This week the promised winter snows finally covered the Wicklow Hills. Not just a dusting either - but a proper fall of snow that was deep enough to bring our lives to standstill for a few days. But it wasn't the snow of the winter of '82 when we were effectively cut off from the outside world for ten days. Back then we even had the excitement of a helicopter dropping basic foodstuffs for humans and stranded sheep, but this time there was enough snow to make the road from my house to the main road impassable.

When nature decides to intervene like this, you could rail against the gods for forcing a hiatus in your life and feel resentful that the even tenor of your life had been so carelessly interrupted, or you could simply accept the inevitable and decide to make the best of it. My son, Rocco, had come to visit the day before the snow fell, so we found ourselves with snow, enough food to survive, a few bottles of wine and a desire to make the best of it. As a child Rocco had been much affected by the 'Calvin and Hobbes' books, so his first task was to build a snowman, Calvin-style. His final creation was a psychopathic snowman, who was burying another snowman alive. I wondered how many of his genes are mine.

For the next couple of days winter sports came to Annamoe. Tobogganing, obviously, both single and double-seaters, then there was a brief interlude of snowboarding and then a hunt for the cross-country skis. We found the skis alright, but then we couldn't find the boots, so that particular winter discipline never happened. By day three the snow was turning slushy, the risk of niphablepsia was fading, and I had a lurking suspicion that I could have got out had I really wanted to. I have to admit that I was enjoying the enforced isolation and didn't want it to end. Dublin friends were on the phone asking, 'Are you snowed in?' and I'd answer, 'Yes, Dublin is completely cut off.'

Fun as it all was, I was beginning to worry about getting to a restaurant to review. Thankfully, Friday morning brought the thaw and by evening the snow was effectively gone. That night, Rocco and I set off over the Wicklow Gap heading for Kildare Town. Over the years I've sat at the traffic lights in the middle of Kildare Town in traffic jams, which allowed me to take in the surrounding buildings - Silken Thomas on one side, Cunningham's on the other. That may never happen again, as this time we got to Kildare via the new by-pass.

We'd come to the USAC Cafe Bar, which turns out to be an acronym for 'up stairs at Cunningham's'. Cunningham's is one of those old-style bars with lots of wood and brass, partitions and a huge array of bric-a-brac on the walls. It's low-ceilinged and welcoming in feel, so it's a surprise as you walk up the stairs to USAC to find it's completely different in style. From the almost Victorian clutter of downstairs, you climb upstairs to very modern minimalism. You can see at once that money has been spent here; it shows.

The menu is a cross between a restaurant menu and a bar food menu. There are all the bar food staples, like bruschetta, Caesar salad and crab claws; and then there are more interesting offerings, like a gateau of marinated aubergines, tomatoes, goats' cheese with a pepper salsa or a puff pastry case filled with smoked chicken and mushrooms. Main courses follow a similar pattern; sirloin steak, fillet steak, supreme of chicken and baked salmon steak, but there were also a daily special on offer - braised lamb shank.

The wine list is uncomplicated, there are eight house wines listed at €17 and then five reds and five whites that are all under €30. I picked the Lindemans Reserve Chardonnay at €23.50, which wasn't the best choice I could have made. It was very oaky, very over-extracted and left me wishing I'd picked a crisper Sauvignon Blanc.

We started with a special for Rocco, a black pudding and potato cake, and I had the chicken in puff pastry, which wasn't so much in puff pastry, as with puff pastry, since it came separately. Still, the smoked chicken and mushroom filling worked well and I enjoyed it. The black pudding cake pleased Rocco and we moved to our main courses happily. He'd chosen the lamb shank special, which was very good. It was tasty, fall-off-the-bone tender and came with a good parsley mash. I'd chosen the roasted duck breast, which was nicely presented, generous in size and quite tough, something I've never encountered with duck breast before.

The service throughout the meal was quick and friendly, despite the fact that the restaurant was very busy, and we finished up with two surprisingly good espressos. The bill, including two bottles of mineral water, came to €102.40, which I thought was about 10% too much. For example, a steak in USAC with a couple of side orders will bring you to €30, which puts it above the average price. I mention this not because there was anything wrong with the food, but because €100 for dinner for two is the Dublin city centre price. Rightly or wrongly, I expect prices to be lower outside the capital.