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Sophie Gilmour

Guest writer

Sophie Gilmour is a hospitality consultant for Delicious Business, co-founder of Bird On a Wire and part-owner of Fatima’s.

A closed restaurant in Christchurch during lockdown in 2020 (Photo: Sanka Vidanagama/NurPhoto/Getty Images)

Hospitality is broken, and the Covid-19 crisis gives us the chance to fix it

Restaurants were already teetering on the edge. If they're to survive this, there's a collective fix that may be hard for customers to swallow, but it's the right thing to do

By Sophie Gilmour | 25th April, 2020

Photo: Getty Images/Tina Tiller

Bring home the best bacon for the job

Bacon is on a winning streak, but it's not all about the streaky. Sophie Gilmour gets to know some of the less popular cuts and explains why you should buy them.

By Sophie Gilmour | 30th April, 2019

The final kitchen demo, and Rory’s profiteroles (“be generous, not revolting”)

After five weeks in Ireland, I’ve finally learned to love Guinness

Developing a taste for the black stuff isn't the only change brought about by Sophie's stint at Ballymaloe Cookery School. She feels calm and refreshed, and, believe it or not, has even started running.

By Sophie Gilmour | 30th September, 2018

Sophie’s very own chick, and classmate Ellen with her probiotic tomato ketchup – Ballymaloe is fanatical about fermentation

How to butcher a pig on an Irish hangover

Week four is all about forging new friendships at the local pub, hatching feathered friends, and the joys of natural wine.

By Sophie Gilmour | 22nd September, 2018

From ocean to table, week 3 at Ballymaloe Cookery School. (Image: Sophie Gilmour).

The Irish chef who turns the humble potato into a “life-changing revelation”

By Sophie Gilmour | 14th September, 2018

They like their mackerel in Ireland, and the curry buffet of our dreams

Don’t believe the rumours, Irish food is delicious

Week two at Ballymaloe Cookery School saw Sophie and Camille inspired by another Irish domestic goddess as they continued to cook (and eat) up a storm.

By Sophie Gilmour | 2nd September, 2018

A simple, powerful sentiment borders one of the Ballymaloe gardens; and Darina Allen shares some wisdom with her students (Photos: Supplied)

How I found food nirvana in the Irish countryside

Food entrepreneur and Dietary Requirements co-host Sophie Gilmour is living her best life at the Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland. In her inaugural diary, she introduces us to the inimitable Darina Allen, the school's founder, and geeks out on all things food.

By Sophie Gilmour | 23rd August, 2018

BIRD ON A WIRE

Taking free range chicken to China: Bird on a Wire hatches in Beijing

With three outlets in Auckland, Bird on a Wire is already a success story. So why did its founders jump on a plane bound for China to open a pop-up restaurant? Sophie Gilmour explains.

By Sophie Gilmour | 22nd September, 2017