THERE'S an old Spanish maxim that states "Between soup and love, the first is better." Certainly, on these dank November days, most people would rather seek solace in a bowl of warming, soothing broth than do anything else, a fact that Niamh Healion, co-owner of Soup Dragon at 168 Capel Street (and now also at 16/17 Ormond Quay) appreciates.

"It's a one-pot meal, it's wholesome and comforting, especially in this weather, " Healion says.

Despite opening on what was the hottest day of the year six and a half years ago, business has been brisk for Soup Dragon from day one, as the queues, snaking down the quays each lunchtime will attest. Healion and her business partner, Fiona Fairbrother, saw a gap in the market for healthy and nutritious sandwich alternatives after noting the success of companies like Soup Work and Soup Opera in London. Breakfasts, salads, bagels and smoothies are on the menu but naturally the soup, which uses natural ingredients only, is the main event.

There are low fat options for the health conscious (spicy vegetable gumbo for example) and heartier fare such as beef chilli or chunky chicken stew which come in small, medium and large portions (the latter is not for the faint hearted), served up with bread and a piece of fruit. The soups change daily but other favourites include Dahl Indian lentil and a blue cheese and broccoli soup, and there are dairy free varieties too. The best seller according to Healion, is the Thai green chicken curry, which has been on the menu from the very beginning. Divinely fragrant, it will make you understand why one eats soup, and doesn't drink it.

Soup Dragon, 168 Capel Street (01 872 3277) and 16/17 Ormond Quay (01 8729692) www. soupdragon. com

COOK

AS SYMBOLS of domestic bliss go, it's hard to top the Aga, which is so much more than a mere cooker. It's a lifestyle statement that not only shrieks of making your own stock and rustic contentment, but also says "Hello, I can afford the 10k price tag and I have a kitchen large enough for an Aga". Amy Wilcox, author of Lifting the Lid on Your Aga has just brought out The Aga Bible, with 300 classic recipes and useful tips for Aga owners.

From beef stroganoff to lemon meringue pie, there is plenty of culinary inspiration and you don't actually have to own an Aga because the recipes feature conventional cooking instructions too. For the moment, we're buying the book and saving for the Aga.

LOOK

BUILDINGS, streets and particularly cars are running themes throughout Joby Hickey's work, so what is it about them that fascinates him so much? "I have a love/hate relationship with cars, I find them deadly, dangerous, noisy . . .

even without a stereo, " the 34-yearold artist explains. "Beyond transportation from A to B, they serve to isolate people, whether it be through huge motorways dividing up the land, or the loss of the life families endure through accidents or the road rage persona people adopt, thinking they are in their own private home."

But he also appreciates the shadows cars cast and the way they emit light, casting beautiful forms, and Shapes, Movement & Light, his latest exhibition in the Dalkey Arts Gallery captures his conflicting feelings. Hickey, whose father Patrick Hickey was head of fine art in NCAD, himself eschewed art college and started exhibiting at home in Ireland and in the UK. In 2006, at the New York Art Fair, Tiffany's purchased several of his paintings for their private and public collection. His father, he says, influenced him hugely and not just visually. "He was a teacher to me all my life regardless of me going to art college later, " he says.

"Since the age of eight or nine, he showed me art was everywhere, something you can't just take or leave. My father showed me how important discipline, clarity and persistence were."

Running at t the Dalkey Arts Gallery, 19 Railway Road, Dalkey, until 1 December.

Tel 01 284 9663; www. dalkeyarts. com

BUY

ONCE the preserve of student accommodation, posters are very much in vogue again, particularly vintage ones. Irish-owned Gallery 29 sells original (not reprints) posters from the last 100 years, covering a vast array of subjects from quirky advertisements to propaganda and arts. The gallery is owned by John Rogers, who became obsessed with vintage posters after he purchased his first one six years ago.

Conservation mounting and framing can also be provided, and the posters make for unusual Christmas presents. The Supremes poster pictured here is 95 x 62 cm, from the 1960s and costs 330.

29 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2.

Tel: 01 642 5784;

www. gallery29. ie