I saw a cartoon joke that said New Year’s Resolutions are goals for the first week of the new year. Here’s a list of food and diet goals that need to be achieved in weeks 2-52 of 2014 and are broader than the get fit, get unfat lists

Shop local
I live in a town in the south east of Ireland called New Ross. It’s not just marketing bumpf New Ross is in the heart of the south east. Here we’re 45 minutes to an hour from Dungarvan in the west, Clonmel in the north west, Kilkenny to the north, Gorey to the north east and Wexford town to the far east. There are amazing tourist attractions, sites of natural beauty, and eateries to enjoy within a two-hour roundtrip.

The list for 2014
Top of my list foodwise is The Tannery in Dungarvan, I remember being told about it by a dear old editor friend in the early 2000s and I have yet to visit. I have no excuse as I even have a place to stay, my family’s ancestral home in the seaside village of Bonmahon just 20 minutes away.

Et Voila locally known as “the French restaurant” is great to have in a small town like New Ross. I don’t go there enough. I don’t eat out enough full stop. I would like to go there at least once a quarter and give support to this culinary delight.

Aldridge Lodge in Duncannon is another great and local restaurant.

I’ve yet to see what the cafe at The Inn at Ballilogue which is just a few miles outside New Ross in the Rower-Inistioge area is like, it’s just open weekends, so I must get there someday.

Clashganny House outside Borris in Co Carlow is somewhere I’ve been hearing about, so it’s another one for the list and is just a half an hour’s drive.

Also in Borris is The Step House Hotel. I had lunch there once, when the Borris Festival of Writing and Ideas was on, and I’d go back. Maybe for dinner this time.

I’ve never been to Monart, either, and never availed of a now out of date and discarded voucher for lunch because of the snow in 2010/11.

Another long list one is the Cliff House Hotel. Want. Badly. While it is just over an hour to get there, it’s within an hour from my ancestral home by the sea in Waterford.

The Crazy Crab in Kilmore Quay is somewhere myself and a friend Orla have been threatening to go to in 2013. It’s on the definite list for after a walk some day in 2014.

In Wexford town I love the restaurant Cistin Eile on the Main Street. Really lovely, tasty Irish food. It’s ideal for dinner or even a simple lunch, like a had one day last tear – a sumptious nettle soup.

Afternoon tea in Waterford Castle is something I’ve heard is a lovely thing to do, and exciting as you have to get a ferry to the island the hotel is on.

And speaking of food and water. The Galley is a “cruising restaurant” which cruises on the River Barrow from New Ross. That’s a must do. Food is good and it’s beautiful on a fine summer’s evening.

What next?

I’m going to try and get a gang of friends together to help me achieve my goal of getting to all of the above in 2014. If you’re in the food business or just a foodie and have anywhere within one hour of New Ross I should add to the list please let me know by commenting below or letting me know on Twitter.

2014 cafes eating food restaurants