Eat, Make, Watch, Love

The evenings are getting shorter and darker, and we’re pining for something new and exciting to welcome this alluring autumn vibe. In the spirit of the great voyage of discovery that was Eat, Pray, Love, we go looking for inspiration in ethnic restaurants, exotic cookery lessons and foreign films.

The full Swedish (breakfast)

Save for travel, one of the best ways to discover new cultures is food. Thankfully, 2014 Dublin has all the restaurants you’ll need to enjoy great dishes from all over the world. Italian, French, Japanese, Thai, Brazilian, Mexican? They’re all here and we’re sampled quite a few. Read our recommendations of the best restos in Dublin town right here on Image Daily and pick up the Image Interiors and Living September/October issue for a review of the best Middle Eastern, Indian and Street Food courses (plus dinner party tips). If you’re eager to stir things up in the kitchen and you’re ready to do a Julie and Julia, have a look at the autumn courses of these Irish cookery schools:

Dublin Cookery School (Middle Eastern, South Asian)

Cooks Academy (Spanish, Japanese)

Ballyknocken Cookery School (Southern Italian)

Montys of Kathmandu (Nepalese)

Andrew Rudd Cookery Classes (Thai, Mexican)

The Irish Cookery School (French, Indian)

But where to get your ingredients? Follow the Silk Road to Dublin’s exotic food and spice stores here: Asia Market, The Mexican Shop, Spiceland and IKEA Food, or go for a stroll on Moore Street.

We know the experience would not be complete without our best all-time foodie films from around the world. Snuggle up on your sofa with your gourmet hot cocoa (remember the Mayan recipe from Chocolat?) and watch these evocative beauties over the rainy season:

Babette’s Feast (Danish) |?I Am Love (Italian) |?Vatel (French) |?Eden (Germany)
Big Night (USA) |?Like Water for Chocolate (Mexico) |?Couscous (France-Tunisia), and
? the cult foodie film?Tampopo (Japan)

P.S. The focus is on?food at the?Guth Gafa Film Festival this autumn, if you are looking for a cinematic experience.

Planning a harvest feast? Can you recommend a good foreign drama? Give us a shout on Twitter, and send us your foodie Instagrams on Facebook.

@DianaNacu