Just this week the first ever Quality of Living Index report saw Bristol take the top spot – beating rivals London, Edinburgh and Manchester. So, here’s a look at what’s going on in the West Country as Harden’s highlights Bristol and Bath…
NEWS
Clifton food festival
With its village feel and views of the Suspension Bridge and Avon Gorge, Clifton is Bristol’s hippest locale. The place is packed with restaurants, gastropubs, delis, cafés and, of course, cider houses, so it was probably just a matter of time before a foodie festival arrived.
From 31 March-13 April, 15 establishments from across Clifton Village will take part in the Clifton Foodfest, each offering an exclusive dish or meal for just £10. Diners are invited to tweet pictures of their dishes using the #CliftonFoodFest hashtag and everyone who does so will have the chance to win a meal for four at Bridge Cafe.
For further information visit their website.
Restaurants sought for Bath development
Any major regeneration always causes quite a hullabaloo in Bath as its somehow simultaneously grand and quaint limestone architecture has remained mostly unchanged since Jane Austen’s day. So a £5 million project to transform the neglected Grand Parade and Undercroft into a new dining quarter for the city is, understandably, the talk of the town.
Bath is now seeking two restaurants to anchor the development and has already received approaches from 18 interested parties. However, property director for B&NES (Bath and North East Somerset), Tom McBain, said the successful chain would be an ‘exclusive name’, somewhere diners will have to ‘book several weeks in advance’, which could be a great boost for the city.
Bakers & Co opens
Forget low carb diets, everyone in London knows that bread is so back in – and it seems as though trendy types in Bristol know it too. Bakers & Co, a new Gloucester Road café serving breakfast, lunch and dinner and selling sourdough loaves, has just opened.
Bakers & Co is the second Bristol opening from Kieran and Imogen Waite, who also run Bravas on Cotham Hill (a tapas bar that’s become a reliable favourite for locals). Their head chef Hayley Hastings was taught by the very best (Ben McKinnon at Hackney’s E5 Bakehouse).
The Great Bath Feast
Make a note in your diary, this autumn Bath puts on its Great Feast. It may seem early but the event, which runs throughout the month of October, is mega-popular, so foodies may want to book tables and accommodation in advance.
As well as demonstrations from the likes of Angela Hartnett, Nathan Outlaw, Michael Caines and Raymond Blanc, visitors will be able to taste wines and locally brewed beers and ciders. Sit down to a gourmet tasting menu at a participating restaurant or enjoy some street food fare while visiting one of the markets. You can even learn how the Georgian’s did their feasting at the newly re-opened No 1 Royal Crescent.
For more information on the Great Bath Feast, or to book accommodation, visit the website.
REVIEW OF THE REVIEWS
Wallfish Bistro
With its flavour-packed cooking and erotica in the basement, there’s nothing shy about this Bristol bistro, says Jay Rayner in his Guardian review. The critic and TV personality goes so far as to say he believes Keith Floyd would have very much approved. That’s good enough for us…
Hickory Pig
The Bristol Post reviews Hickory Pig’s pop-up restaurant at the Three Tuns. A pulled pork burger dripping with slaw and barbeque sauce accompanied by a pint of Red Squirrel Conservation ale – the ultimate dude food…
Ox
‘The clue’s in the name – there’s a lot of meat on offer here, specifically steak – but it turns out that it’s also rather special’, Marina O’Laughlin enthuses in her Guardian review. The famously clandestine critic tries her best not to compare Ox to Hawksmoor but can’t help herself…
Acorn Vegetarian Kitchen
Reviewed by The Pig (a blog for foodies in Bath and Bristol), this veggie restaurant in Bath also wins high praise from The Independent. Acorn is not one of those dull ‘holier-than-thou’ vegetarian restaurants, it’s simply great food minus the meat.
HARDEN’S SURVEY
Harden’s offers better coverage of Bath and Bristol than any other national guide, here are some of the hottest restaurants in the two cities, according to our 2014 survey.
Lido, Bristol
It’s not just the “one-off ambience” of this “gorgeous” café/restaurant overlooking the pool of Clifton’s revamped lido that wows reporters… the ex-Moro chef’s “tapas-style” food is “reliably good, and sometimes truly excellent” too; “ice cream is a speciality, and really worth it”.
Prosecco, Bristol
A Clifton “hidden gem” that’s “a cut above the standard trattoria”, offering an “authentic” menu that’s “not the most extensive”, “but what they do, they do well”; service is “friendly and efficient” too.
The Albion, Bristol
“Cutely located “in a quiet back street of busy Clifton Village”, this “lovely gastropub with rustic dining room above a bustling bar” serves “really tasty and unpretentious” scoff.
Casanis, Bath
“It’s rare when the meal is better than expected and the bill smaller”… such can be the case, however, at this “lovely, genuine” French bistro, which enjoys a “very pretty setting” too; it delivers “honest food done well”, with “personal” service from the husband-and-wife proprietors.
The Circus, Bath
A “friendly” and “atmospheric” bistro near the Royal Crescent, praised in all reports for “really enjoyable” dishes from a monthly-changing menu.
Menu Gordon Jones, Bath
“The most imaginative food to land in the West Country for a very long time!” – this “lovely little restaurant”, which serves a single 6-course menu nightly, inspires the highest praise for its cuisine, and has an “amazing wine list” too; no wonder it’s “booked up on Saturdays for months ahead”.
More information
And we’ll be hoping to up the content even further, when we publish the 2015 edition later this year. We hear that Poco, a tapas bar in Bristol, and Martin Blunos’ new fish restaurant at Bath’s County Hotel could be worth their first mention. If you know anyone who should be taking part in our annual survey, and who’d value a free copy of next year’s guide, please make sure they’ve registered here.
