Eating out in Dún Laoghaire..Highs and lows

[Rocker]

Brunch at the Gourmet Food Parlour - "Farmhouse Plate" €10.

Peeped in there the other day. Must go in and eat. Thanks for the tip.It is so close to the DART.

[Sinead]

Is this the place beyond Bistro Le Monde? Ate there a few weeks ago
we got about 8 dishes between two of us and were still hungry, we
could have done with a bag of chips after it.
Expensive but pretentious. Bistro Le Monde is much better value.

Sinéad

[Toss]

Is this the place beyond Bistro Le Monde? Ate there a few weeks ago
we got about 8 dishes between two of us and were still hungry, we
could have done with a bag of chips after it.
Expensive but pretentious. Bistro Le Monde is much better value.

Sinéad

....... was it the 'Heirloom Tomato' or the 'Tobacco Onion' that gave it away
I think some of these places just fill menu pages with nonsense and double the price ..... in some places you will find that well know Irish dish “Wild Fijian albacore sashimi with pea tendril salad, toasted hazelnuts, garlic chips, scallions and melon cilantro vinaigrette” and it can be translated into “raw fish rolls with pea pod shavings in a dressing.”

[Strum]

Haha Toss you may be joking but you're not too far off the mark.

[Toss]

Haha Toss you may be joking but you're not too far off the mark.

[Micheál]

At last, the "High" we've all been waiting for . . .

From yesterday's IT

"Fats don’t make you fat"

Having spent nine years working on a book about fats in our diet, author Nina Teicholz condemned the low-fat high-carb dogma that has dominated the debate on health and diet for the past 50 years in a single sentence: “Eating fat does not make you fat.” The low-fat hypothesis, she told the audience at the Weston A Price conference at Thomond Park, was nothing less than “a mass, uncontrolled experiment on the public”.

Blimey! Here we are, thinking we’re doing the good thing, cutting the fat off the breakfast bacon – if we’re even having breakfast bacon – and it turns out we’ve been nothing but a bunch of guinea pigs subject to the whims of bad science.

Teicholz’s book, The Big Fat Surprise, is an in-depth analysis of how dietary science can be swayed by bias and power. Writing it, she says, “I felt like I was writing about the Mob”.

Comparing dietary scientists to Mafiosi may seem a stretch, but The Big Fat Surprise is full of skullduggery, threats, suppression of evidence, men with monster egos and bad outcomes.

There is even a Don Corleone, and his name was Ancel Keys, a powerful, egotistical American scientist who formulated the hypothesis that a diet low in saturated fats would prevent heart disease, by lowering cholesterol. For his work, he wound up on the cover of Time magazine and became the most influential nutrition expert of the 20th century.

The problem with Ancel Key’s low-fat hypothesis, however, is not simply that it was wrong and gained ascendency only by suppressing all the evidence that disproved it. The big problem is that the consequences have been incalculable: we are all swimming with the fishes when it comes to our diets.

Teichholz points out that, back in 1983, Ireland had no problem with obesity. By 2010, however, we had moved right up the ranks of the overweight nations of the earth. The irony is that had we left things as they were, and kept eating our traditional diet of spuds and fatty bacon and creamy milk on porridge, then we would have been grand.

A study of men in Co Cork, for instance, carried out between 1957 and 1962, showed that the men lived to an average of 77 years, equal to the longest-lived people on the planet. No heart attacks, strokes or obesity there.

The paradox, of course, is that our diets need fat and without cholesterol, our bodies won’t work. In fact, fats are our friends, because fats and proteins give satiety to a meal, which means we know when to stop eating because we feel satisfied and full.

Why do we persist, then, in seeing fat as the enemy? Simple: we think fats in food equals fats in us. “Has there ever been a more unfortunate homonym?” asks Teicholz. “One word means two very different things: the fat we eat and the fat on our bodies. It’s so hard for our brains to fully grasp that there are two entirely separate definitions of fat.”

Carbohydrates, on the other hand, trigger insulin by converting to glucose in the body and it is insulin that makes us fat.

