Happy birthday!

A year ago, we got new neighbours in the Powerscourt Centre. On the first floor gallery, Dervla and Marian opened the Pepperpot, and we haven't stopped eating there since. Every day (except Sundays, bank holidays and the Tuesday after bank holidays), they provide lovely food in generous portions, and everything is made on the premises. The menu is a mixture of the comfortingly familiar (anyone for creamy scrambled eggs with a grilled Portobello mushroom perched on top, or porridge with raspberry compote?) and the temptingly novel (nettle and spinach soup with blue cheese, walnut and nutmeg crumbs, perhaps, or the roast pear, bacon and Mount Callan Cheddar sandwich, which rapidly became a This Is Knit favourite). Marian and Dervla met in another kitchen and soon realised that they both wanted to open the same sort of café. Marian is the cake and dessert specialist, and Dervla's fantastic at the savoury part, so their talents complement each other perfectly. They've got a team of cheerful and astoundingly hard-working colleagues to help them, and it all works like the nicest sort of clockwork. Paper cut-out bunting and mismatched crockery make you smile when you turn the corner into the gallery. If you're in the Powercourt Centre, we really recommend a visit. At busy times, you may have to queue for a table, but that's always a good sign and the wait is worth it. For a year, you've fed us and delighted us. Happy birthday, dear friends, and here's to many more years. Did we mention the scones?