THE SEARCH IS ON TO FIND NI SUPERSTARS

 

THE SEARCH IS ON TO FIND NI SUPERSTARS

Closing date approaching to nominate your local heroes

The people of Northern Ireland have been nominating who their local SuperStars are and as the deadline of August 19 is fast approaching, SuperValu wants to remind the people of Belfast, and beyond, to keep sending in their nominations.

 

SuperValu SuperStars will help shine a light on the people in communities who go out of their way to help others and who bring about positive change in the places they live, explained Desi Derby, Head of Marketing, SuperValu.

 

“Last year we recognised our SuperMums so in 2017 we decided that we would cast our net wider to identify the men, women and children who are SuperStars in their communities.

“Most of us will know a local SuperStar in our area so this is your chance to nominate them and give them the pat on the back they deserve.  We want family, friends and colleagues to nominate their SuperValu SuperStars and help us to show them that their efforts have not gone unnoticed!”, said Desi.

 

SuperValu, in conjunction with sponsors, Robinsons, Dairylea, Ben & Jerry’s, Persil, U105 and The Sun, want to find 36 SuperStars across every county in Northern Ireland who will be invited to Parliament Buildings, Stormont, where the overall winner will be announced on November 22.

 

“It’s so easy to nominate your local SuperValu SuperStars, just go to www.supervalu.co.uk and fill in an online form and leave the rest to us.  Anyone can nominate, including yourself, with the winner receiving a fantastic 5 star holiday and all finalists will be presented with SuperValu shopping vouchers”, said Desi.

To enter SuperValu SuperStars simply nominate online via www.supervalu.co.uk or www.facebook.com/SuperValuNI and describe what makes your nominee inspirational and worthy of the SuperStars title.

Desi continued: “We’ve had a fantastic response so far and we would like to thank everyone for taking the time to nominate. However, there is still time left to share the story of your SuperStars and we want to hear from you before entries close on August 19.”

If you think you or someone you know is a SuperStar and deserves to be recognised at the glittering reception at Parliament Buildings on November 22, simply enter online by August 19.

SuperValu is a leading foodmarket convenience brand for independent retailers in Northern Ireland providing real food from the heart of Northern Ireland.  SuperValu believes in quality local food that is from here and for here and sells in excess of £100 million worth of products from Northern Ireland in its stores every year. This helps to sustain jobs in local communities across the province.

New menu launch at The Loft

Very excited and looking forwards to the new menu being unveiled on Monday 24th July at The Loft in Mallusk. 

There will be dedicated breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, kids eat free on Monday and Tuesday and Steak night on Thursday.

So call 028 9084 0008, visit https://www.gototheloft.com or pop in

36a Mallusk Rd

Newtownabbey

BT36 4PP

United Kingdom

Parties, including weddings, Christenings, Communions and birthdays all catered for!!!

Dalriada Festival 2017

Attended the 2017 Dalriada Festival at Glenarm Castle today and had an absolute blast!!

The grounds of the castle came alive with music, song, dance, military displays,the best local food and drinks including a demo from Paula McIntyre and live demos from the Super Valu guys to Cossack horsemanship and guest appearance by Peppa Pig!!! 

Glenarm is home to the finest Glenarm Salmon and many local food and drinks producers showed their produce.

The weather didn't deter the masses who turned up in their droves- it was rather akin to a warm spring day rather than mid summer heat!!! The forecast is much better tomorrow. The performers kept the throngs entertained with music, song and dance. Credit to the groundsmen who kept the place very well in particular the phenomenal walled garden.

The Craft Village was nicely busy with lots of great gifts and innovative foods (loved the Rolld ice cream).

Also on hand was the International Henna Artist Binder who was doing some amazing henna designs on the lucky folk who got it!!

There's plenty to see, do, feel, eat and drink!! So make sure you get down to the festival!!

Judging at the IQFDA 2017

Well I've just finished judging at the Irish Quality Food and Drink Awards held at DIT.

Yesterday the category for judging was Irish  Good Choice Quality Food and today was the jewel in the crown, the Gold award judging. Yesterday we tried 34 products, today a whopping 94!!!! 

The judges were from all parts of the food world and friendships were forged as well as renewed. The quality and standard was exceptionally high. The winners will be announced at the Gala dinner on 26th October 2017.

Glorious gastronomy at the Gasworks

On a gorgeous July evening, the four of us (wife,two girls and I) dined in the glorious Belfast Radisson hotel restaurant called The Gasworks Restaurant and Bar.

The hotel is set in the Gasworks in Belfast, an area which has undergone a lot of regeneration over the last twenty years. It was a very busy place in bygone days, keeping Belfast lit-one can see the icons in the signage.

The logo is very striking and the style and typing font is very period appropriate. There are plenty of seats in the bar, outside along the lakeside, inside and in the private booths, which we opted for.

