Running across the weekend surrounding the awards, which take place at the Convention Centre on Monday, February 9, The Chef Sessions is a loose, walkable series of one-off collaborations, pop-ups and late-night gatherings taking place across the city centre.
The programme brings together chefs including Mark Moriarty, Cúán Greene and Rob Krawczyk with venues such as Hang Dai, Row Wines, Frank’s Wine Bar, Bar 1661, Rei Momo and Sister 7, creating what organisers describe as a “loose, walkable trail of food events over the weekend”.
From chicken in a basket and breakfast muffins to toasties and discoed Chinese, the programme trades formality for fun, offering a festival-style trail of events from Saturday night through to Monday.
The sessions kick off on Saturday evening at Rei Momo on Drury Street, where Marcus O’Laoire teams up with Thom Lawson for a modern take on the once-mandatory “substantial meal”.
The Chef Sessions
A nod to the late-night licensing rules that shaped generations of Irish nights out, the event centres on a Brazilian-inspired chicken in a basket served, crucially, without the lights coming up or the music going down.
Sunday sees chef Barry Sun of Volpe Nera bring his cooking into the city for a collaboration with Hang Dai on Camden Street, with a casual, family-style supper drawing on his Northern Chinese roots.
Elsewhere, Cúán Greene of forthcoming restaurant Ómós partners with Frank’s Wine Bar for hot dogs, a quiet homage to the Copenhagen street food that sustains many young chefs cutting their teeth in the city’s famed kitchens.
Cúán Greene
Monday morning offers a softer landing for those who made it through the weekend, with Mark Moriarty joining forces with Egan’s and Bar 1661 for what’s billed as “The Mother of All Breakfasts in the Hand”, a high-end riff on the breakfast muffin, served with cocktails and coffee.
On the afternoon of the awards ceremony, Michelin-starred chef Rob Krawczyk of Restaurant Chestnut in Ballydehob will join Row Wines for a toastie pop-up in the city centre, offering sandwiches and wine for a limited time.
The weekend will close in Smithfield, where Sister 7 and Fidelity will host a late-night event featuring upscale spice bags and DJs on the night of the ceremony.
Each venue will manage its own bookings, with tickets and walk-ins available through individual restaurant and bar websites and social media channels.