Once upon a time, as an F1-obsessed early teenager, I was determined that I would go out to Eddie Irvine's Cocoon bar off Grafton Street. Everything about his image and how the bar was presented in the media appealed to me.
By the time I'd turned 18, the effective death of Jordan F1 (they continued to exist in that year, but a shell of the former team) and continuing decline of the actual appeal of watching F1 (that continues to this day) meant I had no interest anymore and I never actually went there. It seems its appeal waned for everyone else also as it closed some years later in 2009, albeit amidst a bloodbath in the pub industry - as the reference to Thomas Read Group's issues in that article attest to.
Still, the premises lived on in new guises. After a period as the Grafton Lounge, the new incarnation as Lemon and Duke is now again part-owned by sports stars, although of a less money driven and still engaging to watch variety.
The pub is very fancy and very southside, neither of which usually makes me like a place. However, it doesn't take either to excess and, once you get past the wait staff at the door making it feel a bit like a restaurant, it's fine. The downstairs seating area (near the toilets unfortunately, but there aren't many other reasons for a modern pub to have a basement) seems particularly cosy as a place to have a small group.
The bar claims to be one of two places, along with The Bridge 1859*, to have unpastuerised tanked Pilsner Urquell in Ireland, which I forgot to actually try. It does seem a bit of a marketing gimmick but there's good reasons it could actually have a positive affect on taste. The connections with the sister venue extend to the barmats which have one pub on each side; a minor cost saving and a decent marketing opportunity in one.
*one of the premises I visited pre-blog, but also pre- its current name. My one and only drink there when it was called Bellamys, three weeks underage, during the BT Young Scientist exhibition. At least I wasn't wearing my school uniform, which another nearby pub served me in!
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