Issued by Enniskeen Country House Hotel

30th April 2013

New Mournes Cycling Food Trail on the Tourism Menu!   

Enniskeen Country House Hotel just outside Newcastle in the Mournes has created Northern Ireland’s very first food tour by bike! 

The ‘Mourne Foods Cycle Trail’ has been devised by the Enniskeen Country House hotel, in association with local food producers to showcase the wonderful artisan food in the area and offer visitors an active way to explore a food trail. The Trail offers visitors a self-guided tour by bicycle, with gentle cycling either downhill or on flat ground – electric bikes are available too, so there are definitely no excuses!. The routes are a mix of quiet rural roads, cycle lanes and smooth off road trails, and are suitable for couples and small groups of friends looking for a novel way to spend a day or half day exploring.

Eileen Jeans, Manageress at the Enniskeen Country House hotel commented, “The team here at Enniskeen Country House hotel have often talked about how  great our local food produce and landscapes are here in the Mournes and we’re delighted to be able to bring these assets together showcasing them for visitors. Our key was to collaborate with local food producers and eateries to create an inspirational day itinerary that will help attract tourists into the Mourne area – and so the ‘Mourne Foods Cycle Trail’ was born!”

Members of the Mourne Foods Cycle trail include – Abernethy Butter Company, Murlough Farm free range eggs, Mourne Honey, Dundrum Bay Mussel and Osyter fishery, Patterson’s Mourne Lamb Farm, Grahams Ice Cream, Cookie Jar Bakery, Enniskeen Country House hotel and Newcastle Bike Hire Company.

With the Mourne Mountains as its backdrop, the ‘Mourne Foods Cycle Trail’ pairs up gentle cycling, stunning scenery and simply delicious food! Visitors cycling the trail will get to visit local producers along the route and purchase some of their tasty foods as well as choose to stop off at some of the great local eateries.

The cost to take part in the trail is £28.00 per person which includes hire of a quality bike with small pannier compartment for carrying foods, trail pack, and a complimentary shuttle bus service.

Ellie Harvey from Newcastle Bike Hire added, “The Mourne Foods Cycle trail is a great way to experience our stunning Mourne landscapes and travelling by bicycle allows people to take in a lot more than they do when they travel by car. Stopping off with local food producers, hearing their stories and getting the chance to buy directly from the farmer and storing these provisions in the specially provided bike panniers all adds to the cycling experience.”

As the trail is such a unique offer which provides a good quality visitor experience, it is likely to attract visitors to the Mourne area and motivate them to stay longer.

Northern Ireland Tourist Board, Culture, Heritage & Activity Tourism Officer, Julie McLaughlin commented; ”We’re delighted to see this innovative tourism initiative being developed through the efforts of a passionate group of small private sector businesses who recognise the important role quality, authentic visitor experiences play in developing Northern Ireland’s tourism offer. The trail is a great example of an experiential opportunity for visitors; allowing people to sample a destination through its food and outdoor activity as well as meeting local people. Our research strongly supports the idea that this approach of creating unique visitor experiences not only motivates visitors to come to a destination but also makes them more likely to return again.”

The Mourne Foods Cycle Trail will be open daily from mid May 2013 and advance booking is essential.

For further information or to book call +44 (0)28 4372 3933.

Mary’s Bar in Magherafelt is celebrating after being crowned the Best Gastro Pub in Co Derry/Londonderry at the Ulster regional finals of the prestigious Irish Restaurant Awards.

Now, the bar will join other county winners to compete for All-Ireland titles, with the winners to be announced at the main awards presentation in the Burlington Hotel in Dublin on Wednesday 10 June.

Owned by Henry and Teresa McGlone, Mary’s Bar puts its success down to serving seasonal Irish dishes alongside fine wines, classy cocktails, local pints and great entertainment.

General manager Thomas Doherty said: “We have a great team at Mary’s and everyone works hard to ensure that our customers have a good time when they visit us.  To be recognised as the Best Gastro Pub in Derry/Londonderry is fantastic and an incredible achievement for all the staff.

“There was a lot of strong competition in this category, but we think it was the combination of fresh local produce, skill in the kitchen, menu selection for all budgets, customer care and ambience that secured us the top spot.”

