Welcome to chilly December! This month is a slightly abridged guide, as I know most of you have too many appointments already, or don’t want to leave the comfort of your sofa.

If you’re looking for some last minute food-related gift ideas, I have tons on my Bristol Gift Guide!

If you are looking for some delicious things to do, here are a few suggestions…

News

Just in time for Christmas presents, Good Stories in Food have announced three new food tours: Flavours of the West Country Tour, Somerset Cider & Cheese Tour and the Bristol Old City Self-Guided Drinks Tour. This is in addition to the food tour they already run around St Nick’s, and the Cheese & Wine Tasting in the Cheddar Valley tour. Book yourself a fun day out, or treat someone to a tour by booking directly or nabbing one of their gift cards.

One of the top restaurants in the city, Wilsons are doing a special reduced price menu for winter, from now until the end of January – there’s a six-course menu for £58 as well as the standard eight courses for £73 – I can testify that the food here is insanely good and a steal at either price, so make sure to book ahead.

BANK in Totterdown was the only Bristol restaurant or pub to make it into the UK’s 50 best Sunday Roasts by The Good Food Guide – the roast menu incorporates dishes cooked over fire, including pork belly with black garlic and miso, or smoked celeriac with wild garlic crumb, as well as sharing roasts of a whole roast chicken or aged sirloin with braised beef shin.

The annual Mazi Project Raffle is live! Running until 1st Jan, tickets are £5, or £10 for three and there is an amazing array of prizes on offer. For every raffle ticket you purchase, you’ll help The Mazi Project deliver meal kits and nourishing meals to young people in the community facing food insecurity.

Prizes include (the list is FAR longer, check their website to see)

• 3 course dinner for two at The Pony Chew Valley
• Private dining experience at home for four by Sonny Stores
• Meal for two at Clouds dim sum and wine bar
• A tray of Xmas brownies/Blondies from 404 Bakes
• Wine tastings for two at KASK
• £50 x Bianchis Group Voucher
• £50 x voucher for Yuup
• 2 x tickets to Bristol Bears home game of winner’s choice

Buy some raffle tickets and do a good deed at the same time!

Festive events

If you’re not in full Grinch mode yet, here are some festively themed food events to get involved with…

• Fri 6th – Burra North Street x Corks Winter Tasting Evening (£81.96)
• Fri 6th – Festive Supper Evening at Yeo Valley HQ Canteen (£55)
• Sun 8th – Breakfast with Santa & Elves at The Granary (£25 per adult, £20 per child)
• Sun 8th – Festive Lunch at Leigh Court (from £27.50)
• Wed 11th – Christmas Supper Club with Adam Ball (£50)
• Sat 14th – Jingle Bell Ball at Bristol Aquarium (£45)
• Thu 19th – Christmas Murder Mystery Night at Clifton Observatory (£60)
• Thu 19th – Beer & Carols at Bristol Cathedral
• Sun 22nd – Christmas Brunch at BANK (£42)

New Year’s Eve

No plans yet? Here are a few of my top picks for NYE…

• Small Bar x Renato’s (£10)
• The Garden of Earthly Delights at The Milk Thistle (£40/£65)
• NYE at The Cider Box (£7)
• Dinner & Drinks at Harvey Nichols (£100)
• 90s Neon Glow Party at Bambalan (£20 / £45)
• NYE Retro Rollout at Za Za Bazaar (£70 / £90)
• Set Menu at The Baffled King (£60)
• Midnight in New Orleans at The Square Club (from £114)
• Oasis tribute at Steam Bristol (£15)
• NYE House Party at Bristol Old Vic (£99)
• NYE Bottomless Brunch at Flight Club (£30-£35)
• The Casino at Racks (£130)

