In Dublin with Lovin Dublin
I fell in love with Dublin when I first visited five months ago. It is full of gorgeous treasures; from it its artefacts and buildings, to the people and of course the really good food that I was lucky enough to try. I promised myself that I needed to go back to sample some more of Dublin. So of course I jumped at the chance to go back and check it out via the Lovin Dublin show.
Lovin Dublin aims to show the world (and Dubliners) that theirs is one of best cities on the planet, especially when it comes to the food. And I was certainly keen to be part of this .
I had a rather glamorous arrival to Dublin. I was picked up from the airport in a Bentley and taken to the lovely boutique Kelly’s Hotel. Before the evening show, my fellow bloggers and I were well entertained by both Lovin Dublin and Visit Dublin who pulled out the stops for us.
They whisked us off first to Coppinger Row for a 6 course modern Irish meal with a Mediterranean twist, then a quick tour of the innovative Little Museum of Dublin and finally another scrummy meal at Marco Pierre Whites Steak & House Grill. Full of good food and history we finally headed off to the Bord Gais Energy Theatre for the show.
The idea behind the Lovin Dublin show was that it was all about ‘a night that showcases the best people, companies, foodies and creatives in the city’. A serious feat of organisation, as the team put it together in just five weeks from the original thought! And what an evening. And the show certainly gave a diverse overview of what was happening in Dublin. And all without going down the cheesy ‘Guinness and leprechauns’ route. So, what was in the show?
Caroline Keeling talked to us about grew her family business as well as her business technology that is now being licensed around the world. Marco Pierre White (who has two restaurants in Dublin) talked to us about his culinary journey to becoming the youngest 3 Michelin star chef in history.
Mark Pollock talked to us about breaking through the barriers of paralysis and blindness to achieve incredible goals including bringing ground breaking scientific research teams to Dublin. Niall Breslin talked about his battle against generalized anxiety disorder and about talking his work with opening dialogues on mental health. We also had talks from sporting legend Jamie Heaslip and successful business man Mark Little. The night ended with a restaurants award ceremony and one new start up business winning Euro 25,000. Pop over to the Lovin Dublin site to find out more about the award winners.
The idea, passion and energy behind the show was great and I was seriously excited to be part of it. And I’d love them to do it again, because you can’t get enough of what is in this city into one show.
What would I like in the next show? I don’t know, the Lovin Dublin team know more than me, but I’d love to know more about the exploding food scene and to learn more about food (and other business) start ups. Most of all I would welcome a more focused look at the things that make Dublin ‘Dublin’.
Anyway, there is now also a Lovin Berlin site, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what they produce for this as well as the second Lovin Dublin show.
With thanks to The Lovin Dublin Show for inviting me, http://www.visitdublin.com/home/ who partly hosted me and the shows sponsors obrienswine.ie, Heinz Ireland, SuperValu.
