Give yourself a pat on the back and a handshake; we’re over the hump of early January, and now into the season of wassails, Chinese New Year, Burn’s Night and Valentine’s Day.
2014 is moving on at pace; there are already Creme Eggs in the shops for chrissakes. But before we start thinking about things as far away as Easter, let us instead focus on the exciting happenings in the Bristol food scene this month…
Some Goodbyes…some Hellos…
We said a temporary farewell to the much-loved Hermanos in January, although we have been assured that they’ll be back in a new location soon. Bristol cocktail fans were soon relieved to hear that the bar will now be the home of a new Be At One from 26th February.
Another sad loss was that of The Urban Wood on Colston St, with the team now focusing on the launch of new bar Urban Standard on Gloucester Rd on 31st January.
Another welcome addition to the area is new beer bar Aviator on Chandos Road – a small and quirky place to discover local and international beers.
Fresh Pickin’s
It’s hard to keep track of all the new openings and launches in Bristol at the moment, but one definite highlight has to be the latest venture from the people behind the brilliant Bravas – Bakers and Co. will be opening on Gloucester Road in Feb, bringing a San Francisco style brunch venue to North Bristol.
February also sees the long-awaited opening of Matilda’s Chilli in the subway next to the Bear Pit, a new Superfoods restaurant on Corn St and a Thai tapas venue on the Triangle in the form of Koh.
South Bristol also gets its fair share of excitement with the recent opening of alehouse The Steam Crane, hopefully soon to be joined by new branches of The Burger Joint and Corks of Cotham.
Celebrate Scottish (or Chinese) Style
There are a few events planned to commemorate Scottish poet Robert Burns on 25th January, including a Burns Night menu at the Bishopston Supper Club, a special of neeps and tatties at The Stable, and a hefty four course meal with whisky at The Kilted Chef in Bath. The Three Tuns in Hotwells will also be celebrating with plenty of good quality whisky and beer, as will Brewdog – who will also be offering a talk and food pairings from 1-4pm. If you find yourself with £75 to spare you could go to the traditional Scottish meal being held at Hotel du Vin, or if you’re looking for something a bit more raucous you could head along to the ceilidh and meal at the Marriott Royal Hotel.
You can also see in the Year of the Horse by attending Chinese New Year celebrations at Wai Yee Hong Chinese supermarket in Eastville from 11am on Saturday 1st February, or a free party at Toro Noodle Bar on Park Street on Friday 24th January.
The more romantic among you may also be wanting to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year; sadly I’ll be spending the evening of the 14th Feb on a Megabus to Cardiff, eating a substandard supermarket sandwich, but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t looked up all of the wonderful things I could have otherwise been doing. There’s a good guide to special offers on Bristol Bites, otherwise my choices would be the 1920’s cabaret spectacle of Prohibition Bristol, The Big Lebowski Party at The Lanes or the Valentine’s menu at The River Cottage Canteen.
Other fun events to look out for are the Winter Beer Festival at Grain Barge from 24th-26th January, Japanese Club at Yume Kitchen on Sunday 26th January and Dogfest at Brewdog on 15th February.
Pop-Ups Aplenty
The street food and pop-up revolution shows no sign of abating in Bristol – in fact several got a mention for their great food and low prices in The Guardian this week! The notable developments in this exciting area of food being…
The new Chomp residency at Small Bar – you can now have your fill of their rather wonderful burgers from Friday-Sunday every weekend, and wash them down with one of the bar’s many delectable beers. The bar has also been playing host to another purveyor of fine meat this week; Hickory Pig have been serving up steak sandwiches and pulled pork rolls for the past few days and will also be showing up at Brewdog’s Dogfest. Good times.
Local favourite The Spotless Leopard had her license reinstated to trade at the corner of Alma Road and Whiteladies Road, good news for anyone who is already familiar with her fantastic vegan treats.
We’re also very glad to see the return of Bristol Eats to The Crofter’s Rights on Stokes Croft, with Hickory Pig having kicked things off in spectacular fashion earlier this month. Ray’s Pizza are currently in situ, and roast dinners are available on Sundays, cooked by the team behind the St Werburghs Sunday Roast Club. We can exclusively reveal that the next few vendors will be:
3rd-7th Feb – Burger Theory
10th-14th Feb – Eat Like A Greek
17th-21st Feb – Soul Burger
24th-28th Feb – Jaipur Fayre
Keep an eye to the BEATS or Crofter’s Twitter feeds for more info.
If you’re in the mood for something special, supper club Dine with i will be at The Mauretania on 20th February, serving up their infamous tasty and simple fare in beautiful surroundings.
With so much to choose from, you have no excuse not to start the year in the right way; full and tipsy!
Want more Bristol tips? How about…
A Life Less Organised 
Sounds like February will be a really tasty month in Bristol – I’m looking forward to it!
Cheers 🙂
I was so happy to stumble upon a juice bar inside the Exchange Market or St Nicholas market? today. Its hard to get fresh vegetables in your diet travelling so i will be visiting it everyday im here for a good immune boost.