Restaurant criticised for using Dutch chicken brings ‘luxury’ award home for Ireland

Sole Seafood & Grill had something to celebrate this week after being at the centre of a storm over the long distance some of its produce travels to diners’ plates. The Dublin 2 eatery was selected as “Global Winner in the Luxury Seafood Restaurant category” for a third straight year at the World Luxury Restaurant Awards in Romania. Sole, part of a group owned by Padraic O’Kane and Bord Bia chairman Larry Murrin, recently attracted the ire of farmers after a review . She was shocked to see a restaurant with a food philosophy “honouring seafood sustainability and local Irish producers” charging €35 for a chicken supreme involving non-free-range Dutch meat. She also noted the presence of Polish chicken and farmed seafood originating in Spain, Turkey, Greece, Scotland and Bangladesh on the menu. Members of the Irish Farmers’ Association, which has previous with Murrin over his Dawn Farms food group importing Brazilian beef, subsequently held a protest outside the Drury Street restaurant, arguing its use of imported chicken was “making a mockery of Bord Bia”. Sole, in its defence, said it sourced as much of its chicken from Ireland as possible, but it had not been possible to find a consistent supply. Irish Farmers' Association members and local farmers protesting outside Sole Seafood & Grill on Drury Street earlier this month. Photograph: Garrett White/Collins O’Kane described winning the award, based on an online public vote, as “a wonderful achievement” and expressed gratitude to “our guests from Ireland and around the world”. “We are proud of the Irish and international producers we work with, and the quality ingredients they bring to our menu,” he said, noting Sole’s “commitment to quality, provenance and transparency”. Plenty in the case of Regan’s ‘Luck Penny’ Luck Penny, a horse owned ’s Newtown Anner Stud, claimed a first victory at Belmont Park in New York last Sunday. The two-year-old filly went off at 8-1 and finished strongly under jockey Flavien Prat in the 6½-furlong Maiden Special Weight event. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the female protagonist reflects on forbidden love and the meaningless nature of family rivalry as she ponders “what’s in a name?”. In Luck Penny’s case, there appears to be plenty. The notion of a “luck penny” came up during last year’s High Court litigation over billionaire Coolmore owner John Magnier’s failed purchase of the Barne Estate in Co Tipperary.