After clocking up some serious mileage for their Beár Bia travelling podcast, hosts Dee Laffan and Oisín Davis stayed local for their final episode of season two!

Over on Wexford Street in Dublin's city centre, there have been some wonderful barbecue aromas emanating from Barebone since they opened last November. Glowing reports of their food, as well as a beautifully curated Irish-centric drinks menu, meant that paying them a visit was well overdue. Especially when we saw that they were keen supporters of Fierce Mild, Ireland's first non alcoholic brewery. Thankfully, Barebone's manager Cal Hennessy and their head chef Bryan Spain could accommodate us, as could the two founders of Fierce Mild Fergal Carroll and Cathal Byrne.

Barebone got a very slick makeover last autumn. Their ground floor has a confident urban feel with a particularly nice DJ booth in the centre back and a function room & kitchen upstairs. The crew behind barbecue legends Smokin' Bones make up part of the ownership team here and that really shows in the food. An offsite smokehouse and slow cook kitchen across town facilitates the team here, meaning they can serve up richly seasoned and lusciously tasty cuts of meat that require the kind of equipment that would never fit or function in their tight space on Wexford Street.

Manager Cal Hennessy explains that this is a great asset for the business as frequent customers already have firm favourites that they regularly come back for. One of these would be their Spatchcock Chicken Mojo, which takes 2 days to prep and brine before hitting their grill. We paired this wonderfully vibrant and herbaceous dish, with the latest member of the Fierce Mild clan, their Lively Lager. It's a Pilsner style brew made with Irish malted barley that has a lightly bitter finish with a gentle fruit note. Perfect balance to the smoky charred chicken and its piquant accompaniments.

The second pairing of the day is another big hitter from the Barebone menu, their 7 oz dry-aged bavette steak with a whiskey & peppercorn cream sauce. To accompany this delight, the Fierce Mild Extra Pale Ale was served. Made in a completely different way to their lager, it features three different hops and a special yeast that holds the integrity of flavour that every great beer should have, regardless if it contains alcohol or not. As it says on their site, "A beer defined by addition not subtraction."

Enjoyed alongside the steak, it paired beautifully - the soft sweetness of the beer amplifying the deep character of the meat.

For our final episode of this season, it was fantastic to go out with something a little different. What Fierce Mild are proving with their range is that when someone wants an alcohol free Irish beer, not only do they not need to compromise on taste and flavour, but they can also really enhance a meal. In 2026, low and no-alcohol brands are an essential part of Ireland's liquid landscape.

You can listen in on this episode here.

For their first outing of 2026, Dee Laffan & Oisín Davis hit the road for county Mayo to record two episodes. The first of which features two local dishes from the team at Belleek Castle and each one was cooked and paired with single malts from their next-door neighbours at Ballina Whiskey.

Located in the small town of Ballina, Ballina Distillery sits on the banks of the River Moy in County Mayo on Ireland’s Northwest coast. Constructed on the site of the old Duffy’s bakery, the distillery was originally opened in 2015 and was the first to be built in County Mayo in 150 years. Over the last year, the distillery has undergone a full rebrand and recently launched its first two expressions. Their closest neighbour is the nearly two hundred-year-old Belleek Castle. With its turrets, stone columns, ornate vaulted ceilings, intricate wood panelling and breathtaking views and grounds, it's quite easy to see why Belleek has become one of Ireland's most beloved wedding and event venues. However, they are equally well known for being deeply committed to keeping the highest standards in their food & beverage program, and that was why we made the train journey for - although that backdrop was rather special!

For our first pairing, Belleek Castle's owner, Paul Marshall Doran, introduced us to his head chef, Andrew Lewis. He shared the exact detail as to how they take Irish organic salmon and cure it with Ballina Whiskey's triple distilled and triple barrel aged single malt, Ballina Triarach. This is a fantastic process, and while the prep is quick, the salmon needs a couple of days to cure. We'll be sharing a video of it all on the Beár Bia Instagram page. Enjoying this wonderful fish alongside the very same whiskey it was cured in was a real delight. The fruity notes and spicy character of the spirit were also a great counterbalance to the richness of the salmon.

Our second pairing came from the land and has been the signature dish of Belleek Castle itself for over 50 years. Known as "The Drunken Bullock" it is as visually dramatic as it is tasty. A fillet steak is cooked to order before being speared on a 16th-century sword, doused in Ballina Dúbailte Single Malt and set alight. An incredible sight to behold and a tradition normally reserved for the bride and groom of wedding parties! The flambéed whiskey imparts a mellow char and smoky character onto the beef, and when paired with the whiskey, the double-stilled single malt's deep character sat beautifully with each other. Warm earthy spice of the spirit with the decadently cooked fillet, a match made in Mayo heaven! The whole flambé process will also be going up on our social media, so please stay tuned for that.

Throughout our whole recording, Ballina Whiskey's head of blending and maturation Stacy Longworth, guided us through the unique methods the team employ with their signature styles of slower fermentation and distillation. She also talked about some exciting future releases the distillery will be bringing out. Belleek Castle's owner Paul Marshall Doran, walked us through not just the grounds themselves, but also, its remarkable history and how his family have acted as custodians of it since the 50's.

Enjoy! Dee & Oisín

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