Saint Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Champion of chickens. Saviour of the seas. With a halo now firmly in place over a head now shorn of its once unruly curls. Bristol’s new River Cottage Canteen on Whiteladies Road is most definitely Saint Hugh’s. There are his cookbooks everywhere, flyers scattered about for his courses at River Cottage HQ and his face grinning from the website.
Like its owner, River Cottage Canteen – in a Grade II-listed former church hall with natural light streaming through stained glass windows – is difficult not to admire. So let’s get the niggles out of the way first.
A loud hoover upstairs was perhaps not the sound in mind when Saint Hugh talked about creating a relaxed ambience. For too long, it drowned out a great selection of music from artists such as Gotan Project and Emiliana Torrini.
Swapping sucking for blowing, the hand dryers in the toilets have been installed far too low on the walls, with even the vertically-challenged needing to stoop.
Arriving for breakfast soon after 9am yesterday, I asked for a pastry and orange juice. Of which there were neither. A flat white ordered off-menu, however, was just right, made with Bristol’s own Extract Coffee.
There was no excuse that yesterday was opening day, as this restaurant has already been unofficially open for a week. I hope that in future the pastries can be prepared before 10am and the hoovering done before the doors open to customers. The hand dryers, however, will probably be here to stay.
I had the strange sensation when I visited of having been before. Probably because several months ago Brislington’s Simple Simon Design released their interior plans which are now real rather than just on a computer screen.
This former building society has been absolutely transformed, with 15-feet high leaded windows and a timber-framed ceiling restored to former glories. Upstairs is reminiscent of Cutlers Hall in Quakers Friars. That’s part of another celebrity chef’s gaff, of which Bristol is steadily building up quite a collection.
The fortnightly Whiteladies Road farmers market takes place right outside River Cottage Canteen, and some stalls will have come further than this restaurant’s suppliers.
Chalked up on a board, they include vegetables from the Community Farm in Chew Magna and the Severn Project in Keynsham, meat from The Story in Wrington, and dairy from Bath’s Pong Cheese.
Each day’s changing lunch and dinner is also chalked up on boards above the kitchen pass, divided into Together, Smaller, Bigger, Sides, Sweeter & Cheesier, and Children’s.
Items that caught my eye included a seasonal vegetable mezze board (£10); pulled pork, braised red cabbage and coleslaw gratin (£14.50); and chorizo, melted onion and blue cheese pizza (£8).
My breakfast of organic yoghurt, muesli and poached pears and apricots (£4) was on a par with the similar dish at the Lido, but could have done with a dollop more honey.
Other breakfast options are sausage sandwiches, roasted mushrooms on toast and a Saint Hugh speciality spelt drop scones, now cooked by head chef Mark Stavrakakis (ex-Goldbrick House) and his team.
Customers yesterday morning were a mixture of mums and pre-school children, retired couples, and a few young professionals on their phones and laptops. I was also introduced to a new concept: ladies who breakfast. Well, this is Clifton.
And perhaps like me, breakfast was the only way to sample the new restaurant as lunch and dinner services are virtually booked out all this week. It might still be worth walking in off the street, however, as there is a cafe and bar area to the right of the front door, with more formal dining to the left and upstairs.
With his campaigns and commitment to ethical farming and now fishing, Saint Hugh’s halo is difficult to dent. But it was given a big knocking recently as Mitch Tonks questioned journalism standards on Hugh’s Fish Fight. The same Mitch Tonks who owns Rockfish Grill just a few hundred yards away from the new Bristol River Cottage Canteen, although on Twitter he claimed to welcome the new kid on the block.
Incidentally, fish on the lunch menu yesterday was potted crab, whiting and pollock.
The River Cottage Canteen in Bath, which used to form part of Komedia, didn’t last for long. But this new Bristol outlet seems to have already established itself as a popular neighbourhood fixture. Saint Hugh’s halo remains safe for now.
River Cottage Canteen, St John’s Court, Whiteladies Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 2QY. 0117 973 2458.
Website: www.rivercottage.net/canteens/bristol/
Twitter: @bristolcanteen
