When I say south, I mean Kinsale, and if you had been in search of fish, mad hairy Slovenians and actual-in-person bloggers this weekend, then you would have hit the jackpot at the culmination of Kinsale Arts Week. The fish were fresh and plentiful in the many fine eateries that populate the town, the Slovenians, in the form of the absolutely lunatic-but-in-good-way Terrafolk, entertained in the magnificent setting of Charles Fort and I was there doing my bit to help fulfill the last part of the equation, participating in a panel discussion on potatoes blogging.
Fishy Fishy Kinsale
I must confess that, it being Kinsale, the self-proclaimed fine food capital of Ireland, I had secretly hoped to steer the panel discussion towards the potato end of the spectrum, no doubt wowing all and sundry in the process with my growing collection of obscure potato factoids. As it turns out, my fellow panelists knew much more about blogging than spuds so, generous soul that I am, we mostly talked about that instead. Having wondered, before the talk, whether we’d have much to say, it turns out that we had plenty, with a lot of interest from the audience on topics such as the demise of print media and the different styles of reading and, hence, writing on the internet. And, yes, there was a little bit of chat about my life as a cyber-spud. I’ll think of it as a pilot episode. Who knows, perhaps next year I’ll return with my own show!
As for the rest of the weekend, it was not devoid of other worthy mentions for the humble spud. Indeed, the award for Best Performance By A Salad In A Supporting Role went to the salad of new potatoes that lurked beneath the crab platter at the excellent Fishy Fishy Café. New potatoes with homemade mayonnaise and chives told a winning tale of simplicity and good ingredients. Just one of the many good food stories often told in Kinsale.
Looks delicious!! Love that big fish hanging on the wall.
I wish I had been in Kinsale this weekend! Such a lovely place and the Arts Week festivities sound like good fun. Would love to have heard your panel discussion, Spud. Congrats on that! One of my favorite pubs in all of Ireland is in Kinsale … I know it and could walk right to it, but can’t recall the name. Owned by an older woman named Mary O’Neill and her son. Oh did we have some fine times there on my last visit! ;)
what a cool thing to participate in! i’m not surprised you were the total potato expert :)
I love the name…Fishy Fishy Cafe! Sounds like you had a great time.
Any chance there is a video somewhere? GREG
I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant where I tasted the best fish and chips EVER! (This was pre-food blog so didn’t pay attention to anything but my appetite). We thoroughly enjoyed our all-too-brief visit to Kinsale while we stayed at a B&B in Innishannon; my favorite part was chatting up the silversmith/proprietor of Kinsale Silver. I’ll have to keep Arts Week in mind for the future. Sounds like you had fun times!
Looks delicious!! I also love the big fish hanging on the wall,…
Curses, didn’t get to Fishy Fishy myself, but all the rest was simply deelish. And ’twas lovely to meet you there – for the record, I would have been happy to talk about food all day myself!
jenn: the inside of the Fishy Fishy Cafe had several of those big fish hanging on the walls – fabulous pieces
Diva: it really is a lovely spot. Next time you’re over, let’s rendezvous in that pub – you just lead the way!
Heather: ah thanks, it was a cool thing to participate in alright
noble pig: if you ever get over here, both Kinsale and Fishy Fishy are definitely worth a visit
sippity sup: unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view) there was no video or audio recording that I’m aware of (unless one of the audience made a pirate tape, but it was a fairly small venue, so I think I would have noticed!)
Tangled Noodle: one of the places that I, unfortunately, *didn’t* get to was the Fishy Fishy Chippy – sister establishment to the more upmarket Fishy Fishy Cafe – and, I hear, home to some very good fish & chips; it’s on the list for the next visit…
Sophie: delicious and eye-catching – that kind of sums up Kinsale :)
Fiona: pleasure to meet you too and thanks for the great job on chairing the discussion. The advantage of making the next discussion more food-based is that it greatly increases the chances of there being nice food involved (though I think we did pretty well on that front as it was!)
Go, Spud, go! Glad the panel discussion went well. Had I been there, I would’ve been sure to steer the questions towards All Things Potato. You think of it as a pilot episode; I think it was a prelude to your One Woman Show!
My I’m-really-a-human words I have to type: marred Fishman It puts me in mind of Ahab.
I have this town on places to see as one of the most picturesque in Ireland. Now its a foodie paradise – yahoo! Hopefully Rick Steve’s agrees, so little argument from Mom =)
I look forward to that show of yours! SOunds like you had a fine time.
Jenni: I knew I could rely on you to steer things spud-ward! I’m now thinking of a title for that one woman show… “Spud, She Wrote”, “A Day In The Life Of A Potato”, “Life On The InterSpud Highway”. Hmm, may need a little work :)
OysterCulture: oh do try to get to Kinsale on your visit, it’s a little gem of a place
Carol: a fine time indeed and, if there should ever be a show, I’ll be sure to let you know :)