The Kai Cookbook Club

We love all the things our customers love, and Jess thought that she could bring two of those passions together to entertain and teach those interested in food. There are book clubs, and supper clubs the world over - but no cookbook clubs. As always, at Kai we like to keep ahead, so from February 15 we will launch our cookbook club.

The club is about people learning, talking, and sharing their passion with others. “It will be great for people to share their love of cooking and cookbooks with like minded people. The club will be a place for individuals and groups of people to come and talk about food, ask questions, and find out how to be a better home chef” says Jess.

The cookbook club at Kai will feature in the restaurant on the 3^rd Wednesday of every month. Tickets are available in advance from the restaurant at €35 for three courses including one glass of wine.

The first installment of the cookbook club will look at Fergus Hendersons 'Nose to Tail', and feature our producer of the month - Castlemine Farm - a perfect winter pairing.

Each evening Jess will dedicate the menu to a pre-decided book chosen by those attending via the restaurants Facebook page. From January we will run a poll on the Facebook page so you can decide what book you would like covered, and if there are any specific dishes just let us know

Each course will be served with Jessica explaining the technicalities of the dish, best places to source the freshest food, and how to serve a feast to happy customers.

Places are limited so make sure you book early.

For more information contact Kai on 526003 or visit www.kaicaferestaurant.com

Bluebell Falls

If you are a regular to Kai Cafe and Restaurant you will know that the Bluebell Falls Goats Cheese is one of our favourites and appears quite regularly on the menu.

In order to support local suppliers, and in the continuing quest to find the best local ethical produce we love to serve Bluebell Falls.

The unique goats cheese is produced on the Keane family farm in County Clare, where goats are fed indoors on fresh grass which is cut once a day. The same grass is given to the animals in the morning and again in the evening.



After the goats have eaten they are free to roam outside in the sun(when we have it), and at the first sight of rain, they are all back under cover again.

Fresh grass makes up 85 per cent of the goats' diet and the remainder is made up of barley, oats and wheat. The high quality flavour of the milk comes from the wide variety of grasses that they eat.

The cheese is produced every day with the goats milked twice daily.

Milk from the evening is stored overnight at 4 degrees and mixed with the following morning's milk to make a range of quality cheeses.

Milk is not sourced from any outside farms allowing all the cheese to be completely produced on the farm.

Because the Keanes love what they do, and do it so well, we are able to get the best highest quality product delivered direct from the farm to the restaurant in small batches so we always have an excellent cheese to offer you guys.

If your interested in getting some cheese visit their website for a list of shops that stock the amazing cheese, or you can buy online. http://www.bluebellfalls.ie/index.php?ID=5

The Friendly farmer

Reared with love

At Kai we only used the best produce, and it has to treated with love and respect or we won’t serve it. In order for us to provide amazing produce we work very closely with our suppliers.

Today we are serving Ronans Roam Free Chicken Salad -

Our feathered friends that are featuring regularly on the menu come straight from the Friendly Farmer. Using traditional farming methods all the turkey and chicken comes from Athenry, and we all know the pastures are low and rich out there.

Poultry are grass fed and allowed to roam, which makes fitter, healthier animals. The key with this kind of farming is providing fresh grass for the animals at all times, the fundamental of the pasture poultry model. It sets Ronan and the gang apart from the rest - these guys are the best.

Have a look at the chickens accommodation - not bad for a bird!



If you fancy The Friendly Farmers fit birds, you can find him at Athenry, at Galway, Moycullen, Kinvara farmers markets and by home delivery. He sells a selection of chickens, ducks, bronze turkeys, and geese.

Check out his site for more info - http://thefriendlyfarmer.blogspot.com

The Game is On – but no for long!

This is the time of year when we wave goodbye to the summers wonderful fresh pickings, and welcome a wild selection of rich autumnal offerings.

For the last month every tweed wearing country gentleman has been dusting off his shotgun, and polishing his pellets - all in the name of a well-earned supper.

While the idea of middle-aged men running around the countryside shooting birds may sound ridiculous, it results in a wonderful selection of wild Irish game.

Kai gets its Game from Dromoland Game, who provide the finest Wild Game in the country.

Dromoland Game is based in Limerick and supply all feathered Game including pidgen, pheasant, mallard and partridge. They also supply Wild Venison from Lough Cutra Castle in Gort.

All feathered game comes from its own driven shoots, where birds are kept well stocked by Dromoland with a determined conservation program.

Rabbits and woodcock are provided to Dromoland from hunters around Clare and the Burren.

