The days are getting brighter and longer, and with it come more events and new launches, hurrah!

Between the joys of spring, the Six Nations, St Patrick’s Day and Mother’s Day, March is looking BUSY. Have a Sharpie at the ready next to your Filofax, here’s where you should be munching this month…

Events & news

I’ll kick off with a note for you adventurous types: tickets for Bristol in the Sky are now on sale – you can enjoy breakfast, lunch, cocktails or dinner 100ft in the air above the city (I won’t be joining you because it’s my idea of hell, but for those of you not stricken with vertigo, it’ll be fantastic). The events aren’t until September, but they’ll sell out fast!

We’ve got a bunch of spice-tastic dinners coming up, first off is the Food Truck Dinner being hosted by The Spicery on 9th March. They’ll be serving up an international mish-mash of treats including K.Mex tacos with kimchi fried rice (!) and Goan pulled brisket with mac and cheese (!!). Get invooolved!

Next up is the first in a new series of exciting events, as Nutmeg in Clifton Village host Nutmeg Nights on Thursday 16th. This four course Punjabi-inspired menu will include specially matched gin cocktails – it sounds seriously good. Tickets are £40 from Foozie, and future events will feature cuisine from New Delhi paired with wine (April) and dishes from Tamil Nadu paired with IPAs (May).

I’m also pleased to announce the return of Bosh, with their Mexican supper club on Friday 17th. For £21 you’ll get 3 courses, and the event is BYO – so it works out as quite the weekend bargain. Another good value treat is the Belly Dance & Buffet night at Falafel King on the 18th; which gets you exactly what it says on the tin, plus a welcome drink, for £25.

If you’re looking for somewhere to sink a few Guinnesses and whiskeys, you can head to the St Patricks Day party at Steam on Sat 18th (Shebeen next door will be showing all of the Six Nations games, handily), or Racks are doing their own celebration with food & live music on Friday 17th.

Oh and for beer & ale fans, the Bristol Beer Festival returns to Brunel’s Old Station next to Temple Meads from Thursday 23rd-Saturday 25th. Sessions are priced at £10 and you can book directly through the CAMRA Bristol website.

Finally, if you haven’t heard already, April will feature a mega series of cocktail events around the city – I’ll feature it properly in next month’s round up, but until then you can get a sneak peek at the events on the Bristol on the Rocks page on Foozie!

Mother’s Day

Treat your ma something proper this year, here are some options, or there’s also a handy list of Mother’s Day offers on Visit Bristol too:

• Get a free Drunken Granny’s Garden cocktail at Cox & Baloney
• Do a swim & eat package at The Lido
• Go for an afternoon tea hosted at Bishopston Supper Club
• Do some chocolate heart moulding at Zara’s Chocolates (and get some flowers for your mum while you’re there – they share a shop with a florist!)

Classes & workshops

Want to learn something new this month? Or wow your mates with your food & drink trivia? Here are a few suggestions:

• Get an introduction to cider at The Bristol Cider Shop on Friday 10th (£20)
• Learn about charcuterie & curing meat at Source on 8th March (£75) – you also get to take home 2kg of sausages and a chunk of curing bacon!
• Or do some cheese & wine tasting at Arch House Deli on 8th (£30).
• Master Thai street food at The Little Kitchen on 9th March (45).
• Hear about USA and South African wines at Clifton Wine School on 16th (£25).
• Find out about the food treasures of South Bristol on 18th (£40)
• Learn how to be a curry legend at The Spicery’s workshop on the 28th (£37.50)
• Or taste your way around a variety of local producers at the BS5 Market on Sunday 5th.

Newbies

We’re still awaiting the opening of a multitude of food businesses at CARGO 2 (the latest confirmed business being burger joint Lemonade, woop!), but in the mean time, there are a few new(-ish, I’ve been struggling to keep up) bars and restaurants for you to pay a visit to…

• Romanesca is impressing people on Gloucester Road with their pizzas
• Caribbean Croft is now open on Stokes Croft, serving Jamaican comfort food and a great selection of rums and cocktails.
• Dela Bristol are coming soon to East Bristol; in the mean time you can catch them at their pop-up at Hart’s Bakery on Saturday 11th.
• Mesa is a top notch new tapas bar in WestburyPark.
• The Gold Bar is now open at the Bristol Harbour Hotel in the centre.

