Dungarvan remains heart of food festival but Waterford City stretches its culinary muscles

Since 2008, the last weekend in April has been a date booked off by food lovers all across the country, but especially those in Dungarvan. Although the festival has been re-named to be more inclusive of the rest of the county, and indeed many wonderful events were held in Waterford city, and the Comeragh mountains alike, Dungarvan remains the heart and soul of the Waterford Festival of Food, and rightly so.

My Waterford Festival of Food experience kicked off at the underground wine cellar of the Medieval Museum in the city, where I was invited to attend a Craicly storytelling event. It was an incredible location and I particularly enjoyed the short speech from Clíona, the head curator of the Medieval Museum (and the youngest in her role in the country) about the history of the space. For instance, I never knew that Waterford had its own mint!

There was no lack of drink (as can occasionally be an issue at these things), and the wine was good. For dinner, there was a gorgeous beef stew with mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables. I don’t love beef but the veggies were roasted to perfection. For dessert, there was a Basque cheesecake, the base of which was made from Jacob’s cream crackers – a nod to the snack’s Déise roots.

Although a veteran open mic attendee, I’d never heard a proper storyteller before, and Joe Brennan was magnificent. His tales were funny and all too human. You could hear a pin drop as he told three stories, except when the room erupted into laughter. I will definitely be in attendance if he’s ever in Waterford again.

Also speaking on the night was David Foskin from Sunny South Yeast bakery. He talked about how a COVID project turned into his passion in life. David was undergoing medical treatment, making him immunocompromised, meaning he couldn’t leave the house. Out of sheer boredom, he started making bread for his two grannies and from there the idea grew. Soon, he was delivering bread to fellow immunocompromised folk from Ferrybank to Lemybrien. Now, he and his partner Silvia Salvana have a premises on Barrack Street. I immediately put it on my list of places to try.

Unfortunately, the night was cut a little short due to a fire alarm going off. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world, though, because I had to be up relatively early the next morning for day two of the festival.

At midday, I arrived at the Tannery in Dungarvan (with my dad in tow). We were led to the beautiful airy upstairs room and shown to a seat. Neither of us had eaten breakfast in anticipation of this afternoon of excellent food. For starters, we were served ‘Crab Brulé’ – it tastes as good as the name is bad. It was excellent. Meaty crab mayonnaise served with slightly sweet, thinly sliced cucumber and nutty toasted crackers. My dad also had a glass of Prosecco, which he deemed ‘excellent’. For our main course, we paraded through the sunny Grattan Square and arrived at The Old Bank. We were served creamy colcannon, 24-hour slow-cooked beef, rich gravy and tenderstem broccoli. I found the beef to be a little fatty, but my dad liked it.

For dessert, we went to Cookhouse 360, which gleamed like gold on a sunny day. It has a gorgeous outdoor patio and serves mouthwatering Aperol Spritzes. Dessert was an exceptional Rhubarb and Ginger Bavarois, spicy, sour and creamy, it is truly one of the best desserts I’ve ever had. The staff were particularly friendly as well. I will definitely be going back.

Finally, our afternoon ended on the quayside of Dungarvan, watching thousands of rubber ducks be unceremoniously dumped into the bay. The annual RNLI Duck Race was good fun, if a little bizarre. I would recommend sponsoring a ticket at their stall on the day rather than online.

The Waterford Festival of Food was a huge success. I’m just sad it's already over.