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PROUDLY SPONSORED BY STILLGARDEN RUNS DEEP SPUD-S
HACK PIVOT “When you start thinking differently it clears the way for good things to happen.” Words to live by from producer Maria Flynn, proving as relevant now as when a switch to growing heritage potatoes helped dramatically improve the fortunes of the family farm she runs with her husband David. More recently, the onset of Covid 19 forced another pivot, with many of the restaurants the couple supplied forced to close just as their first crop of potatoes was being harvested. The intrepid Drogheda woman acted quickly, launching a new website while accelerating assembly of The Spud Shack, a new drive-in farm shop. A nationwide online ordering and delivery service swiftly followed, as early visitors snapped up the chance to savour the flavour of unique heritage potato varieties such as Mayan Gold and the colourful Purple Violetta. Not one to rest on her laurels, Maria has taken to hosting #ChefattheShack featuring bants, craic and some culinary surprises from chefs such as the inimitable Gaz from Michael’s, all while waiting to harvest the next batch of spuds. Ballymakennyfarm.com @bSpudShack #spudshack 105 Minute BOXING CLEVER AT ALLTA The depths of the pandemic saw the weekly meal-kit subscription and delivery concept first pioneered by the enterprising DropChef team finally take off, as restaurants sought ways to champion Irish produce while continuing to pay the bills. Cheffing brains Niall Davidson, Hugh Higgins and Kevin Burke quickly launched AlltaBox, a high-quality offering that proved so popular that orders frequently sold out in less than an hour. Encouraged by the enthusiastic response, the trio have since charged up their online offering to include top-notch seafood and wine boxes, alongside a selection of artisan-produced homeware and kitchen gadgets. Their Shellfish Box features restaurant-grade whole fish and shellfish perfect for summer BBQs, while wine offering ‘Sixes’ enables customers to select some nice choices based on their personal taste or recommendations from sommelier Ian Fitzpatrick. In addition, the first outing of a new ‘Goods’ Box features the pink plates and bowls beloved of Allta aficionados, produced by makers Stephen and Alexis of Fermoyle Pottery. Alltabox.ie Scoops Time to embrace the change? We’re still feeling our way, although with shiny new lines in pubs across the city and production resumed at ‘the Home of the Black Stuff’, the prospect of a creamy pint is a decidedly tantalizing one. When Stillgarden Distillery recently opened its doors in Inchicore, founders Viki Baird, Pat O’Brien and master distiller Éanna Burke were determined to be more than ‘another craft gin place’, so guided by the distillery’s ethos of ‘science, community and nature’, they began by creating a community garden in Goldenbridge Estate. “Our idea was to do guerrilla gardening, so we worked with a company called Green Edge who did the plan for us. Once the overgrown wasteland was cleared, we decided to grow botanicals in the garden for use in our spirits and it just grew from there.” As brand manager Aideen Hannigan explains, “We have a social botanist campaign, in which we have hydroponic kits to grow seeds. We gave about 25 people these kits and they started growing the seedlings at home; caring for them with some tips from our gardener Neal.” They then came back and planted the grown plants in the community garden. “The idea was to get people involved and get them loving gardening,” continued Hannigan. “And the end goal is for the people who helped grow the plants to come back and use the botanicals they’ve grown to make their own gin.” While Stillgarden Distillery was unable to open to the public, master distiller Éanna Burke used his time to make hand sanitiser for the local community. “We gave it to the local shops who then gave it out to local people who needed it,” explains Baird. “We had people ringing us asking if they could buy it, but we didn’t want to capitalise on such a bad thing happening.” Stillgarden began selling their gin and bottled cocktails online last month, and are currently experimenting with a honeycomb vodka, using honeycomb from their on-site beehive. With the distillery now set to open to the public, so too is a distilling academy offering an insight into the distilling world and the science behind it. The Academy is available for bookings of two and a half hours, and the experience includes a class to make your own bottle of gin or vodka using a selection from over 120 jars of botanicals, featuring experimental flavours such as Tayto crisps or Lyons tea. Classes include a Stillgarden gin and tonic, a cocktail and lunch. Words: Erica Carter Photo Credit: Eibhin Kavanagh Pssst – Got some food ’n’ drink nuggets you’d like to share with Totally Dublin readers? Feed them to us for consideration… Email: MM@hkm.ie 45