The Radisson Hotels used to house the Filini  Italian restaurants in all their UK hotels and it was great to see that Belfast broke away from the generic replacement and generated the Gasworks Restaurant and Bar. The menu offers a superb selection of all kinds of food from breakfast through lunch and into an amazing evening menu,with meals to satisfy all appetites and the superb thing is that it's all on a one sided menu!!

The restaurant is very child friendly and offers a very good explorers pack to keep the kids occupied, also for residents all kids eat free. Fresh baked seeded bread and butter was also served. 

For starters we chose the large king prawn and calamari tempura sharing platter and my older daughter had a large seafood chowder, whilst the younger one had chicken fillets with corn on the cob and skinny fries (kids menu). The tempura was lightly battered and crisp and fish was perfect. The chowder was creamy and had plenty of fish and potatoes. The chicken, fries and corn went down a treat!!

For mains I had the most delicious monkfish with apple and radish salad and mayo served with an onion ring side. My wife had the chicken and noodle broth. We both thoroughly enjoyed the dishes and were amazed about the portion size of the noodle dish, the monkfish was just right also. The fish was meaty, juicy and succulent and cooked to perfection. The seasoning was slightly salt heavy else two perfect dishes. To finish the girls devoured a strawberry and chocolate ice cream, while my wife and I shared a vanilla mocha.

The ambience of the restaurant was superb and all the staff were expertly trained. The attention to detail was amazing-example being the place setting napkin was a thick tissue based one whilst the napkins given for main course were white cloth.

This is certainly a restaurant which is ideal for special celebrations but is equally good for romantic meals and is very child friendly. There is onsite car parking which is free if one dines or stays in the hotel. A big thank you to all the staff at the hotel/restaurant for making our evening memorable.

Birthday and anniversary celebrations

My wife and I share our anniversary with our daughter and we celebrated with the youngest one at Pizza Express. This was our first visit at the St Annes Square, Belfast restaurant.

It's spacious and has plenty of natural lighting and I must say one of the nicest in Belfast!! Staff were fab also. Some great menu choices and deals. For the kids there's a 3 course meal for £7, girls had dough balls and salad to start followed by mini penne with ham and pepperoni pizza and then ice lollies. 

I had garlic bread with cheese, my wife had a tomato and mozzarella salad-both were lovely. For main I had an American hot pizza and my wife was so pleased to see her all time favourite dish back on the menu-cannelloni, which she ordered. Both were exceptional. To wash it all down we had water. Great vfm at £36!! All round fantastic

Dubai Duty Free Arabian Night

Yesterday evening Dubai Duty Free hosted an evening of Middle Eastern fun, food and frolic at their Arabian Night extravaganza. It was held in the oasis, that is The Thermal Village, which is situated in the grounds of the Galgorm Resort and Spa. 

The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open 2017 is currently being played at the Portstewart Golf Club on the picturesque North Coast of Northern Ireland. 

The Spa at Galgorm is a wonderful facility and I did get a good look around-will have to try it out soon.

The Thermal Village is a World Class outdoor venue to relax and unwind and soak in hot tubs and soak in the stunning views.

On arrival there was a drinks reception in The Orangery and canapés served in the village. The canapés were arancini, mini chicken Sumac baskets and non alcoholic Bloody Mary shooters. These were very tasty, complimented each other and went down very well!! The food was a mixture of classic Northern Irish and Middle Eastern.

Starters were then served, buffet style, in the Tee Pee, which had seating for 100 plus guests. The starters that I had were the pickled vegetables, flatbread, hummus, apple ketchup (amazing), very creamy chowder, smoked salmon,duck rillette and Baba ganoush. The culinary team at the Galgorm got it spot on-I really thought I was in Dubai!!

Throughout the evening there was an impressive falconry display comprising of Owls, Hawks, Falcons and an elegant Golden Eagle. There was also a chance to dress in traditional Arabian attire as shown off by four glamourous models and yours truly!! Also guests had a chance to get Henna (Mehndi) by the International Mehndi artist Binder Tohani.

The drummers played after dinner accompanied by fire artists​. Dinner was a fine feast of chicken harissa, aubergine and okra bamya, Ottoman lamb, BBQ meat (chicken, Merguez sausage and Rump steak). There was also beef and Guinnes pie and smoked haddock on a bed of creamy cabbage. I had all but the beef dishes (including Merguez sausage) and must admit surpassed my expectations and tantalised the taste buds. The mix of the spices was spot on!!

I must say that the whole evening, venue, food, service and event were World Class and we were blessed with dry and mild weather!!

I had to forego dessert and the band as had to relieve babysitter!! Big thanks to Aileen, Dubai Duty Free and the Galgorm.

Due to rights restrictions I'm unable to name or show pictures of any of the players or officials, suffice to say I did get to meet many wonderful people especially the CEO of Dubai Duty Free.