August Digest: Bristol food and drink news
Which new restaurant is using terrible AI imagery?
Buenos días, Saucers. The end of August is nigh, and September marks a whole year of The Bristol Sauce. That went fast! I’ll be sending out a little editor’s note on our actual anniversary to commemorate the occasion, and we’ll be launching some new content for our paying Saucers next month too. That’s all still to come. For now, let’s get stuck into August’s headlines — from openings and closures to the usual mix of triumph, tragedy, and the downright bizarre.
The news
If any of you are mad enough to consider opening a restaurant in the current economic climate, Kitchen by Kask is up for sale. The team want to concentrate on their original North Street site and the new bar they are renovating on the corner of Cheltenham Road and Zetland Road. The Kask team have suggested that Kitchen resident Frankie’s will be a part of future plans.
Forget Glastonbury — the festival of 2025 will be FŌDA, a food symposium taking place the weekend of 27 - 28 September at Arnolfini. Conceptualised by eternal yes-man Josh Eggleton, FŌDA will host a symposium of talks and ideas centred around literal and figurative interpretations of salt, acid, fat and sweet. There’ll also be a producer village and a series of workshops and exhibitions. Most of the event is free to attend; tickets to Sunday’s symposium start at £45pp and include a meal. Book here.
For the particularly caffeine tolerant, Bristol Coffee Festival is back on 6 September at Bristol Beacon. There’ll be opportunities to perfect your latte art, talks on sustainability, and an opportunity to roast the roaster — which should get particularly spicy given everyone will be energised to the nines. Tickets are £20 - book here.
WANGS have surpassed their crowdfunding target of £10,000. The team are now overfunded at £10,767 and have added a stretch target of £12,000 to help them bring an authentic Cantonese charcoal roasting oven to Montpelier from China.
Gloucester Road’s Japanese listening cafe Lonely Mouth is also fundraising on GoFundMe following unexpected VAT and energy bills. Founder Olivia Maxwell-Yates has set the target at £2,000 and has so far raised £1,980.
Closures
Daily Noodles have closed their St Nicks Market branch, stating ‘unforeseen circumstances’ in a brief statement on Instagram. The last time Larkin Cen closed his businesses in 2022, they reopened just weeks later with a near identical menu under a different name. I wonder what he’s up to this time…
After only four months, La Brousse bistro on St Nicholas St has closed, though the website hints at a new ‘chapter’ coming soon. The accompanying Instagram story hinted heavily at a lack of consistency in the kitchen, which tallies with accounts from those that visited.
In an unusual move, late night space No 51 Stokes Croft has announced an indefinite hiatus and has urged their followers on Instagram to support grassroots venues.
In a statement on Instagram three weeks ago, the team behind The Clifton confirmed their closure, as first reported in The Bristol Sauce July Digest. The group’s other sites in Wales remain open.
Press
As hinted at in last month’s Digest, Grace Dent reviewed Dongnae for The Guardian two weeks ago. She seemed to like it very much, despite comparing the decor to an IKEA student bedsit and being puzzled by esoteric menu items. Apparently the mugwort cake was one of the best things she’s ever eaten. Read The Guardian review.
Meanwhile, Tom Parker-Bowles followed in Grace’s footsteps and paid a visit to Ragù. He was apparently ‘impressed’ by ‘‘immaculate' ingredients and a melon dish that is 'pure summertime succour’’ — leaving his Daily Mail readers, no doubt, suitably bewildered.
In an interview with Restaurant Online at the start of the month, George Livesey — chef patron of Bulrush — disclosed a desire to open a second site serving rotisserie chicken. I would bloody love another rotisserie chicken restaurant in Bristol, though I have a feeling another chef may well beat him to it. George also stated that rotisserie chicken hasn’t been done before in Bristol, to which I suggest he visit Easton’s Ali Baba, or the lesser-known spot, Bokman.
New openings
Chandos Deli have opened a restaurant in Clifton, serving a small plates/tapas style menu featuring produce from their shop. The creatively named ‘Chandos’ is currently only open for lunch only with plans to open for evenings in the future.
Meanwhile over on Christmas Steps, bakery business Drizzle has taken the site previously home to Dareshack and will soon open serving coffee and rather excellent-looking topped slices of loaf cake. Owner Francesca seems to be a dab hand at marketing, but can she compete with nearby Ahh Toots?
Following the closure of their shop at Wapping Wharf, The Bristol Cheesemonger has opened a small bar within their premises on Gloucester Road serving local beers and cider and wine by the glass to pair with cheese boards.
In a move nobody asked for, SS Great Britain have relaunched their onsite cafe as a restaurant called ‘The Board Walk’, and populated the website with AI-generated photos. Doesn’t bode particularly well for the food, which will apparently be ‘smoky, seasonal’, ‘bold, inspired flavours’ and my personal favourite: ‘the perfect menu’. Will this new restaurant make waves for the right reasons? I fear that ship has already sailed.
