We’ve arrived at my favourite point in the year – misty evenings, pretty trees, the return of mulled beverages and the perfect conditions for me to sink into a cosy corner of a pub and nurture a dark beer. Lovely stuff.
Whether you’re excited for impending festive vibes (the Bristol Christmas Market opens eye-wateringly early this year – 4th November!), or want to focus more on learning a new cuisine or indulging in a beer trail, I’ve got something to please all tastes in this month’s guide. Read on!
News
First up, if you’re eagerly awaiting the return of Belly Laughs comedy gigs in Bristol, they’ve just announced a series of gigs in Bath’s restaurants and bars in January, and tickets are on sale now! Bristol events will be announced shortly, but the line-up across both cities is going to be better than ever.
There are also some new awards and accolades for Bristol restaurants – Namak in St Werburghs won the award for Bristol’s best restaurant at the British Restaurant Awards despite only having opened a few months ago, and in the Observer Food Monthly Awards, little french in Westbury on Trym was runner up for Best Restaurant, and The Kensington Arms in Redland was runner up for Best Sunday Lunch. Well done to the teams!
Continuing the celebrations, The Lion in Cliftonwood and Chris & Jo’s Kitchen on St Michael’s Hill were recently voted the best roast dinners in Bristol, and The Old Bookshop in Bedminster has become the 7th pub in Bristol to be added to CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide (the other pubs featured are The Golden Guinea, The Green Man, The Llandoger Trow, The Robin Hood, The Stag & Hounds and Zerodegrees).
On the sadder end of the news scale, Woky Ko announced that they were closing three of their Bristol restaurants, with just the stall in St Nick’s Market remaining open. This follows the recent closures of other local favourites such as Bakers & Co, Lockside Cafe and Casamia, so please do continue to support your favourite local businesses!
There’s been a few rumours that Bedminster Beer Trail is returning for the festive period – keep an eye to their social media for the latest updates.
The Ethicurean are hosting am evening
As I mentioned above, the Christmas markets are back even earlier than usual this year, with Bristol’s main Christmas market in Broadmead returning from 4th November until 23rd December. I won’t bombard you with festive updates just yet, but if you want to get organised, you can see more Christmas markets in Bristol here.
If you’re about to start your Christmas shopping, I’ve listed lots of local hampers, gift sets and more in my Bristol Foodie Gift Guide – nothing beats some delicious food or drink for a thoughtful present, and you’ll be supporting independent Bristol businesses too. Hurrah!
Dinners & Celebrations
Treat yourself to a special night out this month…
- Fri 4th – Goulash night at Flourish, £15
- Sat 5th – An Evening of Food, Wine & Storytelling from South Africa, £39.95
- Thu 10th – A Taste of South Afrika at Coexist Community Kitchen, £25
- Fri 11th – Kokomo Weekend 2023 launch at The Good Measure
- Sat 12th – Tapas and wine evening at Aldwick Estate Vineyard, £35
- Thu 17th – Beaujolais Nouveau Party at Cave
- Sat 19th – Averys Celebration of Wine at Bristol Grammar School, £30
- Wed 23rd – An Artistic Soiree at Harvey Nichols with Xenz, £40
- Thu 24th – Buskers Banquet Bonanza at Wiper & True Tap Room, £35
Tastings, classes and tours
Learn something new this month!
- Thu 3rd – Viva Viñalba wine tasting at Mud Dock, £35
- Thu 3rd – Cider vs Cheese: Vegan Edition at The Cider Box, £22
- Tue 8th – New world wine tasting at Cave, £30
- Wed 9th – Averys virtual wine tasting, £60
- Thu 10th – Cider vs Cheeseat The Cider Box, £22
- Sat 12th – Bristol wine tasting day at The Square Club, £95
- Mon 14th – Somali cookery class at Cooking It, £35
- Tue 15th – Nigerian cookery class at St Werburghs Community Centre, £35
- Wed 16th – Fernando v Alex: The Rematch wine tasting at KASK, £35
- Fri 18th – Sausage making at Ruby & White, £60
- Fri 18th – Gin Lover’s Masterclass at Psychopomp, £25
- Sun 20th – Introduction to bread making and sourdough, £80
- Mon 21st – CWR Rum Club: The Island Hop at The Clockwork Rose, £20
- Tue 22nd – Syrian cookery class at St Werburghs Community Centre, £35
- Tue 22nd – New world wine tasting at Cave, £30
- Thu 24th – Siren Tap Takeover & Meet The Brewer at The Good Measure
- Thu 24th – Wine and cheese night at Two Belly, £30
- Thu 24th – Good Chemistry Brewing Tap Takeover at The Famous Royal Navy Volunteer
- Fri 25th – Lebanese Winter Warmers cookery class, £75
- Fri 25th – Chew Valley Gin Tasting, £30
- Fri 25th – Michelin star recipes class at Cooking It, £125
- Sat 26th – Epic xmas wine tasting at KASK, £40
- Sat 26th – Christmas moulding with spiced caramels at Zara’s Chocolate, £50
- Sat 26th – ‘Tuoni’ winter gin pre-launch at Psychopomp, £10
- Sat 26th – Speciality coffee brewing masterclass, £32
- Sun 27th – Pottery & Brunch Club, £7
- Wed 30th – Averys staff highlights cellar tasting, £30
Seeing as it’s coming up to the festive season and you might be feeling adventurous, here are a couple of bonus events in Bath, a mere 10(ish) minute train ride away!
There’s a Champagne tasting at Independent Spirit of Bath (£15) on Thursday 17th, a Sake & Sashimi Masterclass at Robun (£29) on Thursday 24th, and Bath Vegan Festival on Saturday 26th (£4 entry).
Newbies
There are a few new places to get yourself to this month, starting with the recently opened Dings Deli in the arches near Temple Meads, L’affinage du Fromage cheese shop in Westbury Park and the exciting reopening of The King’s Head on Victoria Street, which is a proper little time capsule of old and original features. Its new managers are the team from Good Chemistry Brewing, so you know it’s going to be good!
Coming soon are :
- Picole – a new wine and food bar in Wapping Wharf from the impeccable team behind Tare
- Casa – a relaxed and refined Italian restaurant from the Casamia/Paco Tapas clan (currently stated as opening on 17th November)
- Gareth Bale’s golf-themed bar, Par 59, has confirmed an opening date of 9th December on Millennium Promenade, which seems like a sensible place for it to join the likes of Lane 7.
And a little further into the future, BOXHALL has started looking for Bristol food and drink businesses to trade from the site when it opens in 2023. Any predictions/hopes for who will end up in there?
That’s it for this month, you can see more food updates by following A Life Less Organised on Facebook, see what I’m eating on Instagram, or come and say hi on Twitter (I’m one of the wholesome, non-shouty ones)
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