In his new book, Always Hungry?, the Harvard nutritionist David Ludwig spells this out in stark and revealing terms: “It’s the low-fat, very high-carbohydrate diet that we’ve been eating for the last 40 years, which raises levels of the hormone insulin and programmes fat cells to go into calorie storage overdrive. I like to think of insulin as the ultimate fat cell fertiliser.”

So how can you stop fertilising those fat cells? Ludwig says simply: “Cut back on processed carbohydrates and get the right balance of protein and fat in your diet. A high-fat diet is really the fastest way to shift metabolism.”

At this point, you might need to pinch yourself to make sure that you aren’t dreaming. Did you just read that a leading doctor says a high-fat diet is the way to go to be healthy and to have the ideal weight? You did. The world, as far as nutrition is concerned and as far as fats are concerned, has been turned upside down.

“We’ve followed the guidelines, we cut fat, we ate more grains and now we look so sick,” is Teicholz’s conclusion about how avoiding fats has cost so many people their good health for so long.

The good news, of course, is that in Ireland we have a climate that gifts us with the world’s best milk, cream, butter, cheese and red meats. Let’s return to putting our agricultural riches back on the table.

The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz is published by Scribe.

[Toss]

. A high-fat diet is really the fastest way to shift metabolism.”

In my uneducated opinion, this is the basis of the Atkins diet as people gorged themselves on a high fat diet for two weeks to the point where their body develops Ketoacidosis and basically attacks itself ... the result is immediate weight loss.... THIS IS LETHAL !!! by allowing you body develop ketoacidosis, you are basically overloading the system and just like a computer, your body starts shutting down and kidney failure is common if you keep on the diet. The other side effect which was never really highlighted is the fact that the heart suffers and many regular yo-yo atkins dieters have went on to discover heart disease and not associate the two.

The real issue today is food controls and the processing systems that use all sorts of additives and chemicals. They talk about 'Farm to Fork' as if the meat is safe but is is useless if the farmer has been feeding his animals some form of antebiotic or growth hormone ..... these hormones are already in the feeds and the industry. Ireland sells its best meats and imports all sorts of unregulated foods from all over the world, just like smoking it will be too late when the Government decides to take action ... profits before people until the medical bills get too large.

[Zirco]

Micheál wrote
At last, the "High" we've all been waiting for . . .

Now that "fats are ok, and sugar is the new public enemy #1" I've started using butter again! All that self sacrifice for nothing! Oi Vay!
My sense is we are on a journey, diets come and go, some of today's facts are tomorrow's fiction.
I remember the "honey guy", Dr. Lelord Kordell, kinda followed him.
Then there was Holford, his message was low G.I. / G.L., keep the blood sugar level stable, no saturated fat, complex carbs....his diet regime was tough I felt. We followed him for twenty years or so, well, tried to follow him, on and off.
Latterly we follow Dr. Michael Mosely, he of the 5 - 2 diet, and have his latest book "The 8 week blood sugar diet". Haven't read it yet. Currently reading "The Diet Myth" by Tim Spector. His focus is the microbes in the gut.
Then there are the variables, such as,
Some people look at food....put on weight, some eat everything, don't put on weight.
Some people's "Full Now" signal from the gut to the brain doesn't work properly, so, hungry all the time, they keep on eating.
Etc, etc.
One important point........I've latched on to this mantra......."Move more, Eat less."
And, "Moderation in all things!"
The battle goes on........

[Strum]

I went vegetarian for a year or so but I felt terrible. The veg heads were saying I wasn't getting enough protein, everybody says that but it's a myth, there's more protein in Spinach and many other foodstuffs, but what was I missing? Fat!
I was eating carbohydrates, pasta, potatoes, beans etc but most days I was feeling queasy in the stomach, lack of energy, and as soon as I went back I immediately started to feel better, so I'm just saying tried and tested, but I wouldn't recommend it without medical or nutritional advice.

