Whether you like beer, cider, cheese or unicorn biscuits, there’s something for everyone this month!

I’ll get straight to it, because there’s a lot of good stuff to get through…

Festivals

First up, the biggie: Bristol Food Connections returns from 12th-23rd June, with a huge range of events taking place in all corners of the city, from Southmead to St Werburghs.

In addition to all of the dinners, tours, tastings and workshops, there are also a range of free cookery demos at Colston Hall, TED Talk style debates on food issues, Food Passports which provide you with tasters of food from different districts of the city, and even a special festival beer!

You can see a full list of events here, or search for events based on area, date or topic here. There’s also a handy list of highlights here. Or keep an eye out for the printed programme at locations across the city!

Bristol Craft Beer Festival returns to Lloyds Ampitheatre on Fri 7th & Sat 8th June, featuring over 45 brewers and hundreds of beers for you to taste, plus some of the city’s best food and an all-female DJ line-up. This has been a highlight of the year for me since it started, so don’t miss it!

Cider Salon is also back from 3rd-9th June at venues across Bristol, with a range of cider-themed tastings, dinners and opportunities to meet the makers. Highlights include a cider-paired dinner at Yurt Lush, and a big cider tasting event at Trinity Centre, featuring over 60 ciders. See the other events here.

Some bonus festivities include Twilight at St Nicks on Thursday 6th with street food & music, the Cider, Sausage & Gin Festival at The Balloon Bar from 6-9th June, Barrow & Flax Festival in Somerset  from 13-16th June (music, cookery demos, poetry, feasts and more) and Averys Summer of Wine on Sat 15th June – which features over 100 wines for you to taste, and has two sessions in the afternoon and early evening.

Oh and if you didn’t manage to get Glastonbury tickets, fear not, you can head to Good Chemistry‘s brewery to watch the coverage, with no mud, camping or rain!

Dinners

Get 40% food at The Ox Clifton throughout June! The offer is valid at lunchtime (12-2:30pm) and early evening (5-7pm) between Tuesday to Friday all month, including starters, main courses, side dishes and desserts, but not in conjunction with other offers.

Japanese street food maestros Tsukemono are branching out into supper clubs! Their first seasonal feast will be at Harts Bakery on 2nd June, followed by events in September and December.  Other dinner highlights this month include:

• Harts Bakery will host the Syrian Supper Club on Thu 6th June. Cooked by renowned Chef Ruth Quinlan, it will be a generous feast of Syrian inspired dishes. The event will be BYO and will include a welcome cocktail on arrival.
• Spanish Steps at Square Food Foundation on Thu 6th, a workshop on how to make tapas & paella, before sitting down to dinner. £45.
• Summer wine supper at Riverstation on Thu 20th – enjoy a ferry ride to the pontoon at Riverstation, before sitting down to a three course meal with matching wine flight. £40.
• 91 Ways are hosting their next fundraising supper club on 26th June, with a Vietnamese feast!
• It’s Guest Chef Night at The Kensington Arms on Thu 27th June with Rob Howell from Root, cooking a five course tasting menu, priced at £40. Call 0117 944 6444 or email info@thekensingtonarms.co.uk to book.

Workshops and tastings

Learn something new this month! Also, in case you didn’t see it, I recently wrote a guide listing more food & drink experiences in Bristol.

• Estonian Jaanihanso fine cider tasting & cheese at Two Belly – Fri 7th, £25
• Sideways film screening with Pinot Noir tasting at Averys  – Sat 8th, £25
• Unicorn party biscuits class at ANNA Cake Couture – Tue 11th, £85
• Wine tasting at No.12 Easton – Sat 15th
• Rum boat tour with Bristol Ferry – Wed 19th, £20
• Thai street food class at Little Kitchen – Wed 19th, £48
• Fish cookery class at Square Food Foundation – Thu 20th, £49
• Best of Bristol craft beer tour – Sat 22nd, £22
• Truffles & pralines workshop at Zara’s Chocolates – Sun 23rd, £50

Newbies

Pay a visit to these new places across town…

• It’s Not HotPot – a Chinese restaurant in the centre where you can cook your own meat and veggies.
• The Nectar House opens on Gloucester Rd in place of what was Cafe Ronak from mid June.
• La Sorella – a new Italian deli & cafe on St Stephens Street, from the team behind Pasta Loco.
• Two Ways – a Mediterranean style cafe on Queens Avenue, just behind the RWA.
• Rabbit Food – a vegan/vegetarian cafe and restaurant on Old Market.
• Beets ‘n’ Roots have opened a second a second branch on Princes St in new music venue The Den.
• The Lyons Den – a cosy new micropub in Kingswood.
• Backyard – a snazzy & techy chicken restaurant on the Triangle.
• Gin Tree mezza and cocktail bar on Stokes Croft
• Mary Jane’s – a CBD cafe on Whiteladies Road

And coming soon, popular Indian street food chain Mowgli will be opening soon on Corn St, CowBee is a new dessert bar opening soon on Park Street, Farro Bakery are opening any time now on Brunswick Square in St Pauls, and whisky bar Black Rock will be opening in the city centre in July.

That’s it for this month, you can stay up to date with other Bristol food news during the month by following A Life Less Organised on Facebook, say hi over on Twitter, or you can see what I’m eating over on Instagram.

