‘What whiskey and butter cannot cure, there’s no cure for.’ — Irish adage
By Michael Redmond Lifestyle Editor
Corned beef and cabbage? I came across none of it when I visited Ireland twice in the 1990s, not in Ireland’s surprisingly good “fine dining” restaurants nor in its homey pubs, where the simple fare was often memorable.
Corned beef and cabbage, you say? Long sigh. “You Yanks are always askin’ after that,” I was told more than once.
I’ve described Ireland’s fine dining scene as “surprisingly good” because I had set out for the Old Sod with a head full of genuinely clueless notions about Irish cuisine — to wit, that there wasn’t any.
Wrong, all wrong. I had the best lamb stew of my life in a pub in Dingle, County Kerry, a charming town perched above the ferocious North Atlantic. The stew came with home-baked brown bread and Ireland’s heavenly butter. At the time, the bill came to something like $5 U.S, Guinness not included.
And the fine dining was top-notch, too, the primary revelation being Ireland’s marvelous seafood. Although it’s an island in the sea, and 2 + 2 = 4, I had never associated seafood with Ireland. (“Well, duh,” as they say in County Down.) And the freshwater salmon was as good or better as the pride of North America.
Arthur Kukoda, executive chef at Princeton’s Alchemist & Barrister Restaurant & Pub, will be serving up the best of both worlds on March 17, when A&B is throwing its 29th annual St. Patrick’s Day Celebration.
Chef Kukoda’s “special Irish menu” will offer a Steamship Round of Corned Beef, sliced from a special station on A&B’s enclosed patio, while A&B’s more formal menu will offer some interesting fusion fare, such as:
• Irish Smoked Salmon with Potato Pancakes and Sour Cream;
• Grilled North Atlantic Salmon with Cockles and Mussels, New Potatoes and Mustard Cream;
• Guinness Braised Short Ribs of Beef with dumplings;
• Corned Beef & Cabbage (inevitably), with Colcannon (mashed potatoes, plus, plus, plus) and Horseradish Cream;
• ”Gaelic Steak” with Mushrooms, Onions, Tomato and Irish whiskey sauce, and
• Grilled Lamb Chops with Mint Pesto and an apple-raisin-barly pilaf. Irish spirit and spirits will prevail on the Big Day, with bagpipers, traditional Irish music by Langaroo, and the 29th annual Longbeard Contest, benefiting the William E. Baker Family Trust, which raises awareness of spinal cord injuries. Festivities start at 5:30 p.m. as the pipers usher in the feast day of Erin’s patron saint.
And A&B will be offering its own economic stimulus package, i.e., Irish beer will flow copiously at a discounted rate.
For reservations in the dining room, call 609-924-5555. The Alchemist & Barrister is located at 28 Witherspoon Street, in Princeton. On the Web: www.alchemistandbarrister.com.

