Kilkenny Tasting Tours from the matriarch of local cuisine

An appetising new business will appeal to food lovers, local people and visitors to the city. Kilkenny Tasting Tours will provide a moveable feast for people around the medieval heart of the Marble City, highlighting the rich culinary tapestry that is Taste Kilkenny.
Each trip is tailor-made to suit the requirement of each particular participant or group. The brainchild of the matriarch of Kilkenny cuisine, Anne Neary, it is a fun and tasty way to see the city in the company of a woman who knows her food.
The menu includes a trip to Gerry O’Brien Butchers in the Market Yard, where visitors will get the opportunity to taste black pudding, made to his secret recipe or try his mouth watering spiced beef. The Little Green Grocer will offer tastings of their hummus and cheese selection while Kehoe’s bakery will explain to those on the tour about the origin of their traditional bloomer.
Heading back towards Kilkenny’s historic castle visitors will have a chance to enjoy Irish stew and locally-produced beer or spirits in the Hole in the Wall, sample some chunky soups and chowders in Kilkenny Design Centre. People can also enjoy fare in The Cutting Vedge or savour one of the many chocolate creations at the Truffle Fairy on Ormonde Street.
“I am really looking forward to heading out on the road and getting to meet people from all over the country,” said Ann.
“I am privileged to have an opportunity to introduce them to the wonderfully eclectic gastronomic offering that we have here in Kilkenny.
Hospitality
“I have been involved in the food industry in Kilkenny for over 30 years now and am immensely proud of the wonderful advances in food and hospitality that Kilkenny had made. I consider it an honour to be with people on the tour as they discover them, perhaps for the first time.
“This project is one which I have been planning for the last 18 months,” she continued. “Now as it comes to full fruition I am so excited to start and look forward to what the future holds for both the food industry in Kilkenny and Kilkenny Tasting Tours.”
Anne Neary is a culinary powerhouse who, in a career spanning almost 40 years, has proven herself to be a real whizz.
Originally from Arthurstown in Co Wexford, Anne gained a great respect and love for the hospitality industry watching her mother Maria manage their guest house, Marsh Mere Lodge in the seaside area of her native home, adjacent to both Duncannon Beach and Ballyhack village.
Over the years Anne gained a wealth of experience, not least in her training with CERT in Rosslare where she studied extensively and excelled in all facets of the tourism, hospitality and culinary sector.
After this she went on to work in Blackrock Castle and in the Silver Springs Hotel in Cork, where she worked as both a chef and hotel manager.
Anne has spent all of her professional life promoting food. Since moving to Kilkenny over 30 years ago with her beloved husband Pat, she has been a culinary pioneer and has championed the work of all of the local and regional food producers.
Respected Chef
Operating c since 1991, Anne is one of the best known and respected chefs on the Kilkenny cooking circuit, and has assisted many people acquire great levels of culinary proficiency over the years.
There are very few in the region who have not had the pleasure at dining at Anne’s table at one of her hugely popular cookery courses at her home. In recent times she has attained great satisfaction in working with young children and teenagers on her ever popular summer and holiday boot camps and has helped generations of families forge a love of cooking and indeed a knowledge of food.
Her first cookery book, A Country Kitchen, was published in October 2009. In 2011 she published her second book, Food For Sharing, to great acclaim.
Anne spent many years demonstrating for AGA and Rayburn as well as a host of other food companies and is synonymous with the Savour Kilkenny Food Festival, which is now in its 11th year. Anne was one of its founding members and had great visions from the outset for the festival and is thrilled with how far the festival has progressed since its formative days.
Regular listeners of KCLR96fm will be familiar with Anne. As the culinary expert on KCLR Live each Thursday morning she regales the listeners with recipes, food news and tales of her gastronomic adventures.
Tours will be held on both weekend and midweek time slots. You can find out more details on kilkennytastingtours.com, follow Kilkenny Tasting Tours on Facebook and Twitter, or contact Anne at 086-2767656.