The Ulster finals of the awards – which are sponsored by Chilean winery Santa Rita and LIFE magazine – were held at the Merchant Hotel in Belfast.

Over 300 restaurant owners and staff celebrated their hard work and achievements as many well-known restaurateurs in Ulster turned out to see if they had won one of the coveted awards.

Adrian Cummins, chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, said: “The Irish Restaurant Awards are now in their fifth year and continue to go from strength to strength.

“Each year, the awards cast a spotlight on the brightest and best players on the Irish restaurant scene, and they are undoubtedly the awards everyone wants to win.

“This year the nominations went online for the first time and we got a spectacular response from the public. Nominations doubled and we received 10,000 votes for Ireland’s favourite restaurants, chefs, gastro pubs, hotel restaurants and customer service experience.

“We celebrate the award-winning cuisines and the great restaurateurs and chefs who are constantly bringing international recognition and accolades to the Irish restaurant scene.

“Restaurateurs are entrepreneurs, and that is reflected in the fact that the restaurant sector is the biggest employer within the hospitality industry. We provide employment to 64,000 people and the industry has annual sales in excess of €2 billion”.

Mary’s Bar is in Market Street, Magherafelt and there is plenty of parking in the town. For more information on all Mary’s activities or to book Tel: 028 79302616 or visit www.marys-bar.com.

CAPTION:

Chef, Victoria Watson – Mary’s Bar, Magherafelt accepts ‘Best Gastro Pub’ in Co Derry/Londonderry Award from Adrian Cummins, CEO of the Restaurants Association of Ireland and Brian Fallon, President of the Restaurants Association of Ireland at the Ulster regional finals of the prestigious Irish Restaurant Awards.

A big congratulations to some of our Taste of Ulster members who won awards at the recent Restaurant Association of Ireland awards ceremony held in The Merchant Hotel on 17th April 2013.

This was for the Ulster Regional Final, these winners will represent Ulster in the all Ireland Finals in The Burlington Hotel 10th June 2013;

Best Gastro Pub Tyrone The Brewers House

Best Casual Dining Antrim Mourne Seafood Bar

Best Wine Experience in Ulster Nick’s Warehouse

Best Casual Dining Dining Tyrone Deli on The Green

Best Hotel Restaurant Tyrone Tullylagan

Best Chef in Derry Ian Orr Brown’s

Best Chef in Down Joery Castel (The Boat House Restaurant)

Best Chef in Tyrone Brian Mc Conagle (The Brewer’s House)

Best Restaurant in Derry Brown’s Champagne Lounge

Best Restaurant Antrim James St South

Best Restaurant Down The Boat House Restaurant

For more information and the opportunity to view photographs from this event, please visit the Restaurant Association of Ireland website;  www.irishrestaurantawards.com/

Almost 100 food judges are preparing to taste the very best food and drink produced in Ireland as Great Taste 2013 comes to a boil in Dublin.  Taking place at Bewley’s Hotel, Ballsbridge in Dublin, Great Taste 2013 involves a panel of judges which represents some of the most experienced and demanding palates from Ireland and the UK.

From nationally acclaimed restaurant critics to award-winning chefs, food writers, journalists and restaurateurs, food retailers and buyers – each judge will be responsible for blind tasting over 1000 products and giving constructive feedback.  The top foods will then be awarded Great Taste stars – the ultimate accolade in the world of speciality food – with those bestowed 3-stars judged again in July in London.

As part of the Great Taste event, and to enable the food trade to mingle and network, the Guild of Fine Food, organisers of Great Taste, is also holding a Reception, supported by IFSA and Pallas Foods, at the RDS Members Club on 24th April.

A record number of entries have been received from food and drink producers in Ireland by organisers of Great Taste 2013 – over 2400 in total from the whole Food Isle.  From Northern Ireland there are 627 entries (up by 29% on 2012) and in the Republic of Ireland a total of 1806 products have been entered (43% up on 2012).

“The Great Taste Supreme Champion, the overall winning product each year, has for the last two years been a product made in Northern Ireland and so our expectations are very high before we even start judging,” explains John Farrand, organiser of the Great Taste Award scheme. “McCartney’s of Moira triumphed in 2011 with its traditional corned beef, and Hannan Meats, also based in Moira, securing the trophy last year with an Italian inspired bacon called Moyallan Guanciale. In 2006, a smoked wild salmon from West Cork’s Woodcock Smokery was crowned Supreme Champion.”

