Cork’s Grande Dame, the Imperial Hotel, is celebrating this October as they mark one year since the launch of their vibrant cocktail hot spot Sketch, which was recently voted as one of the top cocktail bars in the city. The venue faces onto the newly pedestrianised Pembroke Street, off the South Mall
The award-winning luxury boutique hotel has also announced the appointment of their new Executive Head Chef, Ali Honour, who is well known in Cork foodie circles, and an exciting new brunch menu
In the first 12 months since opening, Sketch has become a place to be seen in the city, with its elegant interiors, Instagram walls, sumptuous food sharing platters and bespoke cocktails, made with fresh ingredients by inhouse mixologists. Sketch offers both style and substance with its strong focus on local ingredients, delicious food and sustainability which informs everything that goes on the menus.
The appointment of Ali Honour (formerly of popular Cork eatery Ali’s Kitchen) to the position of Executive Head Chef at Sketch and The Imperial Hotel is exciting news on the Cork food scene and represents a strategic new direction for the hotel. Hotel GM Bastien Peyraud, who took over the role two years ago, has put a strong focus on the hotel as a stand-alone dining and social destination that serves quality local, sustainable food.
“We want to become known for heartfelt food in the heart of the city and this is exactly what Ali creates, so we are very excited to announce her appointment. Our new food direction will include more homemade comfort foods packed with flavour, which modern diners crave when eating out, while still maintaining the style and sophistication you would expect from a luxury boutique hotel.”
A new brunch menu will launch in time for the one-year celebrations at Sketch. Jampacked with flavoursome treats the menu will include Sweet French Toast with seasonal compote, vanilla mascarpone and hazelnut crumble or a Savoury French toast topped with creamy mushrooms, spinach, and gruyere cheese. If poached eggs are your idea of peak brunch yumminess, then try the Corn Fritters which come with avocado, poached egg, chilli and coriander dressing. Or opt for the Brunch Bowl which has poached egg, hummus, tenderstem broccoli, quinoa, roast peppers, onions, sweet potato, salad and a herb dressing. Putting a local twist on a classic the Cork Monsieur Toastie has O’Connells baked ham, bechamel and gruyere. Another toastie option is the Kimchi and Cheese Vegan Toastie. For meat lovers the steak sandwich with fries is sure to appeal, the sandwich features a 6oz sirloin, onions garlic butter, focaccia, lettuce, and tomato. The final menu item is a delicious, spiced lamb flatbread with Ardsallagh feta, mint, yoghurt, mango chutney, salad, tomato and onion. The Imperial has also organised two fabulous, brunch events on the weekend of 8th/9th October to showcase the new menu.
On the 8th October from 12-4pm, Sketch will. add live music to their Saturday brunch featuring Cork pop singer Aine Carroll who was a contestant on season 5 of The Voice UK.
A ‘Stretch at Sketch’ yoga brunch will take place on Sunday 9th at 11am. Tickets cost €59 an it includes an energising morning with a health shot from the Imperial’s head chef Ali, a 45-minute yoga class with yogi Val from Soul Retreats Cork and After the workout guests will enjoy 3-courses of gorgeous fresh local produce from the new Brunch menu at Sketch (vegan and vegetarian catered for), and attendees will be given an energy ball to take home. This event is suitable for all levels of experience. Must bring your own mat.
Brunch with live music on Saturday or the Stretch at Sketch event can be booked http://imperial-hotel.tablepath.com/
Bastien continued; “We are thrilled to celebrate a hugely successful first year and are excited to continue to elevate and innovate both our food and cocktail offering. I think the appointment of Ali to the Executive Head Chef role will bring a lot of passion, creativity, and flavour to the table. Our commitment to sustainability informs everything we do, and she genuinely shares that ethos, making it a great fit. As a leader Ali prides herself on bringing the whole culinary team along on the journey, whether it’s encouraging creativity in terms of designing new dishes or offering ongoing training to upskill everyone in the kitchen to help them progress in their career and allow individual talents to blossom.”
Find Sketch @ The Imperial Hotel on instagram.com/sketchcorkcity. For bookings use the Table Path booking feature http://imperial-hotel.tablepath.com/ . The events must be pre-booked.
