Owners Pat and Bruno Forte, who trace their family's ice cream-making roots back 120 years to a village in the Abruzzi Mountains, opened their authentic gelato parlor on a prime spot on College Green with views of Bristol Cathedral. Swoon makes the ice cream on the premises in full view of customers and passersby on the other side of the glass-walled "gelato lab" at the front of the shop. Expect specialty flavors that include tiramisu, bacio (chocolate and hazelnut), Amarena cherry cheesecake and Crema della Nonna, a traditional Italian custard dessert, along with a regularly-changing seasonal flavor list. Other handmade treats include sorbetti, stecchi (sticks of gelato dipped in chocolate) and monoporzioni (small puddings), along with pastries from local bakeries and coffee from Extract.
Chef Ronnie Killen, who trained at Le Cordon Bleu, opened his smoke shack in 2015 in a former school cafeteria and began turning out mouthwatering brisket, peppery pork and beef ribs, homemade pork and beef sausages, and bone-in pork belly. While there's usually a line (get there early; Killen's only serves until the eats run out), you won't be disappointed, especially on weekends when your wait time includes a free cold brew. A ticket dispenser sits next to the door, and everyone in line is expected to take a number so you don’t stand in one spot for an hour or more waiting for the doors to open. Smoked in pecan, oak and mesquite woods, meat is served by the pound and on plate specials. Classic sides include peppery pinto beans, potato salad heavy on the mustard, creamy mac ‘n’ cheese, baked beans, coleslaw and the ultimate Southern comfort food, creamed corn. For dessert, don’t pass up the rich bread pudding made with croissants, banana pudding, pecan pie and seasonal cobblers. There are plenty of paper towels on hand to clean up. And iced tubes packed with beer are ready to help you wash it all down.
Pinkmans Bakery will please everyone with its daily feast of quiches, sandwiches and hearty salads, as well as keenly-priced sourdough pizzas fresh from the wood-fired oven. Their deep acidic tang and elastic base give the very best sourdough pizzeria a run for their money. Pictured above, the Artichoke Pizza sings with tender, caramelized confit garlic, a pesto tomato sauce and bright, lemony wedges of artichoke, quietened by cooling clouds of ricotta. For pudding, try one of their decadent sour-dough-nuts bursting with seasonal fruit, custard and honeycomb.
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Set on Whiteladies Road, this charming coffee shop offers superlative coffee and one of Bristol's best brunches. Opened by local roasters Roasted Rituals, Tradewind offers coffee aficionados the best seasonal blends and single origins on espresso, while food lovers are tempted by a menu that focuses on the freshest seasonal produce. Most items are made in-house, including cakes, nut milks, preserves, chutneys, pickles, smoked and cured fish and salt beef. Our top choices include the BLT with chili jam or the chorizo with charred corn salsa and coriander pesto, tumbled on a bed of avocado, egg and sourdough, pictured. Even humble porridge is elevated by seasonal compote, sweet Egyptian dukkah and bee pollen. Dessert fans will revel in the blood orange and almond cake, roasted rhubarb friands (“little cake” in French) and brownies.
Keep an eye out for the blancmange-pink café on Picton Street in Montpelier, because there is very little signage. But one bite of Katie and Kim’s famous toasted cheddar and rosemary scones and you’ll be back for more. Served warm with optional add-ons of bacon, poached eggs and spinach, the scones are incredibly rich, buttery and crumbly, with a tangy undercurrent of cheese and a delicate whisper of rosemary. Combined with the salty bacon and perfectly cooked, oozing poached eggs, they make for a sublime breakfast experience. The inside of the café is small, with a huge communal table and a tiny kitchen at one end. Open for breakfast and lunch, the menu is short and sweet, with daily changing specials including sandwiches, soups and pastries. If it’s available for lunch, try the homemade bun filled with chorizo sausage, basil oil and aioli accompanied by a carrot salad with a date dressing.
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For excellent huevos rancheros and decadent cinnamon torrijos, the Spanish version of French toast, head to this relaxed cafe specializing in brunches, coffees and home-baked sourdough bread. Opened by Kieran and Imogen Waite on Gloucester Road in early 2014, Bakers and Co. is inspired by the pair’s travels in California and influenced by San Francisco’s brunch scene. The open kitchen is at the heart of the cafe, a layout that reflects the ethos of cooking and baking everything in-house. Diners can perch at the counter overlooking the chefs or squeeze onto tables that flank the kitchen and stretch back into a long, light corridor behind. Bright yellow coffee cups, hanging baskets and sunny artwork add touches of color. The eponymous Baker’s Breakfast, a tower of dry-cured bacon, fennel sausages, morcilla, thyme roasted mushrooms, pinto beans and fried duck egg, is always popular. Yet the huevos rancheros commands an equally strong following. To this traditional tomato and chilli stew, the Bakers add pinto beans – cooked until just collapsing and turning creamy – and a hot salsa whose fire and freshness works well to cut through the richness of the fried eggs. A soft, warm corn tortilla is on hand to mop up any leftover yolk-streaked sauce.
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This award-winning tea room and patisserie in the heart of Clifton, Bristol, specializes in wedding cake design. But it also is the perfect spot to drop in for an elegant afternoon of tea and cake. Fans recommend the rainbow macarons, giant meringues, raspberry and vanilla cake, praline éclair and banoffee tart.
Tamarind Galliford opened her art-focused cake and biscuit shop in 2014 at St. Nicholas’ Market. Baking in the heart of Bristol, Tamarind hand-makes almost every imaginable kind of cake, including vegan and gluten-free masterpieces. Pictured above is her Gin & Tonic Cake with dehydrated fennel and rhubarb. Cut it up into large slices of boozy sweetness. Ahh Toots’ stall in St Nick’s Market also offers breakfasts and lunches every day for both meat eaters and vegans/vegetarians. Consider pairing a Bloody Mary with your bacon butty.
When Eat a Pitta took over a former soup and salad stall in St Nicholas market’s glass arcade, lines of hungry customers quickly formed for their perfectly cooked falafels. Fueled by demand, new locations have opened in the heart of the Broadmead shopping area and on Gloucester Road. The falafels, handcrafted using a third-generation family recipe, are best eaten piping hot in wholemeal pitta breads that overflow with chopped salads, homemade pickles and sauces. If you’re avoiding carbs, opt for a colorful salad box stuffed to the brim with fresh veggies, couscous and homemade tahini or chilli jam. It’s enough to feed two.
When arriving at Bristol Temple Meads station, those “in the know” will stop by the railway’s Victorian arches to visit Hart’s Bakery. There are few finer ways to welcome a friend to the city than with the flakey, buttery layers of a Hart’s pastry, one of Bristol’s best sausage rolls or, because sometimes simple is best, superlative sourdough toast with raspberry jam. Lunch specials are tweeted on weekdays. Choices range from a roast garlic and potato soup or red pepper and borlotti bean chilli, both served with hunks of incredibly crisp-crusted sourdough. Or perhaps there will be a rye bun filled with soft smoked salmon and chive-infused cream cheese, paired brilliantly with the earthy, mineral sweetness of a beetroot and fennel salad. If you aren’t in a rush for take-away, take a seat and watch the bakers at work while enjoying a coffee.
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