Leaders of the world’s most powerful countries dined on delicacies from Northern Ireland at the G8 summit in County Fermanagh on Monday.

The eight G8 prime ministers and presidents were joined by European Commission and Council presidents Jose Manuel Barroso and Herman van Rompuy at the end of the first day of the summit.

The 10 statesmen had a working dinner of Kilkeel crab, prawn and avocado salad, roast fillet and braised shin of Kettyle beef, with artichokes and Comber new potatoes.

It was followed by apple crumble with Bushmills whiskey custard.

Source i.e. BBC News Northern Ireland Website

Belfast’s Mayor calls on local businesses to sign up and get involved

A major, week-long, citywide initiative designed to promote great Belfast food and champion the City’s diverse and award-winning choice of restaurants, cafés and gastro-pubs is to return for a second year, it was confirmed today.

Spearheaded by new Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, and supported by Belfast City Council, Visit Belfast and DARD, Belfast Restaurant Week 2013 kicks off on Saturday October 5th with a week long programme of celebratory events, specially-designed menu options and offers, as well as food-focused events – all which will celebrate the city’s vibrant restaurant scene.

Belfast Restaurant Week is part of a dedicated tourism development initiative by Belfast City Council and Visit Belfast to promote the city’s restaurant and hospitality sector by boosting footfall and spend and by doing so supporting and growing local jobs.

The Lord Mayor, Councillor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, said:

“Belfast is home to a great range of restaurants, from fine dining to homely cafés and fashionable bistros. Our city also boasts some of the most dedicated chefs and food heroes, many with award-winning credentials which regularly attract national media attention and recognition.  Belfast Restaurant Week aims to encourage residents, local businesses and visitors to eat out, try something new and support great Belfast food.” 

“The hospitality and restaurant sector supports many thousands of jobs both directly and indirectly.  Last year’s inaugural event provided a focus for the local industry to encourage people to come in to the city to enjoy the food, the value and the fun. We want to build on the success of 2012 this year and increase the contribution which Belfast Restaurant Week makes to the local economy.”

In 2012, more than 80 businesses got behind the food festival. A burst of more than 30 foody events also took place, allowing local restaurateurs, chefs and managers to showcase what was a mouth-watering variety of dishes and gastronomic styles.

These specially-arranged events included food and wine tastings, tasty treat giveaways, cookery demonstrations and celebrity chef cook-offs.

With the vital support from the local hospitality industry, this year’s Belfast Restaurant Week promises to offer a bumper programme.  Belfast City Council is working with Visit Belfast to encourage dining establishments of all types and sizes to be part of the week-long event.

The Lord Mayor added:

“Be it a family-run café, a gastro pub, bistro or a fine dining restaurant, if you’re passionate about quality local produce, great atmosphere and top class customer service, we want you to get involved. We need our local, hard-working restaurateurs, chefs, managers and staff to make this year’s Belfast Restaurant Week something we can all proud of.”

Gerry Lennon, Chief Executive of Visit Belfast, which is coordinating the marketing and promotion of the event, said:

“The success of Belfast Restaurant Week is proof that Belfast’s vibrant restaurant and local food scene is growing in reputation.  There’s a huge appetite for eating out and I’m confident that together, as an industry and as valued consumers, we can really celebrate and enjoy the magnificent choice, value, style, ambiance and hospitality that this city now offers to an established – and new – generation of diners, from near and far.”

“This is a golden opportunity for us all to dip our knives and forks into the absolute best the city’s restaurants, and food-providing pubs have to offer.”

Belfast Restaurant Week is supported by Belfast City Council, Visit Belfast, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board.

Michelle O’Neill MLA, Minister of the Department for Agriculture and Rural Development, said:

“Belfast Restaurant Week is an ideal platform from which to promote the role which quality, locally-produced food plays in developing this city’s world class reputation for dining. Our food produce is renowned for its quality and taste and I’m delighted that this initiative is helping to champion this to as wide an audience as possible.”

