April already! Here’s to longer, lighter nights and restful weekends with our latest pop culture fixations. 

BINGE WATCHING Obsession
Those of a certain vintage will remember the 1992 erotic thriller Damage based on Josephine Hart’s eponymous novella in which Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche embark on a torrid affair – Irons playing the father of Binoche’s fiancé. Netflix has reprised the story, creating a sort of mash-up between 50 Shades of Grey and Fatal Attraction, ramping up the kink but without the bunny-boiling. Enniscorthy’s own Charlie Murphy plays Anna whose animal magnetism draws Richard Armitage’s William and Rish Shah’s Jay to both their pleasure and pain…

LISTENING Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd

Lana del Rey might be an acquired taste for some, her eight albums each having languid vocals, white-picket-fence psychodramas and doomed heroines. Some might say the same of her ninth record, Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, but, hey, if it ain’t broke… That wistful voice and folksy piano make for the perfect Moon + Mellow pyjama party for one. Dirty martinis and intermittent snoozing optional

CHOWING Paradiso cookbook

When Denis Cotter’s Paradiso opened in Cork in 1993, it challenged the common perception that vegetarian food was all lettuce leaves and nut cutlets. Cotter was arguably ahead of his time: in 2018, a Bord Bia study found that more than 5 per cent of the population identified as vegetarian, 3.5 per cent as vegan, and a further 10 per cent as flexitarian. So what better time to learn Cotter and Co’s kitchen secrets in this new recipe book published by Nine Bean Rows and with drool-worthy photography by Ruth Calder Potts. 

PLANNING Asturias, Spain

Think northern Spain, think the pintxos bars and Michelin stars of San Sebastián and the wineries of Rioja? There’s even more to explore if you head west, now Ryanair has launched flights from Dublin to Asturias, aka ‘Green Spain’; a lush, mountainous region with rugged coastline, seven Unesco biosphere reserves, cider orchards, and quaint fishing villages. It also gives Donostia a run for its money on the gastronomy front, with ten Michelin-starred chefs making magic with mostly regional produce. Sign. Us. Up.