Page 158 - WDT MAGAZINE IRELAND ISSUE WINTER 2018

Our meal started with a trio of seared scallops
paired with apple puree, fresh radish and wood sorrel.
The next morning when we joined the Chef to forage
around the grounds and harvest in his hoop houses,
we learned that that apples and radish were home-
grown and the sorrel plucked from the wild. “We grow
herbs, lettuces, carrots, tomatoes – you can’t beat
the flavor and it pencils out to grow rather than buy
produce,” he says. “When blackberries are in season, I
send the kitchen staff out into the woods to pick them.
The person who picks the most gets a nice reward.”
Ingredients like these growing steps from the kitch-
en enlivened the entire menu. Lavender, clipped from
a border along the Lodge patio, was roasted with the
Thornhill duck breast, while blended herbs crowned
tender lamb garnished with purple wildflower blos-
soms. Sweet woodruff redolent with the scent of new
mown hay perfumed the mousse served with a tart
of strawberries ripened in the row house. “My goal is
always to pick the best ingredients and let the flavors
shine,” says Chef Keane whose creative cooking was
honored with Wilde’s selection as Ireland’s 2018 Hotel
Restaurant of the Year.
While at the Lodge, guests can also dine on the
casual bar menu, make a picnic of afternoon tea or
bring full appetites to a groaning chef’s table. Of the
many other activities – golf to archery and horseback
riding - available during your stay at the Lodge, don’t
pass up a visit to Ireland’s oldest school of falconry
based there and its “hawk walks” with one of these
magnificent birds. It was a highlight of our Ireland trip.
The Lodge at Ashford Castle - thelodgeac.com.

158 WDT MAGAZINE WINTER 2018