Restaurants keen to take part in Belfast Restaurant Week 2013, which runs from October 5th – 12th, are encouraged to register their interest before the July 5th deadline by visiting www.visit-belfast.com/brw or contacting Visit Belfast 028 9023 9026 / reception@visit-belfast.com

The Culloden Estate and Spa have a recent development in the form of a herb garden. Click on the following link to view the short film exhibiting this exciting new herb garden….www.youtube.com/watch

Paul McKnight, Executive Head Chef at the Culloden Estate & Spa harvests a selection of herbs from the new herb garden located in the grounds of the 5-star hotel. Hastings Hotels is dedicated to using the freshest local produce and you can’t get any fresher or more local than growing herbs in its own garden. The Culloden’s chefs pick a range of culinary herbs daily to meet their needs for flavouring and garnishing and in the creation of aromatic oils and vinegars to complement the seasonal dishes served in The Mitre restaurant while bar staff use some of the herbs for the cocktails in the new Crozier Lounge. Guests are free to visit the herb Garden at any time, but a stroll at dusk or in the early morning will awaken the senses as the fragrant herbs aromas fill the air.

Belfast Restaurant Week 2013 

It’s back! The city’s second Belfast Restaurant Week, an initiative brought to you by Belfast City Council in partnership with Visit Belfast and supported by DARD and NITB, will take place from Saturday 5 until Saturday 12 October 2013.

The event aims to encourage residents, local businesses and visitors to eat out, try something new and support great Belfast food.

With special menus designed to suit all tastes and budgets, and food events in restaurants and throughout the city, Belfast’s already vibrant restaurant scene promises to be buzzing day and night with food lovers from near and far.

Get involved

We’re recruiting up to 100 restaurants from throughout the city to be part of Belfast Restaurant Week 2013, from family run cafés to gastro pubs and fine dining restaurants.

If you offer a sit down dining experience and are passionate about quality local produce, great atmosphere and top class customer service, then we would like you to be a part of it!

Register and find out more

Participating restaurants must;

offer a sit-down dining experience;

be located within the Belfast City Council area;

have a Food Hygiene Rating of 3 or above (FSA); and

provide a Belfast Restaurant Week menu or event.

Promotional campaign

Belfast Restaurant Week 2013 will be promoted by Visit Belfast from June to October in Belfast, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and will include:

Advertising – For example TV, radio, outdoor and press advertising.

Website – Dedicated Belfast Restaurant Week section on visit-belfast.com (with 900,000 visits per year) featuring participating restaurants, events and competitions.

Promotions and leaflets – Tactical promotions and early leaflet distribution through 200 outlets.

PR and press activity – Local media, tourism media, food publications, bloggers and press FAMs.

Social media – Campaign and competitions targeting over 100,000 social media followers.

Email marketing – Email campaigns to Visit Belfast members, local businesses, tour operators, press, travel trade and other tourism agencies and partners as well as our consumer database.

Benefits

Participating restaurants will receive;

A listing on the Belfast Restaurant Week section of the Visit Belfast site and an opportunity to promote details of your specific Belfast Restaurant Week event or menu.

Branded Belfast Restaurant Week point of sale display material e.g. window sticker, badges, flyers, Restaurant Week card, and a marketing tool kit to support your own in-house promotion of Belfast Restaurant Week to existing customers.

Email artwork with Belfast Restaurant Week branding which can be used to promote the event to your customer database.

Opportunity to get involved in PR activity, press releases and inward press FAM activity in NI, ROI and GB markets which will feature member restaurants as appropriate.

Opportunity to get involved in Belfast Restaurant Week social media activity.

As well as a discounted participation fee, Visit Belfast members will also receive a listing within our new Belfast Food Guide.

The booklet will be distributed to the local market as well as business and leisure tourists, ensuring that Belfast’s rich culinary offering and eateries continue to be promoted beyond the Belfast Restaurant Week event.

A digital version will also be available on our visit-belfast.com website and Visit Belfast app.

