Terroir-based Restaurant to Open in Galway

Introducing Aniar - Prepare for a whole new eating experience

The word terroir is usually associated with winemaking: the combination of factors, including soil, climate, and environment, that gives a wine its distinctive character. In this case however we refer to the terroir of food. A terroir-based restaurant, Aniar, is soon to open in Galway.

Owned and operated by Jp McMahon and Drigín Gaffey who brought us Cava Spanish Restaurant and Tapas Bar, Aniar has set the hearts of foodies racing in anticipation.

The kitchen will be run by Enda McEvoy of Cook Wild Project and former Head Chef of Sheridan’s on the Docks. He explains the philosophy of Aniar, “The food will be based on our terroir, the ensemble of natural influences that give a food a sense of place. Here in the west we are surrounded by lush ancient woodland, bountiful shorelines, thriving farmlands all heaving with some of the best ingredients in Europe but unique to us. We hope to reveal and utilise our terroir. We will quite simply obey the seasons and let nature decide our menu”.

Recently returned from Noma, the Danish restaurant, voted the World’s Best Restaurant 2011, Enda McEvoy will be following the Noma philosophy of working closely with local producers while also gathering wild herbs, plants and seaweeds each day from the woodlands and seashore around the area to produce a cuisine based around light clean flavours.

Light sauces and stocks, properly reared animals (utilizing all of the animal), sustainably caught fish with an eye to the future of the fishing industry and evolving with the seasons using vegetables, herbs, fruits and berries, either from the wild or cultivated, all encompass the Aniar philosophy. The Chefs will pickle and brine as much as is bountiful during the spring and summer to see the restaurant through the winter. They will use modern culinary techniques to obtain the best out of the ingredients, but will never lose sight of the integrity of the product.

Their wine list features over 40 wines produced by small artisan wine producers who also take their “terroir” into great consideration. “When writing the wine list”, Jp explains, “I wanted our philosophy of food to leak into the wine menu”. Over 20 wines will be available by the glass to allow customers to experience the diversity of wine on a global level.

The food and wine will be presented and served in a relaxed, contemporary, brassiere type environment, ignoring the formalities of fine dining. Drigín Gaffey says, “We promise friendly informed service, in a warm welcome environment”.

Jp, Drigín and Enda have been friends for many years and are very excited about sharing their philosophy about food and their passion about allowing quality ingredients to ‘speak for themselves’.

Good food cooked properly in comfortable surrounding.

Aniar is due to open June 29th in 53 Dominick Street, Galway’s West End. Advance bookings can be made by emailing aniarrestaurant@gmail.com

Marketing, / PR Internship Position (Update)

We’re on the hunt for an intern who craves challenge, experience and an outlet for creativity. Working in an agency environment this internship is fast moving and will require a flexible can-do attitude. Mature, professional and hard working applicants only.


You will be working on a number of accounts and will take the lead on certain projects. This internship will provide invaluable hands-on experience however you must be willing to put in the time and commitment.


Tasks will include: social media management, copy writing, digital marketing, reporting, time logging, internal sales and marketing, plus a myriad of other tasks.

Making coffee will not be below you and writing a proposal will not be above you.

Immediate start, 3 days a week 9am – 4pm based in Galway City. Please send cover note to Olivia@thosetwogirls.ie detailing your strengths.

Heads or Tails?

Fancy Crispy Pigs Ears or Braised Ox Tail ? Experience True Nose To Tail Dining at Cava Spanish Restaurant and Tapas Bar Galway.


Jp McMahon, head chef and owner of Cava Restaurant has launched an initiative to reintroduce nose to tail dining. Ox tail, trotters and liver may conjure up images of old however there are many more possibilities for delicious contemporary dishes from lesser known cuts.

Jp explains “The Spanish tend to cook with more off cuts and offal then we, the Irish, do. Offal is much more economical then the popular cuts and, prepared properly, can be even more delicious. Once we can overcome our squeamish preconceptions tongue, heart, ham hock, pigs cheeks and ears can all become as everyday as our steak and chicken breasts.”

Each week Cava Spanish Restaurant and Tapas Bar will feature daily specials that highlight nose to tail eating. Prepare to chose from braised ox tongue in spicy chorizo sauce, braised pig's terrine with piquillo pepper sauce, ham hock and black pudding broth, free range chicken livers with chili jam, or crispy pigs ears with garlic mayonnaise.

Using off-cuts generally takes a bit more preparation and cooking time. The chefs in Cava confit pork belly for 10 hours, so as to make it mouth watering tender. The pig cheeks are cooked for 3 to 4 hours. Some cuts however, like liver and kidneys, can be cooked quite quickly—pan-fired in a knob of foaming butter and seasoned with salt and pepper. Offal goes superbly with Cava’s own piquillo pepper sauce, which can be purchased in the restaurant.

When purchasing offal from your local butcher Jp recommends looking using a local specialty butcher who will be able to explain to you the best way to use certain cuts. Also, look for Fergus Henderson’s book Nose to Tail Eating or The Fifth Quarter: An Offal Cookbook by Anissa Helou.


