Whether you’re in the mood for a bank holiday brewery crawl or want to learn the finer details about Australian wines, there’s a bit of something for everyone in this month’s guide.

Can’t be bothered to read it all? Check the Event Calendar and bookmark it for later. You’re welcome.

Main events

Good news for beer fans – the East Bristol Brewery Trail is back for the bank holiday weekend! Five of Bristol’s best breweries (Arbor, Dawkins, Good Chemistry, Left Handed Giant and Moor) will be opening up to the public on 4th & 5th May, with street food, music and lots of brilliant brews. If you find yourself further north in the city, the popular Inn on the Green Beer Festival takes place on the same weekend.

Other top beery events this month include the Summer Brewhouse Session at Lost & Grounded on Sat 18th and the New Bristol Brewery Tap Room opening on Fri 10th. Most of Bristol’s breweries now have extended opening hours for the summer, read more about their tap rooms here.

You can also have your fill of BBQ and top beer at the Charres summer BBQ party at the Lost & Grounded brewery on Sat 1st June.

The brilliant St Nicks Night Market returns on Friday 10th with a huge line-up of street food, local producers, crafts, bars, live music and DJs. Don’t miss it!

Festival season has well and truly started – choose from Foodies Festival on The Downs from 10-12th, Bristol Thai and Multicultural Festival from 11-12th, the Beer and Cheese Festival at Wild Beer Co’s brewery in Somerset on Sat 11th, or the South Glos Food & Drink Festival on 18th & 19th May. Phew!

Quick news bulletins:

• Help Bristol’s food scene get worldwide fame! Thom Foodery has made this brilliant video to tempt Somebody Feed Phil to film here for their next series – like & share!
• The Salt & Malt Kiosk is now open for summer next to Chew Valley Lake for scenic summer snacking.
• Spike Island Cafe is changing its name to Bowl of Plenty to be in line with its sister cafe at Colston Hall.
• Bristol Spirit is busy this month, with a pop-up fom Naasto Baasto, Game of Thrones screenings, a Eurovision party and a new vegan tapas roast on 19th May.
• Mission Pizza are crowdfunding for their kitchen at the new Left Handed Giant brewery – do your bit here.
• Pasta Ripiena got a rave review from Jay Rayner in The Guardian, nice!
• We waved goodbye to Bar Buvette and The Llandoger Trow this month. These follow other recent closures including Bells Diner, No Man’s Grace, Wallfish Bistro, Rosa and Aquila. Support your independents, people!
• Bristol Food Connections (12-23 June) keeps getting bigger – not only do they have 100+ events taking place across the city, but they’ve also announced an amazing line-up of demos & talks at Colston Hall (including lots of free events), and some exciting Food Passports for you to explore Bristol’s top food districts.

 

Dinners

Treat yourself to something special this month…

• Sea shanty fish & chips on The Matthew (Wed 8th) – exactly what it sounds like, a harbour cruise on the ship with dinner & shanties, £40.
• Pobi Kitchen at The Rose of Denmark (Fri 10th) – 6 courses supper club, including grilled gurnard with fermented chilli puree(!), and chocolate & malt cream eclair(!!). 6 courses £40pp with optional drinks pairing for £12.50.
• Guest Chef Dinner at The Pony & Trap (Tue 14th) – Richard Buckley, chef proprietor of the award-winning Acorn in Bath. A six course menu full of Acorn classic dishes and Pony & Trap favourites. Menu £58, drinks pairing £40.
• Syrian Supper Club at Harts Bakery (Thu 16th) – a Middle Eastern feast to raise funds for Hands up Foundation, £30
• Spring Feast at Cafe Kino (Sat 20th) – multiple courses of vegan fare from the Pitchfork Cafe team, £20.
• Cornish Wine Dinner at The Clifton Sausage (Thu 23rd) – several courses paired with Cornish wines from Polgoon Winery with a talk from the owners, £55.
• Fish & Shellfish Tasting Evening at The Kensington Arms (Thu 30th) – five courses of fresh fish from the South West coast, £40. Optional drinks pairing £25.
• Meet the Maker: Cooking with Coffee at Pigsty (Fri 31st) – three courses paired with drinks created by Clifton Coffee, £37.90.

Workshops & tastings

Learn something new to show off to your friends…

• An evening with Brasserie D’achouffe at Strawberry Thief, Thu 9th, £32.50.
• Vegan cookery class at Square Food Foundation, Thu 9th, £39.
• Guided cider tour & tasting at Barley Wood Orchard, Sat 11th, £15.
• Foraging Masterclass with Martin Bailey, Sat 11th, £55.
• Germany & USA wine masterclasses at Averys, Wed 15th, £40
• Beer and cheese evening at Bristol Brewery School, Thu 16th, £30.
• Eurovision Distillers Table at Psychopomp, Sat 18th, £35.
• Port Masterclass with chocolate & cheese at Kensington Arms, Sat 18th, £40.
• Rum tour with Bristol Ferry, Wed 22nd, £15.
• Cookery Social: Thai Street Food at Little Kitchen, Wed 22nd, £48.
• Bread making course at Assembly Bakery, Sat 25th, £90.
• Gin Club at Milk Thistle, Thu 30th, £20.
• May Triple Brewery Special, Fri 31st, £25.

Newbies

Some new places to visit this month include Sticks at St Nicks from Woky Ko, Rabbit Food on Old Market (also I spotted a koshari place nearby the other day called Toot and Come In, so now I have to visit for the pun alone) and Hatter House Cafe in the city centre.

Low ‘n’ Slow will be bringing their damn fine meats to St Nicks shortly, and it’s only a few weeks until Seven Lucky Gods open in Wapping Wharf.