Tours, classes and tastings 

Try something new this month…

• North Street Food Tour (Sat 7th, £65)
• Big Christmas Tasting Extravaganza at KASK (Sun 8th, £45)
• Christmas Coffee Tasting at Origin Coffee Roasters (Wed 11th, £15)
• Whisky Tasting with Torabhaig and Mossburn at Spirited (Wed 11th, £25)
• Egyptian Cookery Class at The Mazi Project (Thu 12th, £45)
• Christmas Canapes at The Pony Chew Valley (Thu 12th, £95)
• Gin Lover’s Masterclass at Psychopomp (Fri 13th, £30)
• Avon Gorge Wild Food Foraging Walk (Sat 14th, £15)
• Wapping Wharf Street Food Tour (Sat 14th, £30)
• Pasta Masterclass at The Pony Chew Valley (£110)
• Rum Club feat. Ron Carupano at The Clockwork Rose (Mon 16th, £25)
• Champagne & Sparkling Wine Tasting at 22 Clifton (Wed 18th, £55)
• Brewing Experience at Fierce & Noble (Wed 18th, £60)
• Last Minute Xmax Wines at KASK (Wed 18th, £35)
• Whisky Battle of the Brands : Lochlea vs Ardnamurchan (Wed 18th, £25)
• Turkish Cookery Class at The Mazi Project (Wed 18th, £45)
• Festive Baking at The Pony Chew Valley (Fri 20th, £95)

Jan highlights 

I always take January off from writing the guide, but here’s a sneak peek at some events to look forward to… (I’d particularly recommend going to a wassail for some West Country tradition, or eating some tasty Scottish dishes at a Burns Night supper).

• Some Faves from 2024 wine tasting at KASK (Wed 15th, £35)
• North Street Food Tour (Sat 18th, £65)
• Wassail at Rich’s Cider Farm (Sat 18th, £15)
• Barley Wood Cider Wassail (Sat 18th, £10)
• An Edible ode to Roald Dahl (24th/25th, £95)
• Burns Night Supper, Ceilidh, Whisky and Cocktails at Spirited (Sat 25th, £55)
• Wapping Wharf Street Food Tour (Sat 25th, £30)
• Wassail at The Community Farm (Sat 25th)
• Truffles & Pralines workshop at Zara’s Chocolates (Sat 25th, £55)
• Chocolate & Wine Matching at The Scrandit (Tue 28th, £45)

New places

There are tons of newly opened places to visit this month, starting with wine bar and dim sum joint Clouds in St Werburghs – I can’t wait to try this place as I’ve been enjoying Ah-Ma’s Dumplings for years now and I’m so excited that they’ve finally opened their own place, and are combining it with a wine bar!

On the theme of wine bars, a couple of other exciting bars have appeared recently, namely Tare Bar in Wapping Wharf and Marmo Wine Bar (currently Fridays and Saturdays only).

Some other new highlights: Root & Ember deli in Clifton, Forest Bakery in the Dings, El Diablo on Gloucester Road and Beyond Tastee on Stokes Croft.

Angelbaby Kitchen is the latest food stall to open in St Nicholas Market, along with a pop-up from Jikoni which is open until 22 December.

Some more newbies for your list: The Juke Box on Park Street, La Tazza on Whiteladies Road, Magic Wrap on Victoria Street and Nala Noodles in Clifton Down Shopping Centre.

Coming in 2025 are Tapps wine bar on Whiteladies Road and Mangosteen on North Street in Bedminster.

That’s it for this month, let me know what you’re planning on booking over on Threads, see what I’m eating on Instagram or see the latest local food news by following A Life Less Organised on Facebook.

If you enjoy the guides on this blog, or found this post particularly useful/entertaining, you can buy me a coffee or a glass of wine to say thanks – it’s always nice to see when the blog is appreciated. Have a fantabulous Christmas and see you in the new year 🙂

If you like this, you’ll also like:

• The Bristol Foodie Gift Guide (get some Christmas present ideas!)
• Food & Drink Offers (set menus, bottomless brunch and more)
• Country Pubs Near Bristol
• The Best Brunches in Bristol