Looking for something else to read? I’ve also written guides to Bristol’s Best Brunches, the Best Pub Gardens in town and the Best Harbourside Restaurants. If you’re in the mood for something boozier, there are also plenty of pub crawl guides.

Dates for the diary

• Wed 5th – Graftwood cider zine preview at The Good Measure
• Wed 5th – Brewdog Overworks beer tasting at Two Belly
• Wed 5th – Gin tour with Bristol Ferry
• Thu 6th – Twilight at St Nicks
• Thu 6th – Hawkes cider & cheese tasting at Two Belly
• Thu 6th – Spanish Steps dinner at Square Food Foundation
• Thu 6th – Syrian Supper Club at Harts Bakery
• Thu 6th-Sun 9th – Sausage, cider & gin festival at The Balloon Bar
• Fri 7th – Estonian Jaanihanso fine cider tasting & cheese at Two Belly
• Fri 7th – Curry Club cookery class at Little Kitchen
• Fri 7th – Siren Craft Beer Experience at The Beer Emporium
• Fri 7th – Roman Holiday film screening with Italian wine tasting at Averys
• Fri 7th – Cider Salon at Yurt Lush
• Fri 7th – Introduction to Cider at Bristol Cider Shop
• Fri 7th – Sat 8th – Bristol Craft Beer Festival
• Sat 8th – Cider Salon at Trinity
• Sat 8th – Angry Orchard cider tasting at The Good Measure
• Sat 8th – St Werburghs Summer Fair at Wiper & True Brewery
• Sat 8th – Bristol Craft Beer Experience
• Sat 8th – Distillers Table: Green at Psychopomp Distillery
• Sat 8th – Presshead Cider launch at Bristol Cider Shop
• Sat 8th – Steampunk Ghostbuster film screening & cocktails at Clockwork Rose
• Sat 8th – Sideways film screening with Pinot Noir tasting at Averys
• Mon 10th – Food and Mood: An Introductory Evening at Eat Your Greens
• Tue 11th – Unicorn party biscuits class at ANNA Cake Couture
• Tue 11th – Tempering masterclass at Zara’s Chocolates
• Thu 13th – Cider & Burger Night with Squeezed at Bristol Cider Shop
• Thu 13th – Wine tasting at Thornbury Castle
• Thu 13th – Cheese & wine tasting at Averys
• Thu 13th – Spanish cookery class at Cooking It
• Thu 13th-Sun 16th – Barrow + Flax Festival
• Sat 15th – Wine tasting at No.12 Easton
• Sat 15th – Bristol Bakes with Briony Williams
• Sat 15th – East to West food tour
• Sat 15th – Clandesdiner supper club
• Sat 15th – House of Veg vegan street food market
• Sat 15th – South of the River food tour
• Sat 15th – Averys Summer of Wine (Afternoon session) (Evening session)
• Wed 19th – Rum boat tour with Bristol Ferry
• Wed 19th – Italian summer classic class at Papadeli
• Wed 19th – Cider & cheese tasting at Bristol Cider Shop
• Wed 19th – Thai street food class at Little Kitchen
• Thu 20th – DEYA Tap Takeover and Meet The Brewer at The Good Measure
• Thu 20th – Fish cookery class at Square Food Foundation
• Thu 20th – Summer wine supper club at Riverstation
• Thu 20th – Sri Lankan cookery class at Cooking It
• Thu 20th – Cider & Chocolate tasting at Bristol Cider Shop
• Fri 21st – Midsummer wine festival at Avon Valley Railway
• Sat 22nd – Best of Bristol craft beer tour
• Sat 22nd – Summer Brewhouse Sessions at Lost & Grounded
• Sat 22nd – Bristol Beer Tasting Tour
• Sat 22nd – Eatchu gyoza masterclass
• Sat 22nd – Portuguese Festival of São João
• Sat 22nd – Brewing crash course at Bristol Brewery School
• Sat 22nd – Yoga Brunch Club at Extract Coffee Roasters
• Sat 22nd – Sun 23rd – Longleat Food & Drink Festival
• Sun 23rd – Truffles & pralines workshops at Zara’s Chocolates
• Sun 23rd – Forage and Feast outdoor cooking workshop
• Mon 24th – Simple meals cookery class at Cooking It
• Wed 26th – Best of the New World cellar tasting at Averys
• Wed 26th – 91 Ways Vietnamese Supper Club
• Wed 26th – Middle Eastern cookery class at Papadeli
• Thu 27th – Rob Howell (Root) Guest Chef Night at The Kensington Arms
• Thu 27th – Mezze cookery class at Cooking It
• Thu 27th – Beer and cheese tasting at New Bristol Brewery
• Thu 27th – Mastering Pasta class at Little Kitchen
• Fri 28th – Starting your own microbrewery course at Bristol Brewery School
• Fri 28th – Scotch Egg Masterclass at Little Kitchen
• Fri 28th & Sat 29th: Glastonbury at the Good Chemistry brewery
• Sat 29th – Gin Masterclass at The Kensington Arms
• Sat 29th – Veganfest
• Sat 29th – East to West food tour
• Sat 29th – Food & wine workshop at The Kensington Arms
• Sun 30th – South of the river beer tour