The Strawberry Tree, Macreddin Village, Aughrim, Co. Wicklow.
Tel. 0402 36444

As a decendant of many generations of farmers I still retain an immense love of the land - it's probably written into my DNA. It may explain why I've chosen to live in the Wicklow hills rather than the city and it may also explain why I have an in-built distrust of high-tech, big business, high chemical, monoculture farming. I'm not a fanatic about this, to be perfectly honest I prefer the taste of Italian mountain tomatoes which may not be 'organic', to organic tomatoes grown under glass. I can discern no difference between a leg of organic lamb and a leg of lamb from my local butcher Terry Kavanagh in Roundwood which comes from the nearby hill-farms. I can however tell the difference between battery chickens and the real free-range birds with long, thin legs. Pigs reared outdoors that forage for themselves for roots and tubers taste very different to those that come from battery farms.

At a time when Ireland is about to unload its first boatload of genetically modified rape seed in Greenore - to the intense disquiet of many people - a little reflection of what we want from our food chain is in order. Simply put, our choice for the future is between natural foodstuffs and foods that have been so changed, so altered, that their long-term effects on our health may be greater than we expect.

One way to avoid prickly issues like these is to go to other extreme and eat only organically grown foods. There's no doubt that a lot of people are doing just that. Sales of organic foods are very much on the increase, but I suspect that until the price of organically grown foods comes down there will be no mass movement to it, simply on economic grounds. Still, its growing popularity is mirrored in restaurants offering organic dishes, and a couple of restaurants that are entirely organic, such as Marc Michel's Organic Life, or Macreddin Village's Strawberry tree.

The Strawberry Tree prides itself on its purity, everything on their Sunday lunch menu was either wild or organic and there was a note at the end of the menu reminding you that 'it is illegal under regulation 1804/99 to store, prepare or serve conventional foodstuffs in The Strawberry Tree.' So there you have it: organic and proud of it.

It was some years ago that I first ate in The Strawberry Tree. It wasn't organic then, the walls were red flock, the wall sconces were heavy gilt and the ceiling was mirrored. Outside, incongruously, were little white suburban picket fences. That was then. Now the whole place has matured; the grounds look tended, the little fences are forest green, and inside the red plush has been replaced with dark blue and the light fittings have gone silvery chrome. The mirrored ceiling remains, but is less noticeable as the level of light in the dining room is now very low.

The wine list has plenty of organic wines and for the most part is fairly priced. We settled on a bottle of a decent Muscadet Sur Lie, which was one of a page of house wines listed at €25. We also ordered mineral water, and dicovered that it could only be bought in quarter bottles, one of my pet hates. Water should be a staple, a given, but when it comes only in quarter bottles and you find yourself paying nearly €10 a litre, it verges on insanity. After my first bottle I went on to a jug of tap water.

I'd come with web guru Gerard Carthy to eat and talk of internet stuff, but since he's something of a foodie as well, most of our talk was of food. The lunch menu is priced at €35 and there's a choice of six starters, six main courses and six desserts. Gerard started with the wild crab meat, served with mango and cucumber relish and I had the Macreddin smoked salmon, which was served with an apple and fennel salad. The crab was good and well presented; the salmon was excellent and presented not in thin slices, but in thick pieces, which made an interesting variation.

For the main courses Gerard had chosen the chicken which was roasted with wild garlic and was served with kohlrabi and Balsamic jus. I picked the turf roasted beef, which came with champ and a red wine jus. The main courses were presented as described, plus we had a bowl of roast potatoes, but curiously there were no green vegetables at all. A few quadrants of roast parsnips completed the dish. It may have been a function of us being in a three o'clock sitting, but the beef could only be had medium, or well done. Actually mine was closer to well-done than medium, but it was tasty enough in its pepper crust and Gerard's chicken dish made him happy, except for his kohlrabi accompaniment, which was barely warm.

I couldn't manage a dessert, but Gerard had the lemon crème brulée, which was tangy and zesty, but was more the texture of crème Anglaise. A couple of coffees brought the bill up to €103.80. What you're paying for in Strawberry Tree is the 'organic premium', that extra bit that makes organic anything pricy. If you're a convert, you might think it's worth the money.