[Dancer]

The key to a healthy life is all things in moderation

[Micheál]

I went vegetarian for a year or so but I felt terrible. The veg heads were saying I wasn't getting enough protein, everybody says that but it's a myth, there's more protein in Spinach and many other foodstuffs, but what was I missing? Fat!
I was eating carbohydrates, pasta, potatoes, beans etc but most days I was feeling queasy in the stomach, lack of energy, and as soon as I went back I immediately started to feel better, so I'm just saying tried and tested, but I wouldn't recommend it without medical or nutritional advice.

You obviously weren't putting enough Salt on it

[Zirco]

I was in Monkstown yesterday for Sunday brunch in 8A Brasserie....family gathering.
I've been here several times and the food has always been very good. Plus it has friendly staff. And the prices are reasonable.
Thumbs up from me.
Also, Seapoint restaurant nearby is very good, though a bit pricier.

[grammer]

Was in the Noggin Inn with the family on Sunday for lunch
Impressed again--everyone is a customer including children-
great food very reasonably priced-served with a smile-not a grumpy face in sight-

[Rocker]

Forgot about this thread. Lets revive it. Whats cooking??

[Toss]

Forgot about this thread. Lets revive it. Whats cooking??

We had a fantastic meal in Ouzos Dalkey recently (yes they have one in Blackrock ), fresh fish and fine wine was the order of the day .... excellent from start to finish 9/10.

[Strum]

I noticed in Whiskey Fair (stupid name) on a Sunday lunch childrens meals are FREE. Handy if you have a big family.

[skins]

I noticed in Whiskey Fair (stupid name) on a Sunday lunch childrens meals are FREE. Handy if you have a big family.

Time for you to don the old school blazer, Strum.

[Toss]

I noticed in Whiskey Fair (stupid name) on a Sunday lunch childrens meals are FREE. Handy if you have a big family.

Time for you to don the old school blazer, Strum.

Yayy ...... lets all go

[Rocker]

Why haven't I called in here before....

http://www.thenaturalbakery.ie/about-us

The Natural Bakery on Lr Georges Street.

[Jemser]

Rocker, I have been to the Natural Bakery a couple of times and I do love the idea of a bakery serving up freshly baked products. However on the three occasions I have been this place was a disaster, very shabby with dirty tables filled with dishes etc. The toilets were not very clean either. The staff seem to be on another planet, one occasion I asked for a scone and the guy said to just get one from the shelf, fair enough. But I ended up with the scone in my hand, I then asked for a plate, oh yeah he replied. Then I asked for some butter and a knife, he seemed to be surprised each time I requested an item..... I don't think they have a clue what is going on, just a shame it is a good concept, but they really need to train their staff and clean the place up.

[Micheál]

. . on the three occasions I have been this place was a disaster . . .

Good to hear from you Jemser.
How on earth was there even a second time much less a third?

M.

[Rocker]

. . on the three occasions I have been this place was a disaster . . .

Good to hear from you Jemser.
How on earth was there even a second time much less a third?

M.

Gawd!!! today was just a coffee and a bun but it was early and not too crowded. I'll be more cautious in future.

[Sinead]

Haven't been in the one in Dun Laoghaire, did visit the one in Stillorgan ONCE I did not return
because of the 'pick up the scone there' style, how many hands have picked up scones and
put them back again?

Sinéad

[Rocker]

I felt this was a high for Dún Laoghaire...the other day I was in Wetherspoons and i suddenly noticed a group of diners who live in Malahide (aquaintences of mine). I asked them why they had come all the way over from Malahide....first...over 66 free travel and second affordable drink and grub at Wetherspoons. They also walked and shopped around the town

[Holla]

Haven't been in the one in Dun Laoghaire, did visit the one in Stillorgan ONCE I did not return
because of the 'pick up the scone there' style, how many hands have picked up scones and
put them back again?

Sinéad

was in the natural bakery ONCE and ordered a coffee the place was fairly bizzy but not packed the assistant went to the small sink which I'd say was ment for hand hygiene,this sink was overflowing with used crockery she proceeded to hand wash a mug for my coffee I declined and got a paper cup I was gobsmacked they have no dishwasher