The world of Game is extraordinary in the culinary world. In a time of intensive farming the importance of wild food is increasingly important. While farmed fish is becoming more and more common, the chance to eat wild meat is almost non-existent.

At Kai we focus on organic meat, which is as close nutritionally to wild meat, but not as optimal. However for a brief period each winter we can eat wild game – a real treat, and one everyone must explore and experience.

The game season runs from November to February so now is the time to start experimenting with a wonderful rich, and full flavoured selection of meats.

We are currently using Dromolands wonderful game in roasts, stews, and all manner of dishes, and will continue to do so over the coming months. We may even have some super special game dishes for Christmas so keep an eye out.

If you want to find out more about game, how it’s cooked, or where to get your hands on it, drop in and ask one of the guys – That’s what we’re here for!!

Locavore feast: in Galway

The lovely Catherine Cleary wrote a great piece about the 50 mile Feast for the Irish Times - have a read



They did things the hard way in Galway for a stellar pop-up restaurant night recently. Not only was the venue – the Columban Hall on the Sea Road – a genuine pop-up restaurant, they also pledged that everything (excluding wines) would be sourced within a 50-mile radius. What followed was a brilliant night around two long banquet tables in this lovely old church hall. Although some of the locals had to banish memories of sitting their Leaving Cert exams here, the transformation into a magical restaurant was achieved with real style.

The food came from kitchens nearby and was plated in a tent to one side. Highlights included farmed abalone, a risotto made with barley instead of rice (no paddy fields within 50 miles), braised beef cheeks and a magnificent hazelnut ice cream made with wild Burren hazelnuts.

Sorcha Molloy from the Herons Rest BB and Kai chef Jess Murphy were the brains behind the night, and were joined by six other cooks: Seamus Sheridan of Sheridans Cheesemongers; JP McMahon of Cava; Junichi Yoshiyagawa of Kappa Ya; Jamie Peaker of Builín Blasta; and Paolo Burnato and Perluigi Suzanna from Ard Bia at Nimmos.

Wines came from Cases Wine Warehouse and the transformation of the hall was the work of designer Stephen Walton. Everyone worked for free and the cost of dinner, plus proceeds of a silent auction (bids in a sealed envelope) went to Galway Simon. This flash mob of cooks has the look of a collective about them. I’d book early for their next event.

Jessica Murphy, head chef at Kai

So... the food at Kai is great, we all know that, there are some funny accents on Sea Road, and plenty to be found in Kai itself. That may have something to do with Jessica Murphy, Head Chef, and owner who was born and raised in the middle of nowhere in New Zealand. Along with her husband David, together they opened Kai, a place with a moral sensibility and a commitment to a better culinary world.

What is it that makes the food of Jessica Murphy so great? Voted the best chef in Connacht by Food and Wine, Jess has worked in some of the finest kitchens and offered up the highest standards of food.

Originally from New Zealand she made Ireland her home working for Kevin Thornton, the Michelin starred chef. Following her experience she moved to Galway where she was head chef at Ard Bia for 4 years, before setting up the kitchens at Bar 8 where she won her Food and Wine award.

The love and passion Jessica has for food is easily reflected in her daily menu at Kai. Depending on what seasonal, fresh produce is delivered by trusted local suppliers each day, the menu changes.
Jessica's ethos is very simple; all produce is fresh, seasonal, local, and where possible, organic.

Each dish is freshly prepared, with much thought put in to flavours enhancing each offering. Both the lunch and dinnertime menus are planned in a similar manner.

All chutneys, jams, curds, and sauces are all prepared in-house, and quite often can be found for sale in Kai's mini pantry of goodies.

Jessica truly believes in sustainability and endeavors to support local artisan food producers wherever possible. Her passion for local produce has attracted amateur foragers both young and old to arrive at the door of Kai with handpicked blackberries, apples, sea spinach and other wild things.

A wholesome goodness surrounds the cooking of Jessica Murphy, an old-fashioned idealist with a modern twist, cooking the way it should be, and that's why we all love it!!

The Kai agenda

Here ye here ye - welcome one and all to the Kai Cafe + Restaurant blog.

Over the coming weeks and months we promise to treat you to a variety of tales, both fact and fiction, fantasies, recipes, and news.

The blog will be about things happening at Kai, all about our philosophy and lots about food.
We're talking about recipes, foraging, what's in season, and how to create awesome food combos.

There are lots of exciting events in the pipeline at Kai, and this will be your chance to find out about them.

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Coming soon!!!