Patrick Clement, Marketing & Development Manager at Pallas Foods said “Great Taste is the most trusted and recognised food and drink awards in Ireland and the UK. Pallas Foods is delighted to support the awards in Dublin this April. Being awarded a Great Taste star or more is a fantastic achievement and great acknowledgement for any business. In Ireland we have brilliant artisan food producers, I would encourage any of them to enter the award and get the stars they duly deserve giving their products great recognition.”

Since 1994, Great Taste has been organised by The Guild of Fine Food and over the last 19 years more than 70,000 products have been blind-tasted by judges including top restaurateurs, chefs, food critics, fine food retailers, buyers and cookery writers.   The announcement of the Supreme Champion 2013 sponsored by Harrods, will be made on the 9th September.

3-stars: Exquisite. Wow! Taste that.   2-stars: Outstanding   1-star: A virtually faultless food

Entries are open for the Irish News Workplace & Employment Awards 2013. The Workplace & Employment Awards have been lauded for having developed into one of the biggest and most successful business initiatives anywhere in Ireland.

The awards seek to unearth those exceptional companies and organisations in the north, which are putting an emphasis on developing, nurturing and getting the best out of their people.

Now in their seventh year, the 2013 awards will take place in Titanic Belfast on Thursday June 13, hosted by the BBC’s Karen Patterson and, as in previous years, is likely to be a 400-plus sell-out.

Make sure your company doesn’t miss it’s time to bloom. Enter the Irish News Workplace & Employment Awards now – see www.irishnews.com/wea 

Picture Caption:

Pictured at Titanic Belfast are representatives from the key business partners in this year’s Irish News Workplace & Employment Awards. From left, clockwise, DEL minister Dr Stephen Farry (representing Investors in People), William Hamilton (Liberty IT), Alan Egner (Power NI), Mark Regan (Kingsbridge Private Hospital), Lynn Livingstone (Tesco Northern Ireland), Anna Beggan (Tughans) and Judith Owens

(Titanic Belfast)

Down Royal Racecourse is excited to introduce Taste @downroyal. This is a new, casual hospitality offering which incorporates the best of Northern Irish Produce along with the thrilling experience of being at the races. This relaxed dining option will be launched on the May Day race meeting on 6th May in the newly refurbished Moscow Flyer Suite. In a step away from tradition, the suite will be furnished with sofas, poser tables and high stools, there will be no designated seating and the suite will be laid out in such a way to encourage you to relax and mingle with fellow racing enthusiasts.

The quality and provenance of the food is the highlight of this package. Light taster bowls of hot food from local celebrated suppliers will be served before racing and during racing a dessert and artisan cheese table will be open for grazing!

The Taste menu is designed to showcase the best in local produce cooked in a simple and delicate way. The exciting new Taste @downroyal package costs £47.50 per person and includes entrance to the racecourse, racecard to check the runners and riders, premium located suite and a taster menu showcasing the best of Northern Irish Produce including dessert and artisan cheeses.

Mike Todd, General Manager of Down Royal commented:

“We’re thrilled to be able to offer our customers at Down Royal a less formal hospitality offering in top class facilities. The refurbishment of the Moscow Flyer Suite completes the redevelopment of the whole site at Down Royal. The Moscow Flyer Suite is the premier suite at the racecourse and it is fantastic to open it up to a wider range of Down Royal visitors.”

Glenn Rodgers of Rodgers Meats in Castlereagh, who will be supplying the meat used in the Taste @downroyal package, reaffirms Down Royal’s commitment to local producers:

“We’re pleased to be able to showcase our local quality meats in conjunction with Down Royal Racecourse. We believe that Northern Ireland has an enviable position within the global meat industry with rich green pastures and good animal husbandry. Our beef is hung for at least 21 days in order to give our customers a premium product and we are looking forward to the collaboration with Down Royal and Hamilton Kirk to celebrate these products.”

Gates open at 12:30pm for the May Day race meeting on the 6th May 2013, with the first race taking place at 2.25pm. Admission is £10 for adults and children receive free admission.  Log onto www.downroyal.com for further information.  Follow Down Royal at www.facebook.com/down-royal-racecourse or @ twitter.com/downroyal.