Next week at the Bristol Old Vic there is due to be an announcement of a brand new project from artistic director Tom Morris which will undoubtedly draw comparisons to when he was at the helm of what is now the Tony Award-winning War Horse at the National Theatre.
It is just the latest collaboration from the UK’s oldest provincial theatre, recently restored so spectacularly that it takes your breath away. And there is more to come.
The newest collaboration is not even on the stage, but in the upstairs cafe bar, as Cotham Hill restaurant Flinty Red moves in to offer breakfast, lunch and dinner, not just to theatre-goers but anyone who wants to pop in to the King Street theatre for some of the best food in Bristol.
“We are thrilled to be working with Bristol Old Vic, an inspiring and creative space with a formidable talent at the helm,” say Matthew Williamson and Claire Thomson from Flinty Red.
“The playfulness and creativity brought to the work created here will be reflected in our own daily offerings. With a nod to London’s West End and its ever energetic theatre and restaurant scene, Flinty Red will entice those visiting Bristol Old Vic with a heady mix of food and drink to compliment the breath-taking surrounds of this beautiful building.”
I have now had both breakfast and dinner at Flinty Red’s new home in Bristol Old Vic, and can confirm that it is a thrilling collaboration, which sees one of Bristol’s finest restaurants in an exciting new space.
For breakfast, the choice includes seasonal granola (£3.95) and sourdough toast and jam (£2), while later in the day sees the appearance of a tapas menu with snacks like toasted almonds and olives for £1.75; and tapas of rabbit, white bean and caper salad or confit ox cheek, pickled carrots and mint (£4.50 each, four for £16).
There is also cured meat of salchichon, chorizo and salami for £4.50 each; cheese (£6.50, served with honey and oatcakes), cow’s milk blue Stichelton from Nottinghamshire and ewe’s milk Wigmore from Berkshire; and desserts at £4.50 of meringue, mouse and chocolate cake.
That’s not forgetting the drinks selection that Flinty Red is well-known for, which includes beer-wise, Estrella on draft, Bristol Beer Factory on tap, and bottles from Alhambra in Spain and Goose Island in the USA; and Stowford Press cider on tap.
It could only take a certain type of restaurant, but Flinty Red has managed to match the magic being created in the theatre with some extra special magic in the kitchen.
Flinty Red at Bristol Old Vic, King Street, Bristol, BS1 4ED
