Carluccio’s Caffè, Dublin
On a quick trip to Dublin today and enjoyed a brief visit to Carluccio’s Caffè on Dawson Street. Lots of gorgeous food to look at and buy – including some very presentable Christmas hampers and gifts in luxurious packaging – in the deli area at the front of their premises but we didn’t have time to linger. In search of some quick soup, we got Pasta e Fagioli, a sustaining bowl of borlotti beans and pasta in a rich broth, with a chunk of olive oil-soaked, salt-sprinkled foccacia. A cup of fresh mint tea (mint leaves in boiling water, sweeten as desired) finished off a simple and satisfying repast. Must go looking for that Pasta e Fagioli recipe in my new Carluccio’s Complete Italian Food cookbook…
Thank you for a tempting glimpse. I don’t mind if Carluccio’s is becoming ubiquitous in England (I think a Sunday paper sneered to that effect lately) – it would be welcome to expand its empire further into Ireland, if our last visit – to the branch nearest to London’s Natural History Museum – was anything to go by. We were well prepared to return for the millions of years’ worth of dinosaurs we hadn’t seen in the morning after a lunch at C’s.