A birthday special

Soon after its opening we tried out The Park Café, Richard Corrigan's new place and Shelbourne Road, and liked it. Then it got very negative press coverage about poor staff conditions and we wondered if it would survive. Carl's birthday was as good an excuse as any for a return visit.

The forecast had warned about thunder storms bringing the hot spell to an end, so I set out for the south side with plenty of time to spare before meeting the birthday boy. Where better to pass a leisurely hour in the company of a large bottle of Bulmers than Fitzgerald's wonderful pub in Sandymount, I thought to myself and agreed with myself. Fitz's (extras), of course, is renowned for its James Joyce associations, which even carry into the gents' loo, but even without the Joyce business it's just a wonderful place to be.

The restaurant was only sparsley occupied when we arrived and we were the only customers upstairs where we retired for the obligatory aperitifs. James the cocktail maestro produced two fine glassfuls to whet out appetite before we went down to our meal. We ate in the Terrace this time, which is a really nice space. All went well — good food, great company, attentive staff. As we unwound over coffee we got into a chat with  the three girls at the adjacent table, o ver from the UK for some sort of a business get-together. We had a grand old chat and then convinced them to continue the chat back upstairs in James's cocktail domain. Time passed with lots more chat and laughter and international good will (with just a dash of James's creations.

All in all, a great night.