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.... And when we asked about the crab traps and beached boats on the Bantry Quay, his assessment was very grim. Irish fisherman's quotas were being cut year after year, and aquaculture was having only limited success. "All the fishermen have become builders," Callender said. Well, perhaps not all. We detected no sign of this dire circumstance in the West Cork fish soup we dipped into on the terrace of Good Things Cafe in Durrus, seven miles away, the following day. A fragrant fish soup spiked with saffron, chock full of scallops from Ahakista and haddock, served with a dollop of garlicky rouille, it as the liquid equivalent of the sun-drenched, sea-breezy day. We were lunching with a set of our blow-in friends, Philip and Caroline, their three adorable girls and their friend Ari, who was helping them renovate the house they'd bought six months prior when they moved from upstate New York. Philip's s Dubliner by birth, as well as a talented tradesman and artist, and Caroline's a supermom from Georgia (they'd spent the weekend catching up with their pal Michael Stipe, whose band R.E.M. had just wrapped up a five night engagement at Dublin's Olympia Theatre). Good Things is Philip and Caroline's neighborhood restaurant, and it's quite a gem. Chef Carmel Somers is a disciple of Jane Grigson, and her food is similarly straightforward and deeply flavorful, with a touch of whimsy, like a pizza of Swiss chard, nutmeg, and the local Durrus cheese. The restaurant's doors were swung wide open, with mattress-ticking curtains, slate tables (some of whose bases are old iron sewing-machine trestles), and modern Philippe Starck chairs. In the open kitchen, Somers, wearing a bandana, was tying up and seasoning pork roasts for dinner. Ari, a local lad who'd been one of Somer's first customers
when she opened in 2003, and who counted many fishermen as close friends, had
a different read of the country's fish quotas ........ Sheeps
Head Peninsula: Where to Eat: Good Things Cafe. Who else would
have the nerve to put “A really good ham sandwich” on their brunch menu?
Well, Carmel Somers, for one, had that sandwich on the brunch menu at GTC
during the season, and whilst the sarnie itself was a triumph – Gubbeen ham,
Good Things bread, rich butter, tarragon mustard – it is the confidence implicit
in offering such a dish that shows just how far Ms Somers has come in just four
or five seasons. Good Things doesn’t just offer the best cooking in West
Cork: it offers some of the very best cooking in all of Ireland, cooking that
speaks of inspiration and improvisation, of creativity and confidence, of signature
and style, of seasonality and sourcing. From dishes such as Sugar Club beef with
its immense clout of flavour to the sublime Durrus cheese, spinach and nutmeg
pizza with its sovereign individuality, this cooking is like none other. Every
dish seems not just hand-tooled, but also comprehensively re-thought, before being
delivered with simplicity and grace by a superb team. When you can re-imagine
the ham sandwich, than you are truly a star. "Destination
foodies flock to this bare-bones cafe that takes its name from Jane Grigson's
classic book. Great views over the water. "Here the produce of West Cork
artisans is cooked and served with amazing verve and imagination - West Cork salmon
in pastry, Durrus cheese, nutmeg and spinach pizza; West Cork ploughman's with
Durrus, Gubeen and Milleens cheeses and an onion cassis compote; West Cork fish
soup; scones with G's jam and Glenilen clotted cream" "Great ingredient-led contemporary cooking
is the magnet that draws those in the know to Carmel Somers' simple little café-restaurant
just outside Durrus village. Well-placed to make the most of fine west Cork produce,
she also sells some specialist foods from Ireland and abroad and a few books ." "Carmel Somers' open-plan café
has a Californian headiness about it - just look out at the waters of Dunmanus
Bay - and it is a headiness which her cooking hammers home. The menu reads like
a road map of local producers - Durrus cheese pizza with spinach and nutmeg; Fingal's
ham with eggs and potato cake; West Cork ploughman's with a glass of Carlow stout;
West Cork fish soup with Desmond cheese - with world-class artisan foods raised
to a new pitch thanks to classy cooking." "Superb ingredients-led
contemporary cooking is drawing a growing band of happy diners to Carmel Somers'
excellent restaurant. Service is prompt and attentive and it’s terrific value.
This place is a one-off --whatever you do, plan your travels in West Cork around
a visit here.” Georgina Campbell Jameson Guide 2004 “The
menus read like a road map of local producers-Durrus cheese pizza with spinach
and nutmeg; Fingal’s ham with eggs and potato cake; West Cork ploughman’s
with a glass of Carlow stout; West Cork fish soup with Desmond cheese - world-class
artisan foods raised to a new pitch thanks to classy cooking.” “Good
Things Café has been the most radical new opening in Ireland this year.