Dates for the diary

• Thu 2nd – Sun 5th – Lost & Grounded tap takeover at Brewdog 
• Fri 3rd – Welsh cider tasting at Bristol Cider Shop
• Fri 3rd & Sat 4th – The Harry Potter pubcrawl
• Fri 3rd & Sat 4th – Murder mystery dinner at Bristol Hipppodrome
• Sat 4th – Clandesdiner March supper club
• Sun 5th – BS5 Market in St George’s Park
• Sun 5th – South West Vegan Festival
• Sun 5th – The Big Sunday Brunch at The Eating Room
• Wed 8th – Charcuterie course at Source
• Wed 8th – Spain & Portugal wine tasting at Clifton Wine School
• Wed 8th – Cheese & wine tasting at Arch House Deli
• Thu 9th – The Spicery food truck dinner
• Thu 9th – Thai street food class at Little Kitchen
• Thu 9th – Scotch eggs & craft beer matching at Moor Beer
• Fri 10th – Murder mystery 3 course dinner at Ston Easton Park
• Fri 10th – Introduction to Cider at Bristol Cider Shop
• Sat 11th – Dela Bristol pop-up at Hart’s Bakery
• Sat 11th – Chicken 4 ways class at Little Kitchen
• Sat 11th – 90’s brunch party at Motion
• Wed 15th – 91 Ways Somalian supper club
• Wed 15th – Cheese & wine tasting at ALNO
• Thu 16th – Britpop in a chip shop
• Thu 16th – USA & South Africa wine tasting at Clifton Wine School
• Thu 16th – Punjabi tasting menu and gin cocktails at Nutmeg
• Fri 17th – Bosh Mexican supper club
• Fri 17th – DIY pizza class at Little Kitchen
• Fri 17th – St Patricks Day event at Racks
• Fri 17th – Introduction to wine at Clifton Wine School
• Sat 18th – Belly dance & buffet at Falafel King
• Sat 18th – South of the river food tour
• Sat 18th – Introudction to Cider at Bristol Cider Shop
• Sat 18th – St Patricks Party at Steam
• Sun 19th – Chocolate heart moulding workshop at Zara’s Chocolates
• Tue 21st – DIY pizza class at Little Kitchen
• Wed 22nd – Fish filleting course at Source
• Wed 22nd – Sparkling & dessert wine tasting at Clifton Wine School
• Thu 23rd – Gin & cheese pairing at Cox & Baloney
• Thu 23rd – Chocolate & wine matching at Clifton Wine School
• Thu 23rd – Sat 25th – Bristol CAMRA Beer Festival
• Fri 24th – The Matatu Kitchen at Wilson’s – 4 courses of East African food
• Sat 25th – Pie & Ale Festival at Royal Oak
• Sun 26th – Bottomless cava brunch at Pata Negra
• Sun 26th – Mother’s Day afternoon tea at Bishopston Supper Club
• Tue 28th – The Spicery workshop: How to be a curry legend
• Wed 29th – Cellar Highlights wine tasting with Mimi Avery
• Wed 29th – Easter egg chocolate workshop at Zara’s Chocolates
• Wed 29th – Seafood tasting & wine pairing at Gloucester Rd Ale House
• Thu 30th – Psychompomp Gin Club at Milk Thistle
• Thu 30th – Cheese & wine tasting at Arch House Deli
• Thu 30th – Jay Rayner talk & book signing at The Redgrave Theatre
• Fri 31st – We Can Be Heroes: lost legends party at Milk Thistle
• Fri 31st – Cheese & cider pairing with The Bristol Cheesemonger at Bristol Cider Shop