For more details, menus and recipes see http://www.cavarestaurant.ie/.

Train To Become to An Artisan Food Producer

A new 8 week course dedicated to the production of artisan food has been launched by Source Sligo Cookery School. The course, ‘Cooking For Business and Pleasure’, is offered to those with a passion for food and a desire to make this into a sustainable business.


The course content primarily explores the production of local foods from plant to plate and farm to fork, and how to market and sell your produce. Course Director and Cookery School Manager, Eithna O’Sullivan explains “The course has a specific focus on the practical skills required to become a local food producer. It was developed for people with a lifelong passion, people looking for a change in career, or simply those looking to further their education. We will spend a number of weeks on practical cooking skills from stocks and sauces through to meats and smoking processes. The production modules look at product development, legislation and food safety while the business modules include customer care, financial management and marketing”.

Source Sligo Cookery School is located on the top floor of Source Sligo, the impressive three-storey restaurant, wine bar and cookery school set in the heart of Sligo town. An ethos that drives Source Sligo - that of sourcing local, quality and seasonal produce, will be echoed throughout the course.

Graduates will be awarded with a Fetac Level 5 in Food Processing, EHOA Primary Food Hygiene Certification, Wine Appreciation Certificate and a HACCP Certification. The course has been developed in conjunction with local well known Sligo food producers, EHOA, Oonagh Monahan, AlphaOmega, ICBE and the Begin Again Program.

Limited number of places available. The first course starts 18th July with a second course commencing on 19th September.

For more information visit Source Sligo or phone 071 91 47605

Photo Shoots Are Messy Business

Rosa Butler not afraid to get her hands dirty all for the right shot. A true professional.

Delicious Handmade Spanish Sauces and Tapenades

Heather McMahon and Rosa Butler tucking in

“One of the most authentic Spanish restaurants in Ireland at present” (Sebastian Black, Spanish Flavour); “Best Tapas in Ireland” Tom Doorley (Irish Times)

Enjoy Cava at home with The Cava Kitchen Range

Cava Spanish Restaurant and Tapas Bar in Galway have just launched The Cava Kitchen Range. The range of handmade sauces, condiments and tapenades all feature on the popular Spanish Restaurant’s menu and are now available to buy in the restaurant.

Prices start from €3.00 and include the favourite Romesco Sauce (€4.50), a robust Tomato and Chorizo Sauce (€3.50), Spanish Tomato Sauce (€3.00) Piquillo Pepper Sauce (€5.00), Black Olive Tapenade (€4.50) and large juicy Marinated Spanish Olives (€3.50).

Each item is prepared in the busy Cava kitchen and stays true to the flavor and quality served in the restaurant. 20% off all items from the Cava Kitchen Range sold during the month of May will be donated to The Crumlin Children’s Hospital.

For more information on Cava and The Cava Kitchen Range see www.CavaRestaurant.ie

Marketing Graduate 3 Month Internship Position

We’re on the hunt for a graduate who craves challenge, experience and an outlet for creativity. Working in an agency environment this internship is fast moving and will require a flexible can-do attitude. Mature, professional and hard working graduates only.

You will be working on a number of accounts and will take the lead on certain projects. This internship will provide invaluable hands-on experience however you must be willing to put in the time and commitment.

Tasks will include: social media management ,copy writing, digital marketing, reporting, time logging, internal sales and marketing, plus a myriad of other tasks. Making coffee will not be below you and writing a marketing proposal will not be above you.  Must be a car owner.  Basic expenses allowance.

Sound fun? Email olivia@thosetwogirls.ie with a cover letter and compelling argument as to why this position is yours and what you can bring to the mix. No C.V’s

PR Agencies only exist to push weak stories

During a recent interview with Photographer Conor Healy Pictures Editor of Metro - Herald Alan Caulfield said "the reason PR companies exist is to try to get coverage for things that wouldn’t normally make it into a paper on their own merits, and for cheaper than an advert would cost".


It's disappointing to read such misrepresentation of PR from a member of the media,  our industry partners. A good PR's job is to work with clients to create inticing campaigns, identify newsworthy stories, utilise tools online and offline to help promote solid businesses and products, gain press coverage by building a knowledge of what members of the media are interested in and pitching well- presented, factual stories and communicating this through images.

Working with journalists to bring to their attention stories that may be of interest for possible use in their particular subject area. That's a PR's job - well, in the traditional sense. Social media has of course opened up a whole new world where buyers can be communicated with directly, but that's for another day.

Although he did make an accurate observation of some of the more lazy PR photo calls "I can tell you some common clichés in PR photos though: a subject or model posing with food and pretending to eat it; posing with two open laptops formed into a ‘tunnel’ and looking through them; posing inside a giant picture frame; ‘the minister and the model’; everybody in the photo jumping in the air at the same time".  Yes, cringe indeed.

Alan should spend an hour in a reputatable PR agency and see the work that's carried out. It's a lot more then banging out multiple generic press releases and getting photos of girls in bikinis.

