“It’s as if the weather is telling us to stay put. If only we could”, writes top food critic Jay Rayner in his recent review of a Bristol restaurant for The Guardian. The renowned British journalist and food critic recently visited 1 York Place in Clifton, which he described as summing up “that encouragingly bourgeois approach”.
He added: “It barely needs saying that Bristol is a superb restaurant city, full of independents serving great food without faff or ludicrous ponce”. 1 York Place, which is the latest Bristol restaurant from chef Freddy Bird (who also runs Little French in Westbury Park), is described by Rayner in his review as follows: “The picture windows are illuminated by warm orange lamps that act as a beacon against this lunchtime’s early evening light and the dining room is dressed in gentle Scandi shades of oatmeal.
“There are dried wild grasses attached to the walls, which serve to emphasise just what an escape from the storm this space will be. All good restaurants serve as a refuge; as a redoubt against the tiresome demands of life, work or, as today, the weather.
“1 York Place, the latest Bristol restaurant from chef Freddy Bird, does the job beautifully. I first tried his cooking in 2010 at the Bristol Lido, the best-catered swimming pool in Britain. His food there was what you’d treat yourself to after a brisk 50 lengths, or perhaps after watching someone else complete them: wood-roasted fish or lamb, fat ravioli filled with long-braised venison, a fennel and blood orange salad that referenced his years cooking at the Iberian-influenced Moro.
“A few years ago he opened the Little French in Bristol’s Westbury Park, which delivered on the name’s promise: fish soup, beef fillet with a peppercorn sauce, plus a side of the cheese and potato wonder that is aligot. Now there is this second restaurant, which opened at the end of last year, and which wanders Europe a little more widely. What unites them is a determination to fill the plate to the very edge without recourse to daintiness or understatement. Come hungry.”
During his visit, Rayner tucked into dishes from the menu which included squash fritters, pork belly, tiramisu, and frangipane tart, among others. He said: “The successful writing of a set-price menu is a serious skill. It needs to work the margins while not looking as if it’s offering second best.
“It needs to be tightly written, but still cover most dietaries. There needs to be the whiff of bargain luxury. This one, which costs less than the most expensive main course, does it all brilliantly.” Of Bird, he also said: “I like a cook who cleaves to his own good ideas.”