My weekend ends up being a Tuesday and Wednesday... due to the nature of my job at Ballymaloe

Ted Berner – Manager Ballymaloe Grainstore tells us about his work, family and downtown and the venue's upcoming May Fairtarget="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">, in our My Weekend

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

I was born in Sweden and moved here as a teenager with my parents. They went back to Sweden and I stayed. 

I started a catering company in my 20’s called Wildside. During Covid I started managing the Ballymaloe Grainstore and now do the two businesses.

What is your ideal way to spend a Friday night? 

Hanging out at home with a group of friends listening to music, trying a new wine that Colm from the Ballymaloe Pop up wine shop has recommended and sharing a delicious meal.

Lie ins or up with the lark.. which is it for you? 

Up with the lark.

Does work creep into your weekend at all? 

Yes, but that is the nature of what we do. Catering and events tend to mostly take place over the weekend. Your weekend ends up being a Tuesday and Wednesday.

If money was no object where would you head to on a weekend city break? And who would you bring with you? 

My wife and New Orleans is somewhere I would love to visit.

Closer to home, is there some place you like to head to recharge the batteries?

Dingle.

Do you like to catch up with family/friends at the weekend? 

Absolutely.

Do you get to indulge any hobbies? Even as a spectator?

Yes, I DJ in my spare time, surfing.

Entertain or be entertained?  If it's the latter do you have a signature dish? 

Entertain and be entertained. Signature dish, not really. I play around with taste and texture. Large groups are no hassle so maybe that is my signature, feeding lots of people.

We have so many places to eat out in Cork - where are your go to spots for coffee/ lunch/ special meal?

Café Paradiso elbow lane or Goldie.

Sunday night comes around too fast.. how do you normally spend it?

Home with the family.

What time does your alarm clock go off on Monday morning? 

7am.

Anything else you are up to right now...

We are Ballymaloe is hosting a new Festival over the weekend of May 20 to 22, called May Fair. It has a list of events from cooking demonstrations, workshops, walks talks and tours and more. Getting the grounds ready for all the events and activities is taking up a lot of my time. We have music and great food in all day and into the evenings. It should be a great weekend and I am really looking forward to it.

MORE ABOUT MAY FAIR

Ballymaloe Grainstore has announced that their May Fair Festival will run from May 20 to 22. The focus will be on celebrating the best of Irish producers across food, fashion, home and garden with a host of events and activities planned for both children and adults.

Running from 5pm Friday May 20, Saturday from 10am- ‘til late and 10am to 5pm on Sunday May 22 the festival will feature workshops, live cooking demonstrations, garden tours, walled garden fitness classes and over 100 stalls containing food, homeware and vintage fashion for adults and kids.

Tickets are €10pp with children under 12 free at www.ballymaloegrainstore.ie. Here are some of the highlights...

Live cooking demonstrations 

Some of Cork – and Ireland’s household names will be cooking up a storm with a host of cookery and cocktail demonstrations. These will be an hour in duration and are included in the €10 entry fee, with pop up wine tastings taking place throughout the weekend. The line up includes: Darina Allen and Rory O’Connell of Ballymalow, Paul Flynn from the Tannery Restaurant, Andy Ferreira from Cask, Scot Holder from Los Chiconos, Arun Kapil from Green Saffron, Cully and Ivan from Cully and Sully, Justin Green from Bertha’s Revenge.

Ballymaloe House Afternoon Tea 

Those with a sweet tooth are in for a treat as Ballymaloe House’s resident Head Chef Dervilla O'Flynn and sweets kitchen chef JR will join forces to produce a delicious afternoon tea menu with sandwiches, cakes, biscuits and more.Book your spot when purchasing your entry ticket.

Evening activities 

You can make a night of it at this year’s May Fair Festival as there will be a great selection of food trucks serving delicious meals. Soak up the atmosphere by enjoying the live music and DJs present both Friday and Saturday evening, and if you fancy it, treat yourself to a glass of wine or beer while you’re at it! The Demo stage will continue into the evening with cocktail and cooking demonstrations.

Children’s Activities 

There will be a drop and go service run in conjunction with Kathy from Brixx club and Louise from Clayotic with a creative workshop area for kids. These workshops will run throughout Saturday and Sunday from 10am at a cost of €10 per child per hour. 

On Sunday, Nicky from Scrappy Little Monsters will be hosting a felt workshop for kids on the Sunday from 10am. Places are very limited, so book online.

Tickets for the children's area are available to purchase when you purchase a ticket for adults entry to Ballymaloe May Fair. Free entry to the fair for Children under 12 with a contribution of €10 per hour for Kathy’s drop and go workshop area. Just purchase your ticket and then when you arrive and sign up for the time that best suits you.

Walled Garden fitness classes 

You’re free to bring your mat and head along to the walled garden fitness area for a fantastic line up of classes across the weekend with something to suit everyone.

Start the weekend in the right mind frame on Friday with Mirin Mooney and her mindfulness workshop, while those looking for something a little more serious can avail of a strength training class on Saturday. Following this, there will be yoga classes, beginner Pilates and sound bath with Sharma, ending the day with a self-care practice.

Sunday has another great line up of classes with Pilates, yoga and mandala workshops taking place.

Places for all fitness classes are limited to 15 people, so book ahead.

Stalls 

The Grainstore will host a great selection of local fashion designers and vintage clothing specialists, with both adult and children’s clothing available to peruse.

House and home are a strong theme for the stalls at this year’s event with a great line-up of Irish makers and sellers with products for each room of the house available.

There will also be a host of food and drink producers  showcasing their local products.

The full line-up of stalls is available to view on the website www.ballymaloegrainstore.com 

Workshops

Workshops will be hosted in the Book Shed area of Ballymaloe Farm, with three to four workshops taking place each day over the weekend starting on Friday evening.

Each workshop will be an hour long in duration across a range of diverse areas, with options to join Esther from Elements of Action and make a brass wreath to decorate your wall or join Grace for a workshop on macrame plant hangers.

Eamonn from Hewn will be present for a workshop on carving your own wooden butter knife, learn how to make your own Terrarium with Prickly Plants, or make your own soap with Suzanne from Clarke’s Soaps Dublin.

You can book all workshops through the website when purchasing your entry tickets, with all equipment and materials will be supplied for each workshop.

Garden Tours 

Over the weekend Ballymaloe are offering an array of tours around Ballymaloe, with history house tours, walled garden talks, biodiversity tours of the grounds and an in-depth look at their new solar panels with a sustainability-focussed tour.

Below are the confirmed tours planned:

Bio-diversity tour of Ballymaloe Grounds with head groundsman Tobias; History tour of Ballymaloe House with Fern Allen;  Walled Garden walks with head gardeners Susan Turner and Mags Coughlan; Farm Sustainability Tours with Ruddy and Rory; Sculpture exhibition tour with Ritchie Scott.

Spaces are limited, so book ahead on https://www.ballymaloegrainstore.com/ballymaloe-may-fair