One of Bristol’s top restaurants will open its doors this weekend and serve a signature dish on a ‘pay-as-you-can-basis’. Wilson’s on Chandos Road in Redland is teaming up with The Long Table, a Cotswolds-based social enterprise community restaurant that has made a name for its pop-ups where local communities eat together and pay whatever they can afford.

On Sunday (September 29), between 12noon and 6pm, the Wilsons X The Long Table collaboration will serve 150 portions of the main dish – fallow deer, seaweed, kimchi and salt-baked beets – as well as pudding of roast fig leaf soft serve and a lemon verbena Collins cocktail. There will be no booking and it’s on a first come, first served basis.

Run by chef Jan Ostle and his wife, Mary, who grows much of the produce for the restaurant on a smallholding on the outskirts of Bristol, Wilson’s is one of Bristol’s most celebrated restaurants. The six-course set menu is usually £73 and there’s a weekday three-course set lunch menu for £35.

In a message on The Long Table’s social media, co-founder Tom Herbert (whose family also own Hobbs House bakery) said: “Jan and the team are throwing open the doors to their Michelin green star awarded restaurant and putting on one service that’s completely pay-as-you-can, with no booking required.

Wilsons is a small, independently owned and run farm-to-table restaurant in Redland (Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)

“This Sunday, The Long Table is teaming up with Wilson’s restaurant for an exciting new project. For one day only, Wilsons will be open, serving a single dish on a pay-as-you-can basis. There is no booking—just come along.

“The goal is to celebrate great restaurants while helping them strengthen their community connections. It’s a chance for customers to enjoy fantastic food and hospitality, meet their neighbours and contribute to building a stronger community.”

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The Long Table has a community restaurant in Stroud and plans to open a second venue in Cirencester. On its website, its mission statement reads: “We’re all about radical hospitality – something we’d love you to experience. Because amazing things happen when we eat together.

“Every hot meal served is pay-as-you-can, so our food is accessible to everyone, regardless of means. It’s not about charity – it’s about dignity, equality, and a community supporting neighbours who need a little help. It’s about creating a space where everyone is welcome to feast, talk, laugh, and find a place.”