurant in the English Lake District, was recruited by Browns Restaurant Group which has taken over the award winning 19th century manor on the edge of the Sperrin Mountains.

Co-owner & Head Chef of The Browns Group, Ian Orr said: “He has been on my radar for some time, probably since his first scholarship in 2012. He is innovative, exciting and passionate and just the sort of chef we need to maintain the Browns level of food and service at Ardtara”.

Ardtara, just outside the village of Upperlands, formerly the home of the Clark family, the world famous linen makers, is one of Northern Ireland finest rural accommodation and dining establishments and the choice of Attwell as head chef will be central to its future development with his new menu an important feature.

Attwell, originally from Craigavon, spent almost eight years in England after he left catering college. It was during his time at L’Enclume where he learned to grow herbs and forage. Dan Cox, executive chef at Claridges in London was one of his mentors and with eight acres of adjoining land, Ardtara’s chef wasted no time finding wild vegetables, including three types of mushrooms.

And he has already come up with his first meat speciality – prime cuts of water buffalo from a herd reared on a farm two miles from Magherafelt. Milk from the animals will also be used to make butter and cheese.

He said: “This is an unbelievable opportunity for me to make a major statement as a chef. Ardtara is the first place which I can really call home. I’m the person in charge. The buck stops with me and I’m out to make a serious impression.”

“I will be drawing heavily on local produce. I think I’ll be the first chef anywhere in Ireland who will be serving water buffalo. That should make for
interesting times and the fact that I’ve spent a considerable amount of time in my career growing and foraging will be an enormous benefit. There is plenty of mushrooms in the grounds at Ardtara and I plan to have my own garden to grow the herbs.

“It’s all about natural cooking and creating the right flavours. I’ve even been down to the shores of Strangford Lough to find a few varieties of sea herbs.”

Attwell who moved to his new job after a year at the Schoolhouse Restaurant, near Comber, Co Down added: “This is a massive challenge for me, it really is. Ian is a brilliant chef in his own right. He has placed his faith in me and I’m determined not to let him down.”

Orr who worked as a chef with the late Robbie Millar at Shanks near Bangor, and also at the River Café in London where Jamie Oliver first started, launched his restaurant business six years ago with co-owner Marcus Roulston. There are two Browns restaurants in Londonderry/Derry and one in Letterkenny and the purchase of their new premises in the Mid Ulster countryside represents another big investment.

Managing director Roulston said: “The purchase of Ardtara is part of the group’s long term strategy. It’s an establishment with a long and distinguished history, representing all that is good in first class accommodation and fine dining and having Eddie in charge of the kitchen is massively important for us. He is such an exciting young chef.”

The buffalo meat is coming from a herd reared by Michael O’Brien, a former beef farmer who decided four years ago to switch from cattle and develop a new commercial enterprise.

“Friends and neighbours agreed to take part in tasting sessions and the response has been 99.9% positive,” he said. “They loved it, especially the burgers which are low on fat and full of protein.”

Food critic Joris Minne said Orr had been instrumental in raising the North West culinary reputation in the last three years and his choice of Attwell to take charge of the kitchen will be key, he claimed.

He added: His arrival at Ardtara has already prompted glowing reviews from some of Belfast’s and Dublin’s most respected food bloggers. Ardtara represents the core of Ulster traditions and culture and Attwell’s cooking relies on the best local produce available. This means game, fish, beef, pork and poultry to rival anything in Ireland.”

Over the past 20 years, Ardtara Country House has hosted ‘romantic couples’, ‘golfing heroes’, ‘Nobel prize winners’, ‘Olympic champions’, ‘Hollywood celebrities’, as well as thousands of loyal locals while garnering kudos from discerning reviewers such as:

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELER (“One of the five best hotels in the country”),
The AA (“Most Romantic Hotel of the Year”),
CONDE NAST TRAVELER (“Offers superb fare and sublimely comfortable rooms each with a glowing fireplace”).

Ardtara has been a member of the prestigious ~Ireland’s Blue Book~ since 2004 (a collection of Irish Country House Hotels, Manor Houses, Castles and Restaurants);
www.ardtara.com

Nominations for the Irish Restaurant Awards 2015 are now open. Establishments do not have to be a member of the Restaurants Association of Ireland to enter. The nominations will be open until midnight on Sunday, 22nd February. These can be accessed on www.irishtimes.com/irishrestaurantawards. You have a chance to win three fabulous foodie breaks if you nominate before Sunday 22nd of February. One includes a two night stay for two sharing at the Maldron Hotel in Derry with dinner on one evening in the newly opened Pier 59 compliments of NITB. To find out some information on the judging process and how winners are selected at county, regional and national level please visit www.irishrestaurantawards.com

If your day starts with the sound of an alarm clock screeching in your ear, followed by a quick shower and a fast coffee then you are probably running on empty. Our adrenal glands sit right on top of our kidneys and are responsible for giving us our get-up-and-go and enthusiasm for life. The problem is that many of us are asking too much of our adrenals, so we feel wired and tired. Stressed, anxious, busy, rushed, but with no energy to get through the day without caffeine and sugar – sound familiar?

Nutritional Therapist and author Jane McClenaghan specialises in nutrition for adrenal stress support. Jane says ‘Often when people think about stress, they overlook how dietary factors could have a role to play in stress management. Make your diet a technique for balancing and managing stress, rather than a contributor to burn-out.’

