It's true what they say, moving house is stressful. Very stressful, second only to the death of a spouse or a divorce. It's been ten years since we last moved, so we've spent the last couple of weeks sorting through years of collected junk. It's insane, the stuff you end up keeping. A chair with three legs, a lawnmower with no engine, an ax with no handle, fifteen years of Country Living magazines, trousers with flared legs and a variety of kitchen appliances that didn't work. We filled two skips and could possibly have filled a third. On the face of it, it looks like I'm an inveterate hoarder, but I'll say in my defence that these days it costs you money to throw things away. Hired a skip lately? And unlike some people in Dublin, we pay for our weekly rubbish removal as well.

So you can imagine the stress levels in the Tullio household. We gave ourselves two weeks to clear out of the house, which seems wildly optimistic, but was a deadline that we actually met. In the middle of this mayhem I set off to do a review, a happy change from sorting through accumulated grot. I'd arranged to meet Marian Kenny in Dublin and I thought we'd go somewhere local, so I could get home to bed nice and early, ready for more box shifting the next morning. More out of polite conversation than anything, I asked her if there was anywhere in particular that she wanted to go to. 'Malahide', said she. 'WHAT?' I squeaked in return. 'A new restaurant in Malahide. It's good and I want to go there.' I started to imagine the drive, not just to Malahide, but then back to south Wicklow from there. 'Arghh', I said. And then, to elaborate, I held my head in my hands and said 'Nnnggghh, arghh, noooooooo.' rocking slightly in a foetal position. 'Don't be silly,' said Marian, 'you'll enjoy it.'

So being the strong-willed man that I am, a while later we were turning down towards the Malahide marina where the new restaurant, Danieli, is. The well-travelled among you might recognise that name as one of the finest hotels in Venice, so you might think that you'd be in for an Italian meal, but you'd be wrong. But let me describe the place first. It used to be called 'Beanos' and it's a large building overlooking the marina where you can see the coal black, slow black, fishing-boat-bobbing sea. Inside it's crisp and bright in a modern sort of way - pleasing lighting, comfortable seating and lots of space between the tables. It's a big place, but the design is such that you can think of it as almost four different dining areas, each one rather secluded from the others, giving a sense of intimacy. Abstract oils adorn the walls and the whole is tied together by a pale, wooden floor.

My very first reaction as I looked down the menu was 'mmmm, a bit pricey.' Starters nudge up to the €10 mark, main courses run up to €29 and you'd need to add vegetables and potatoes to that. Still, I put that thought aside since the price you pay is completely related to the food you eat - only after you've eaten the food can you say if it was value for money. The choices on offer are very much in the new style of Irish cooking; there's roast quail, a terrine of cod brandade, a Caesar salad, a timbale of smoked seafood as well as dishes that give a nod to the Mediterranean, like calamari, carpaccio and charcuterie. From this long list Marian picked the warm salad with Parma ham, asparagus, rocket and a poached egg, while I chose the mushroom risotto.

Being Malahide and on the coast you'd expect to find seafood and it's well-represented here: sea bass, Dover sole, a panache of shellfish, tagliatelle with tiger prawns and a ravioli of lobster. Meat and fowl are represented too with Guinea fowl, pheasant and chicken, as well as lamb and beef. Marian chose the rack of lamb and I chose the Guinea fowl.

The wine list is longer than average and has wine from all the major wine producing countries, with Italian wines making up the largest sector. The mark up appears to be 200%, which means that there isn't much around the €20 mark. Marian only drinks white wine, so after a lot of humming and hawing we picked a Sauvignon Blanc from the Pays d'Oc at €23.40, which turned out to be rather good.

Before our starters arrived we were given an amuse bouche of the lobster ravioli, which was very impressive. I began to suspect that we might be in for a good meal. The starters arrived and that suspicion was strengthened. Marian's salad presented very well and the poached egg which topped it was just perfect. It was also exactly to her taste with a dressing that she eventually got the recipe for. As for my mushroom risotto, I haven't had as good since I tasted Eamonn O'Reilly's in One Pico. The main courses confirmed the fact. Marian's lamb was tender and tasty and my Guinea fowl came beautifully presented with the breasts served plain and the leg as a ballotine. Both of these dishes were of the highest standard.

In all the years I've known Marian she's always eaten tiny amounts. Here she'd eaten three courses and was now looking at the dessert menu, so we can definitely say she liked the food. 'I'm having the nougatine parfait,' she announced and I got to taste it. Just terrific, and I'm now a fan of caramelised mangoes. The bill for this very fine meal came to €95.30, not including a service charge. Once again, in a short space of time, I've come across another talented young chef. In the Danieli, it's Tom Walsh.