It’s the first time that the event will be held here, reflecting the much vaunted vibrancy of the Irish food scene. As a recovering restaurant critic – here and elsewhere – I have come to realise that there are several good reasons to feel queasy about the Michelin hullabaloo. “If you eat junk food,” a famous chef once told me, “you deserve your fate.” The “personal responsibility” mantra comes from industries which pioneered the art of victim-blaming. At that point, we will tell the creeps to leave our kids alone, and junk food marketing will be banned, just as tobacco advertising is outlawed today. In 2024, Professor Donal O’Shea said he was “angry” about Ronald McDonald House.

Source: The Irish Times February 09, 2026 20:43 UTC