After a year of outdoor dining, grabbing treats on walks and braving the rain for the sake of a proper coffee, Taste of Dublin is back and ready to tickle our taste buds with some of the best food that Ireland has to offer.
Gates open on Wednesday, September 1st, with the first session kicking off at noon. Ahead of the food-filled event, we went behind the scenes to uncover the best thing to do over the weekend.
1. See your favourite chefs
If you're a food fanatic hoping to get some tips and tricks from your favourite chef, look no further than the Taste Theatre. The tent will host a jam-packed line up of the very best Irish culinary talent including Rachel Allen, Jess Murphy, JP McMahon, Edward Hayde, Kwanghi Chan and Niall Sabongi.
Elsewhere in the gardens, on the Food for Thought line-up, you can find panel discussions, masterclasses and producer showcases from some of the country's well known restaurants, chefs, and producers.
If you have a particularly sweet tooth, watch out for pastry chef extraordinaire Gráinne Mullins on the 'Starting from Scratch' panel discussion along with Conor Bacon of Too Savage and Harry Colly of Harry's Nutbutter on Friday at 19:45.
Gráinne created her business, Grá Chocolates, during lockdown and has already made it to the shelves of Brown Thomas. Made in small batches in Kilchreest, Co. Galway, her jaw-dropping bonbons are hand-painted and take a total of three days to create.
We can't wait to hear how she creates her pieces of edible art.
2. Eat and drink to your heart's content
The best thing to do at a food festival is, of course, to eat! We are already salivating at some of the incredible dishes on the menu so be sure to make the most of the day by planning ahead so as to enjoy every bite.
This year's event has a variety of must-try dishes including Pork & Soy Dumplings from Hawker by Hang Dai; Beef and Guinness Doughnut with Parmesan Mayonnaise from Naughty Neighbour; Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream from Three Twenty Ice cream; Fish Kiev from The Salty Buoy.
Speaking with pastry Gráinne Mullins of Grá Chocolates and chef Daniel Hannigan of the Naughty Neighbour at the launch, we have it on good authority that a visit to Bites by Kwanghi is an absolute must.
Recently named as the winner of The Battle of the Food Trucks 2021, Kwanghi Chan is well known for his stand out dishes, including the Sticky Hoisin Pork Jasmine Rice Bowl with Kimchi Cabbage, Miso Mayo, Black Garlic and Peanut Chilli Oil.
However, having put in the hours on our thorough research at this year's event, we here at RTÉ LifeStyle have put his Pork & Chive Dumplings to the top of the list. You'll be tempted to lick the bowl clean.
Another recommendation from Chef Hannigan is Los Chicanos Tacos - an Irish food truck celebrating Mexican food and Chicano culture.
Having travelled extensively through Mexico, spending time with local producers and cooking alongside some the country's most experienced chefs, Dublin man Scott Holder came home to create a mouth-watering menu of tacos, salsas and soft-serve ice-cream for his Camden Row truck.
We recommend ordering one of everything. The Lamb Barbacoa Tacos can only be beat by the nicely spicy Salsa Macha Cauliflower Tacos.
It seems that the emergence of food trucks at Taste of Dublin is thanks to the leadership of the festival's new director, Roger Duggan.
"The time off gave us plenty of time to reimagine Taste a little bit and reinvent it," he told RTÉ LifeStyle. "We've done quite a few new things this year. At Taste, we've done a nod to street food which has really involved [during] COVID."
"One of the bright things to come out of COVID was the evolution of street food culture, so we have a couple of food trucks here this year which we wouldn't have had before."
In terms of restaurants, Duggan says there are a few less on offer than usual due to COVID restrictions and having a smaller audience but, on the plus side, the variety is better than ever: "We've a nice mix from all different types of food with eight restaurants in total for this year."
To wash all of your delicious meals down, visitors can grab a cocktail* from Schweppes or a can of Topo Chico (right across from Los Chicanos Tacos) and relax in the gourmet atmosphere. If a cocktail isn’t what you’re after, head over to The Hop House and take up a spot in one of their pub-like snugs.
If you're ready to go all out, treat yourself like a VIP for the day in the Fercullen Irish Whiskey VIP Garden as the perfect way to mark the end of summer.
3. Have a dance and a laugh
This year's festival has got live entertainment all wrapped up with music from energetic acts like Spring Break, The Swing Cats, Qween.
If you would rather have a giggle than a boogie, you'll be delighted to know that the team have added comedy to the mix each evening with stand-up performances from the hilarious Karl Spain and Adam Burke.
There will be a sprinkle of culture with Culture Vultures on the Food for Thought with Regina XXL stage along with bite sized theatre from Gaiety School of Acting. Not to mention a live show from Mei Chin, Blanca Valencia and Dee Laffan of the Spice Bags Podcast.
The wide range of entertainment on offer came about as part of Duggan's vision for the future of Taste of Dublin.
"It was important, as I said, to reimagine the event so we've been in talks about sustainability, the conscious consumers, we've go the Gaiety School of Acting in here - lots of different things that wouldn't traditionally have been at Taste."
"It was an opportunity to reinvent it and, hopefully, it's the start of something new and exciting - a new Taste of Dublin, if you like, over the coming years."
Tickets start at €20 are on sale now from www.tasteofdublin.ie.
*If you have been affected by issues raised in this story, please visit: www.rte.ie/helplines.
