Elevated rustic at its absolute best! From the location of the restaurant to the warm, inviting, and homey interior, to the simple, hand-gathered, wild foraged ingredients served on hand thrown ceramics, Ard Bia at Nimmos is the epitome of "support local, support handmade." The interior is all about organic textures and neutral colors, candlelight, and walls lined in house made pantry staples and local partners goods available for purchase. There is even a whole section of the restaurant's cookbook (for sale in house!) dedicated to shoutouts to their various local suppliers. The vibe is all artful collaboration. My partner described it as "a chef's passion project" and that felt really accurate. There is love in every ingredient and visible on every plate. I am vegetarian at home but tend to eat pescatarian out as it is sometimes hard to find veg options but I can always find fish (especially in Ireland!). I was absolutely chuffed to have multiple veg options in every category here. I started with the "dark and stormy" cocktail (but seriously eyed up that gin and tonic). Beautifully sharp ginger beer paired with spicy dark rum is always a treat. I then had the maple roasted parsnips with apple butter, wild mushrooms, chard, and hazelnuts. Surprisingly, so did my meatatarian spouse. We both agreed that it was fall on a plate. The flavors were so comforting and the plate of charred parsnips atop the brown mushrooms and sauce, laid next to a light salad, all scattered with toasted hazelnuts felt like dinner at your friend's house (who happens to be an awesome cook) but kicked up a notch. I then had the polenta cake main. If the parsnip starter was a hug, this was an intellectual conversation. I spent the entire course silent, processing the textures and flavors I was experiencing. It truly seemed like a finessed example of "salt, fat, acid, heat." Even my meat-loving husband (who was greatly enjoying the BBQ pork at the time) raved about the approachable complexity of the dish. Last, but not least, was the poached spiced plums with chantilly and crème fraiche, topped with a hazelnut and pistachio dust. The best decision we made all night was to each order our own! It was utterly dreamy, and I will spend my next few months trying to recreate it at home. My partner also had the local apple ice wine, for which we asked to see the bottle so we could snap a pic in order to hunt it down later. Amazing stuff. The price tag is not shy here but I feel like it is well worth it for a night out in the city. Ard Bia will be receiving my money as often as I can make it happen.