Take Your Taste Buds For a Culinary Trip to Madrid This Month

During the month of May the capital city of Spain pulls out all the stops to showcase its culture, music and cuisine. This month, representing the colourful and diverse Spanish cuisine in Ireland, Cava Spanish Restaurant and Tapas Bar in Galway is featuring an array of special dishes and wines from Madrid.


Explore the tastes of the region with classic Madrid tapas such as meatballs, calamares and tortilla. Also, enjoy nightly specials such as Madrid-style marinated oxtail and free range pork fillet with piquillo pepper marmalade (pictured). For the month of May, Cava will also be offering two tapas and a glass of wine from Madrid for €15.

Not forgetting Madrid’s proud history of fine wines, headlining the line up at Cava, and recent visitors to Galway, are the wines from Bodegas Francisco Casas with their Camparron range. These renowned wines will be on special, with 20% off the Camparron bottles of wine.

Soak up the Madrid atmosphere in Cava this May, with live flamenco music to accompany your tapas and wine.

There’s only one think left to say - ‘Vamos’!

For more information see www.cavarestaurant.ie or phone 091 539 884. Advance booking is recommended.

Want the Photo Desk Editor to Like You?

An interesting interview courtesy of Conor Healy Photography with Pictures Editor, Gareth Morgan Pictures Editor of The Irish Independent. Gareth explains how to work with Photo Editors and ensure the best approach when pitching PR photos.

Image courtesy of Conor Healy Photography

CHP: What is your readership level of the Independent online and on the street?

Gareth: The Irish Independent has 539,000 readers daily while the website Independent.ie has 2,400,000 unique users per month.

CHP: What is the breakdown in sales between the compact version of the Independent and the broadsheet version?

Gareth : The compact / broadsheet breakdown is 50/50.


CHP:What is the Independent age readership bracket?

Gareth: The age group breakdown is as follows;

15-24: 44,000

25-34: 88,000

35-44: 100,000

45-54: 108,000

55-64: 94,000

65+: 104,000

Source: JNRS 2010



CHP: Do PR stories appear online as well as in the paper?

Gareth: I would argue that "PR stories" do not appear in the paper. Instead we're always looking for a real news story, or at least an interesting angle from a celebrity or consumer perspective. But yes, most stories that appear in the paper do also appear online.


CHP:What makes the Independent different to the Times and the Examiner newspapers?

Gareth: The Irish Independent has great reach. It has the biggest circulation of all the newspapers in Ireland, it has a strong geographic spread and it is read by a wide range of ages and social groups.


CHP:What makes a really good PR photograph?

Gareth: A good PR photograph doesn't look like it's selling a product. It is a photograph that looks great on a page - where the product might only be a subtle factor. Otherwise it ends up looking like an ad, which we won't use.

CHP: Describe your working day.

Gareth: The morning is spent reacting to breaking news, the afternoon mostly spent monitoring the pictures that have been filed and also planning the following day's paper. The evening is mostly devoted to diary - ie forward planning. I don't really get the chance to plan the following day's coverage until after 5pm.

CHP: When is the ideal time to get images in from a PR photographer?

Gareth: Any time before 3pm is fine. We can take pictures much later - but we must know that they're coming and what time to expect them, with solid contact information provided in case there's a problem late in the day.

CHP: Do you think the PR photograph will continue to be as popular in 2011 as it was in 2010?

Gareth: There's no reason why PR photography should get any weaker, but I think clients need to realise the importance of getting photographers onboard. Too many companies seem to rely on us to send our own photographers these days. Often this is not possible due to breaking news... and the event goes uncovered.

CHP:How many images do you view in a day?

Gareth: More than 2,000

CHP: Are some days better to issue a photocall to the newspaper?

Gareth: For some reason Tuesdays and Wednesdays are very busy, and Mondays/Fridays are very quiet - as if the PR industry is enjoying an extended weekend. There is definitely scope for doing more stuff on Mondays and Fridays, it would spread the load a bit from our perspective.

CHP: Is photocall location a factor for you?

Gareth: It certainly is. Some locations are getting boring (St Stephen's Green....) while we got some recent pictures from the Kerry coast which were stunning. It does make a difference.

CHP: Do you have any other thoughts on the photocall?

Gareth: Too much flesh on show, too many logos, and too much general cheesiness is always a bad thing.

CHP: Do images with ***NO REPRO FEE** attached to them have a better chance of making it in the newspaper?

Gareth: We judge pictures on merit, but it does help to know which ones are free, of course!

CHP: Is there something a PR company can do, to make things easier for you?

Gareth: Make sure the event that they're promoting is covered with a professional photographer who is experienced at filing for national newspapers. Make sure that when they send us the photocall notice, it includes details of who is taking the pictures. No need to ring us dozens of times to ask if we are going to use the pictures. Often decisions on what we will or will not use are not set in stone until about 9pm at night anyway. We will ring you if we need any more info.

Remember, logos or too much product placement really spoil pictures for us.

For more from Conor Healy Photography.

CHphotography was established in 2002 by award winning photographer Conor Healy. Having graduated from Nottingham Trent University, Conor has worked for Fennell Photography, MacInnes Photography and Eye.con Photography as well as having spent a year assisting advertising and fashion photographer Tony Higgins.