The radicalism lies in the fact that this simple space, and its so-simple style,
offers food of surpassing excellence, of impeccable pedigree, from a menu that
reads like a road map of West Cork’s artisan producers.” 'Looking over beautiful
Dunmanus Bay, this place has something of a Californian beat about it. Supremely
classy cooking. Highlight: has a sort of Love Actually feel good factor about
it.' 'There are a number of restaurants
in the new edition where the crew seemed to have upped a gear or two during the
year. Down in Durrus, Carmel Somers has shown that her first, explosive year in
residence at Good Things hasn't been a fluke. Far from it. The first year simply
laid the foundation for cookery which this year has become ever more delicious,
ever more defined, ever more original When Ms. Somers takes a cue now from great
cooks such as Bill Granger or Peter Gordon, she doesn't just copy the dish, she
takes it apart and makes it her own, with a freshness and vividness that is aided
by using the most amazing local ingredients. The marinated beef fillet with salsa
has to be one of the best dishes you can eat. But then, what about the Durrus,
nutmeg and spinach pizza? Or the Gubbeen ham with eggs? Or the squid with lemon
and parsley? Contemporary classics, the lot of them.'
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"West Cork attracts eccentric genius",
says John McKenna, a food critic who, along with his wife Sally, publishes The
Bridgestone Irish Food Guide. "The weird and wonderful wash up here".
The McKennas met me for a late lunch at Good Things Cafe, in a cottage in Durrus,
not far from Schull. Good Things is the creation of Carmel Somers, a chef who
"washed up" in West Cork a few years back - with all her kitchen and
restaurant stuff stashed in her van, John told me, "right down to the tablecloths."
Our lunch was terrific: a thin- crust spinach pizza made with buttery Durrus cheese
and seasoned with nutmeg; and kedgeree, the smoked fish and rice dish. John talked
about the contribution Cork's chefs and small food producers have made to Irish
culinary life - and to the Irish psyche. "Now we can hold our heads up among
the French and the Italians." Lucky
Corkonians now have another stellar cookery school cum cafe cum gourmet restaurant
in their beautiful county. Good Things daytime cafe serves fabulous lunches that
are worth a detour from Cork city. Prepared under the creative eye of Carmel Somers
you'll find delights like West Cork fish soup served with aioli, rouille, garlic
croutons and Desmond cheese.Or maybe you'd prefer omelette Arnold Bennett made
with Gubeen eggs, smoked haddock and Desmond cheese. How about warm poached cherries
served with vanilla ice cream to finish? See what we mean about that detour? "'Cooking? That's when things taste
of themselves' wrote the great Curnonsky, and Curnonsky would have been in heaven
when offered a normal dinner menu in GTC: pan-fried hake with sea-beet; new-season
lamb with its kidneys served with colcannon; Sugar Club fillet of beef with stewed
red chard; aubergine stewed with tomato, cumin and parsley with brown rice. "The Star of the county of West Cork, Carmel Somers' Good Things is the undisputed cream of the crop. In just three short seasons, Carmel Somers has made Good Things Cafe the star of the County West Cork. “From the outside, Good Things Cafe resembles nothing more than a village tea-room, enjoying quiet prospects of Dunmanus Bay, at what feels like the edge of the world - yet it is as if we are at the very centre of it”, was how Howard Jacobson summarised his West Cork experience, and his words hint at why Ms Somers has made GTC such a success: she has made it the centre of the culinary culture of West Cork. the local foods are here - Gubbeen ham; Glenilen cream; Durrus cheese; Dunmanus Bay lobster; Bantry fresh fish; Murphy’s ice cream; Schull vegetables - and in using these doorstep ingredients, Ms Somers has taken a food culture at the edge of Europe and turned it into the epicentre of contemporary Irish cooking. And, each year, the cooking has grown more confident, gaining poise, accuracy and deliciousness. Out of season, don't miss the cookery classes." 'Carmel
Somer's intimate and simple café opened with a bang in 2003, and became
the critical darling of the year. After only a year of business, the confidence
of this crew has grown exponentially, and the cooking in Good Things has acquired
more of a signature simplicity and sense of exploration: where else would you
find the Sugar Club's celebrated beef pesto on a menu - cooked to perfection -
alongside a cracking Bill Granger-influenced dish like marinated coriander chicken
with a sharp, Asiatic cucumber relish? This is cooking for the intellect and the
culinary culture, just as much as it is cooking for the senses. The signature
Good Things dishes, such as Durrus, nutmeg and spinach pizza, or new season lamb
with roasted aubergine bechamel, and the great West Cork fish soup, are better
than ever. A singular destination.' |
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