My lessons from 48 hours in Galway, Ireland

Ireland is not shite.

The weather? It’s shite.

Food on the Edge is a great food festival - and the Irish people are wonderful

Guinness tastes better in Ireland, so I don’t have to pretend I like it anymore. From now on, I can avoid it and point to my excellent taste in beer, rather than the other way around. Except when I am back in Ireland. Soon. Please.

Splitting the G is a thing. Apparently, so much so that rations on Guinness are also a thing.

Agriculinary is my new favorite word.

@sasulaukkonen story of how he went from chef to knifemaker was worth the trip. I wish he had told it on stage.

@lignumrestaurant Lignum means wood (that I knew), which means badass Italian restaurant in the middle of nowhere (that I did not know).

Trying to be a cool, casual @fujifilmnordic x100vi street photographer at a reception requires you to shut up. I could not.

Never am I so not in control of what I eat as when I go to a food conference. Potato chips and a Lion bar for a late-night dinner. And it’s not the first time.

@chefdanbarber got injured by dropping an (obviously) incredibly sharp knife onto his foot while cooking at home. Just as you thought he couldn’t possibly be more cheffy. You were wrong. Even on crutches, he is better than the rest of us, and he will plate his own food at the pass.

The best apple cider vinegar comes from Ireland, and it's very healthy, really.

@mistereatgalway will be running against Conor McGregor soon - I just know it.

You can kayak for 30 days in Greenland, only eat seal and whale blubber, and lose 15 kg. I am not surprised.

Apparently, you can also just eat whale blubber and lose 15 kgs. I am still not surprised. No risk of binging

Foraging is still cool.

A Greek kid is killing it in Athens, and he still remembers the meal at Relæ when he was 19 - the greatest compliment I could get as a chef.

He was inspired to open up in a rowdy neighborhood, just like Relæ. I am happy he succeeded. He could have gotten shot, and blamed me for it.

When you don’t actually have a job, you cannot pull off the “oh, I am a really busy chef” thing. And that’s a good thing.

My talk went well; it shows that when you do a great job of preparing, the outcome will reflect it. Who would have known?

It was about ego, so I cannot talk about the talk, but I will keep reposting anyone praising it - I promise.

San Pellegrino is like the rain in October, nobody really wants it, but it’s fucking everywhere, and it makes the world go round.

Breeding for flavor was the aha moment for Dan Barber - the most intellectual and sharpest chef out there.

So many have been so inspired to change course and find a path in earlier editions of FOTE - well done.

When you do an ambitious organic farmers market in Bangkok, the bestseller is what it always is in a farmers market: brownie. -
Thank you for the Fish sauce, guys! - Bo.Lan!

Going back to the good old days of incredible suffering and toil to grow heirloom varieties is not the path forward - and I agree.

Never try to impress the kingmaker Petrini. on a bus ride - I eagerly had to share the memory of a trip to Ca del Bosco with Redzepi, Ferran, Cracco, and more: he nodded, smiled, and in return told me how he introduced Michel Bras, Passard, Veyrat, and Roellinger to Italy in 1997 and had them taste balsamico for the first time and meet a young Bottura.
Point, set, and match. I’ll just go back to my seat now.

After a couple of Guinness, the locals will reveal what pubs have mummified limbs behind the counter. True story.

Sometimes I apparently do not understand a word of spoken English.
Take that into account when reading the above.

Even when I am at home with my kids, every single day, I feel bad when I am somewhere else.

Next time I fly out for a conference in October, I am flying south, not farther north.