A strange phenomenon has occurred in Galway in recent times. In spite of the downturn, the number of quality new restaurants opening in the city and county has mushroomed, while more people are growing their own fruit and vegetables, both for domestic use and for sale.

Little wonder that the Brigdestone Guide to Irish Food has predicted Galway will shine this year.

Now, a celebration of all that is good about local food is being organised by three lecturers in GMIT’s Hotel and Catering School, supported by the college.

The Foodie Forum will be held in GMIT next Thursday, February 2, catering for members of the public with an interest in this area. More importantly for those in the business, it will offer small producers a chance to meet each other, to network and to get advice on marketing their produce.

Everything you might want to know about cooking, from making bread to smoking fish, to molecular gastronomy, a la Heston Blumenthal, will be available at the Foodie Forum – and that’s only for starters!

“We’ve been talking about it for a while because we have a passion for sourcing and using local good food and supporting the whole concept of Irish,” explains Jacinta Dalton who lectures in Marketing, IT and Food & Beverage Operations at the Hotel School.

Her colleagues in this major project are Colin Gilligan and Cormac Handy who points out that, “there has been a hunger for a venture like this”.

“We have a great resource in GMIT and we approached the Head of the School, Cáit Noone with the plan, she was delighted to support it,” says Jacinta.

“We decided to start tweeting about the Forum when we decided to hold it, and within hours, we were getting phone calls and tweets from chefs, food producers and foodies,” explains Cormac.

“Within 14 days, all the organising was done,” adds Colin.

The Forum, which will run from 10.30am to 5.30pm, will show the public what is available locally and will allow established food producers and chefs to meet some of the 1,200 students in the Hotel School.

There will be three main aspects to the event at the GMIT Hotel School. These are The Melting Pot, and a Drinks Quarter, which are open to everybody, and a Forum, designed for people in the industry.
 

The Forum will host specialists who will discuss social media and marketing for small businesses, blogging, food trends, catering for allergies, and other topics. This section is ideal for “anybody who has an interest in learning anything about food or meeting those guys who they’d never meet”, says Cormac Handy.
These information sessions will kick off at 11 am.

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.