Registration fee

Visit Belfast members: £100

Non-members: £150

If you would like to register more than one restaurant, group discounts will apply to the above rates (3 or more restaurants 25% discount, 5 or more restaurants 50% discount).

More information

If you would like to know more about taking part in Belfast Restaurant Week 2013, go to

visit-belfast.com/brw

You can also contact our Membership Manager, Lindsey Hall:

Email: lindseyhall@visit-belfast.com

Phone: 028 9023 9026

Follow Belfast Restaurant Week

Keep up to date with Belfast Restaurant Week by following:

facebook.com/belfastrestaurantweek

twitter.com/belfastRW

Summer is here at last! Gift Vouchers and Cookery Classes available for Father’s Day

Summer is her at last! It has been great to see the beautiful blue skies again this month and what an impact this has had on our menus, there have been seasonal changes all around with berries and rhubarb taking over the desserts, whilst there is local lamb available on our set and a la carte menus.   We have been busy with the Cookery School and have a great selection of new classes available to book from “Love Food, Can’t Cook” to a “Friday Lunch Club“.   Don’t forget, our Graduation Menu is available for all those leaving university and wishing to celebrate in style and will run alongside our Set Lunch Menu. Hope you enjoy what plans to be a great month.   Cheers,   Niall

Contact Us 21 James Street South, Belfast, BT2 7GA, Co. Antrim The Restaurant 028 9043 4310 The Bar + Grill 028 9560 0701   In other news Classes at The Cookery School This month sees the launch of several new classes, the first of our “Love Food, Can’t Cook” for those who watch the TV programs have the kit but don’t know where to start.   A selection of “Desperate Housewives” class is one for the women who have been telling us they are stuck in a cooking rut, a master class of “Children’s Cooking” food for kid’s, cooked by kids runs in August for 8, 12 and 15 year olds.   One for all the men is our BBQ classes which will run throughout the summer and are filling up fast.   Don’t forget all our classes are can be booked for private groups and team building events.  To view class schedule click here.

VOTE IN OFM AWARDS

Put your favourite place to eat on the map by voting in the Observer Food Monthly annual awards. The awards are a great way to make sure your favourite place in Northern Ireland gets a look in. Click here to vote.

Facebook

Twitter

Email

T: 028 90434310

The Ulster Folk & Transport Museum and local food producer Mash Direct today announced details of a partnership which will run throughout the summer to highlight Discovery Farm at the museum.

This is the first time the two organisations have partnered together. The alliance will form an on-pack ‘Kids Go Free’ promotion available on a selection of Mash Direct’s products including its Mashed Potato, Champ, Carrot and Parsnip, Turnip, Cheese and Onion and Colcannon packs.

Discovery Farm, which was officially launched earlier this month, is the rejuvenated rural area of the Folk Museum. The project which has been jointly funded by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board includes an extensive renovation of existing buildings, a new barn, orchards and gardens as well as an enhanced programme of interactive traditional farming activities.

Welcoming the new partnership, Marketing, Communications & Trading Director of National Museums Northern Ireland, Gillian McLean, said, “The Ulster Folk & Transport Museum is looking forward to an exciting summer with the addition of Discovery Farm and a varied events programme. This project will add a new dimension to activities at the Folk Museum and offers visitors the chance to see and participate in life on the farms of 100 years ago. We are delighted to partner with brand leader and award-winning producer Mash Direct in this all-Ireland promotion which is designed to heighten awareness of Discovery Farm and offer families a discounted visit to one of Northern Ireland’s top visitor attractions.”

Martin and Tracy Hamilton, Directors of County Down based Mash Direct, said, “This is a lovely promotion and very fitting for us to team-up with an award-winning museum for the much anticipated Discovery Farm addition. Mash Direct select older heritage varieties for flavour, steam cook and prepare on our family farm, we have five generations of farming expertise. We are delighted to support Discovery Farm which is focused on offering visitors rich history and a wonderful interactive experience.”

The ‘Kids Go Free’ promotion will be available on a selection of Mash Direct’s product and distributed in retail outlets throughout the island of Ireland. The promotion will run until 30 September.