That’s it for this month, stay up to date with other food news by following the blog on Facebook, or say hi to me on Twitter, and see what I’m eating on Instagram.

Other guides you might enjoy:

• Bristol’s Best Pub Gardens
• Bristol’s Best Harbourside Restaurants
• 12 Best Brunches in Bristol

Dates for the Diary
(or check the Events Calendar)

• Fri 3rd – Comedy, curry & cocktails at Bristol Spirit
• Sat 4th-Sun 5th – East Bristol Brewery Trail
• Sat 4th-Sun 5th – Inn on the Green Beer Festival
• Tue 7th – Fiesta Biscuits Class at ANNA Cake Couture
• Tue 7th – Fermentation Night at Wild Beer
• Mon 6th-Wed 8th – Craft Brewing 3 Day Course at Bristol Brewery School
• Wed 8th – Gin Tour with Bristol Ferry 
• Wed 8th – Tiki on Tour: Trailer Happiness at Crying Wolf
• Wed 8th – Sea shanty fish & chips on The Matthew
• Thu 9th – An evening with Brasserie D’achouffe at Strawberry Thief
• Thu 9th – Introduction to wine evening
• Thu 9th – Cheese & wine pairing at Kensington Arms
• Thu 9th – Vegan cookery class at Square Food Foundation
• Thu 9th – Oyster and Seafood evening at The Highbury Vaults
• Fri 10th-Sun 12th – Foodies Festival
• Fri 10th – Pobi Kitchen at The Rose of Denmark
• Fri 10th – Introduction to Cider at Bristol Cider Shop
• Fri 10th – New Bristol Brewery Tap Room opening
• Fri 10th – Crafternoon Tea at Bowl of Plenty
• Fri 10th – St Nicks Night Market
• Sat 11th-Sun 12th – Bristol Thai and Multicultural Festival 
• Sat 11th – Guided cider tasting at Barley Wood Orchard
• Sat 11th – Breakfast pastry making course at Assembly Bakery
• Sat 11th – Foods of the Frome workshop 
• Sat 11th – Beer and Cheese Festival at Wild Beer
• Sat 11th – Gin Masterclass at Kensington Arms
• Sat 11th – Cheese & wine pairing at Kensington Arms
• Sat 11th – Averys Champagne & sparkling wine tasting
• Sat 11th – Clandesdiner supper club
• Sat 11th – Mangotsfield Gin Festival
• Sat 11th – Foraging Masterclass with Martin Bailey from Go Foraging
• Sun 12th – Pasetti & Boote: A Tasting
• Mon 13th – Michelin Star and Molecular Cookery class at Cooking It
• Tue 14th – Macaron Class at ANNA Cake Couture
• Tue 14th – Spring Feast at Cafe Kino
• Tue 14th – Guest Chef Dinner: Bath Edition at The Pony & Trap
• Wed 15th – Mexican Street Food class at Little Kitchen
• Wed 15th – Chefs Canapes masterclass at Thornbury Castle
• Wed 15th – Germany & USA wine masterclasses at Averys
• Thu 16th – Beer and cheese tasting evening at Bristol Brewery School
• Fri 17th – Wine and Blues Night at Averys
• Fri 17th – Introduction to Cider at Bristol Cider Shop
• Sat 18th – Practically Perfect Afternoon Tea at Penny Brohn
• Sat 18th – Eurovision Quiz at Good Chemistry Brewing
• Sat 18th – Eatchu Gyoza Masterclass
• Sat 18th – Brewing Crash Course at Bristol Brewery School
• Sat 18th – Sherry Uncovered at Kensington Arms
• Sat 18th – Eurovision Distillers Table at Psychopomp
• Sat 18th – Summer Brewhouse Session at Lost & Grounded
• Sat 18th – Port Masterclass at Kensington Arms
• Sat 18th – Cider x Cheese at Southside
• Sat 18th – Eurovision party at Bristol Spirit
• Sat 18th-Sun 19th – South Glos Food & Drink Festival
• Sun 19th – Bottomless Burger Club
• Sun 19th – Veggie & Vegan tapas roast at Bristol Spirit
• Sun 19th – Truffles & pralines workshop at Zara’s Chocolates
• Tue 21st – Modern wafer paper flowers class at ANNA Cake Couture
• Wed 22nd – Rum tour with Bristol Ferry
• Wed 22nd – Cookery Social: Thai Street Food at Little Kitchen
• Thu 23rd – Gut Health Matters
• Thu 23rd – Cornish Wine Tasting dinner at The Clifton Sausage
• Thu 23rd – Supper Club with Martin Millers Gin at Riverstation
• Fri 24th – Introduction to Cider at Bristol Cider Shop
• Sat 25th – Gin Mare Summer Garden Party
• Sat 25th – East to West food tour 
• Sat 25th – History tour & afternoon tea at Thornbury Castle
• Sat 25th – South of the River food tour
• Sat 25th – Bristol Beer Tasting Tour
• Sat 25th – Bread making course at Assembly Bakery
• Sun 26th – Harry Potter Afternoon Tea
• Tue 28th – Chocolate & truffle making class at Thornbury Castle
• Wed 29th – Bar moulding class at Zara’s Chocolates
• Wed 29th – Rhone Valley Cellar Tasting
• Thu 30th – Mastering Pasta at Little Kitchen
• Thu 30th – Gin Club at Milk Thistle
• Thu 30th – Fish & Shellfish Tasting Evening at The Kensington Arms
• Thu 30th – Shroomshop: Mushroom cultivation
• Fri 31st – Meet the Maker: Cooking with Coffee at Pigsty
• Fri 31st – Introduction to Cider at Bristol Cider Shop
• Fri 31st – May Triple Brewery Special
• Sat 1st – Charred BBQ summer party at Lost & Grounded brewery