Eating lots of sugary snacks and guzzling caffeinated drinks is a sure-fire way to kick off a rebound blood sugar and energy dip, triggering more adrenal hormone release. Our sugar intake has gone up from nearly zero for our ancestors to over 22 teaspoons a week. Caffeine consumption, which causes the release of adrenalin, has increased to an average of around 300mg a day. That’s about six cups of tea or three cups of coffee every day.

Jane believes that whilst diet is often a contributor to stress, it is also the one element we can control. Simple changes like not skipping breakfast, avoiding snacking when you feel tired, and avoiding sugary treats in lieu of proteins and slow-releasing carbs makes a big difference to our stress levels.

Here is what Jane suggests we eat on an average day to help support and nourish our adrenal glands:

Breakfast – start with a protein based breakfast to keep energy levels sustained. Try scrambled eggs with a grilled tomato, a few mushrooms and a generous helping of wilted spinach, or simply add a big handful of nuts and seeds to your daily porridge to help balance your adrenals.

Lunch – with more protein at breakfast, you won’t feel hungry until lunchtime. Ideally a great big super salad or a bowl of soup, served with a generous helping of protein will do the trick (try Quinoa Super Salad or my Thai Squash and Lentil soup from The Vital Nutrition Cookbook)

Dinner – make sure half your plate consists of vegetables and/or salad, a palm-size portion of protein and no more than one fistful of low GI carbs. One pot wonders are ideal, as they save time and energy, so I like curries, stews and tagines.

Snack – if you need a snack, then think protein! Don’t eat too much fruit and opt for veggies instead. Carrot sticks and houmous, oatcakes with sugar-free nut butter or natural yoghurt and berries would be ideal.

Vital Nutrition have teamed up with Patrick Holford to bring his Stress Cure tour to Belfast on Thursday 12^th March at the Agape Centre, Lisburn Road. Patrick will share his research into nutritional therapy for stress and explain how to build stress resilience to help you thrive, rather than merely survive, in the 21^st century.

The Stress Cure with Patrick Holford will be at the Agape Centre, Lisburn Road Belfast on Thursday 12 March 7pm. For more details on the Stress Cure (Piatkus, £13.99) and the nationwide seminars visit www.patrickholford.com/stresscure.

Vital Nutrition specialises in developing bespoke, tailor-made nutrition programmes to help you achieve 100% optimum health. For more details visit www.vital-nutrition.co.uk

Chocolate, asparagus and oysters are all said to have aphrodisiac properties, but with chocolate being a contributing factor to obesity, asparagus out of season and oysters not to everyone’s taste, are there better alternatives for your Valentine? Vital Nutrition’s Jane McClenaghan thinks so. Here Jane gives us the low-down on how diet can help boost your sex drive and bring back that loving feeling.

First up, cut right back on sugar. A diet high in refined carbs and sugar has been shown to affect libido in both men and women. If you are taking your lover out for dinner this Valentine, opt for a starter and main course over main and dessert and make a few careful choices from the menu to maximise your sex drive.

You have booked the restaurant, bought the flowers and are dressed to impress, so what’s on the menu for your romantic meal for two. We know it’s a cliché, but oysters could be the perfect starter. They have been shown to boost sex hormone levels and are packed full of zinc, which is one of the key nutrients for libido and fertility. If you can squeeze in a bit of watermelon there too, it is said to have Viagra-like effects due to a phytonutrient called citrulline that is reported to increase nitric acid levels, helping to deliver oxygen to that all important area!

Spice things up with a main course. A main meal packed with a few carefully chosen ingredients can boost dopamine levels to get you in the mood. Protein is essential for dopamine production, so stay off the carb-heavy meals like pizza or pasta and opt for a steak, fish or chicken instead. If you want to maximise your chances, choose some omega 3 rich oily fish like salmon, mackerel or trout, to help increase blood flow to your vital organs and throw in a few spices like cayenne, chilli, ginger, garlic, rosemary and tarragon, which are thought to help balance dopamine production in the brain. Don’t forget the local, seasonal veggies too.

And for afters… I will leave that to your imagination.

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Donnelly’s Bakery and Coffee Shop Ballycastle have won awards for their Ulster Fry in the UK and NI in the Best Breakfast Awards for the second year in a row .

Voted for by customers , Donnellys won Runner up for Best Hot Breakfast in the “Coffee Shop , Cafe or Farm Shop” category in the UK and gained top place in voting in the same category in NI .

Eugene Donnelly , Director Donnelly’s Bakery and Coffee Shop said . ” We are delighted to have won the award for the second year as a recognition of our product quality and customer satisfaction . Our traditional soda and potato breads are vital ingredients of the perfect Ulster Fry and being baked on the premises by experienced bakers every day no doubt sets our breakfast apart from the competition. Small businesses can go that extra mile to give customers what they want . ”

Paul Cochrane , Chair of the Ballycastle Chamber of Commerce commented
” Congratulations to Eugene and his staff for the high standard of service . Awards like this highlight the quality that small businesses can provide and how they compete at a national level and spread the word about our local products in the UK . Both local customers and visiting tourists can be assured of taste and quality ”

The awards were announced in ” Breakfast Week ” , organised By HGCA , which aims to encourage people to recognise the healthy benefits of eating breakfast Aregularly .

Research shows that eating breakfast gives you more energy , helps reduce stress and improves concentration and mood . However one in ten people never eat breakfast and some 25 % skip breakfast at least once a week .