A Compendium of Irish Pints

Ali Dunworth is a journalist, consultant and events curator who loves writing and talking about food and drink so much that she’s made a career out of it. She began working in pubs and restaurants before ending up behind the scenes in food TV, working on shows like Saturday Kitchen, Great British Menu and Nigella Lawson’s series in the UK and RTE’s What Are You Eating? and The Restaurant in Ireland. In between TV productions, she always returned to restaurant work, whether waiting tables or back in the kitchen. There were even a few career ‘breaks’, including a burger pop-up, taking a year out to cook at Lord’s Cricket Ground and another year running a butcher shop in Melbourne.

As a freelance food, drink and travel writer, Ali’s work has appeared in publications such as the Irish Times and Food & Wine Magazine. She also curates and hosts numerous Irish food events and festival stages with a track record that includes the Big Grill, Taste of Dublin and Beyond the Pale.

At the heart of everything Ali does is great local food and drink and a hunger for the stories that go with them. Cooking, writing, storytelling, washing up, pouring pints, writing about pints – she’s done them all, and as a freelancer she’s always prepared to do any of them again.

Stephen Heffernan is a designer and illustrator who is best known for his work on Instagram under the name Hephee (pronounced heff-ee). His work has a largely comedic focus and is based around social commentary and the nuances of everyday life. After working in the design and ad industry for eight years, as of 2023 he has gone freelance, working on national and international projects with clients such as Coca-Cola, Jameson and An Post.