Corinna Hardgrave

2 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Corinna Hardgrave

The Revolution      Address: 10 Terenure Rd E, Rathgar, Dublin 6, D06 P603Telephone: 01 406 4104Cuisine: Californian ItalianCost: €€What’s on offer? Opened in 2014 by Paul Dignam, The Revolution brings a San Diego-soaked take on casual dining to Rathgar in Dublin. Dignam’s time in California influences a menu that veers from wood-fired pizza pies to tacos, burritos and brunch. It’s a small restaurant, which offers dine-in, takeaway and delivery options.

2 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Corinna Hardgrave

Dining Room      Address: Bridge Street, Gorteendrunagh, Castlebar, Co Mayo, F23 HY05Telephone: 094 902 1861Cuisine: Modern InternationalCost: €€€Some restaurants arrive with a trumpet blast, exuding look-at-me energy. Others quietly put the food in front of you and get on with it. Dining Room in Castlebar falls, with some grace, into the second category.

2 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Corinna Hardgrave

Donnybrook Fair      Address: 87-91 Morehampton Road, Donnybrook, Dublin, D04 K6F2Telephone: 01-6683556Cuisine: Modern InternationalCost: €€What’s on offer? Donnybrook Fair on Morehampton Road, Dublin 4, reopened last November with plenty of influencer buzz. Opened by the Doyle Family in 2001, it’s the original store in the group – there are now five. After 17 years it was sold to the Musgrave Group in 2018.

3 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Corinna Hardgrave

Excuse my French      Address: 25 Dunville Avenue, Ranelagh, Dublin 6, D06 F8N8Telephone: 01-5672407Cuisine: FrenchCost: €€Somewhere between the “bonjour” at the door and the last scrape of mustard sauce from my plate, I realise that Excuse My French is not quite like anywhere else. It is the sort of place you’d stumble into on a rainy evening in Bordeaux and spend the rest of your trip trying to find again. Except it is not in Bordeaux.

3 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Corinna Hardgrave

We hear about the restaurants that come and go – the dazzling new openers that capture attention and the heartbreaking closures in an industry environment that has been nothing short of a bloodbath. But what about those who endure? The operators who have, and who have faced recessions, shifting trends, staff shortages and pandemics, and are still standing? What is the secret to survival in an industry notorious for its high failure rate?