I recently stayed in Bristol, in a hotel on a room only basis. They wanted £15 for a breakfast and I felt sure I could get a better breakfast elsewhere for a fraction of that cost.
So we went to Bristol's lovely St Nicholas Market, and discovered Source Food Hall & Café:
where we had the wonderful breakfast pictured at the top of this post.
Source is about as far removed from the supermarkets, that dominate our retail landscape, as you could wish for. It's clearly run by people who understand good food.
As a child in Manchester I remember the Dewhurst Butchers empire, with their trays of identical pork chops. I think the beef came from Brazil, and anywhere else they could get it cheaply! I was thrilled when I moved away, to more rural areas, where the butcher got his knife out and asked you how thick you wanted your chop - and did you want a bit of kidney with it. The butcher would also tell you which farm the animals came from, and knew what breed they were and how the farms reared their animals.
The Source butchers counter is what I call a proper butchers:
When a butcher sells onglet (which I call hanger) steaks, skirt beef (best for pasties) and shin beef (superb providing you cook it right), you know you're in good company! Some people call their beef "aged" after a fortnight - here it's been matured for a minimum of 28 days:
This means it will be more tender and taste better. They even do butchery courses.
Their fish comes from small south west ports:
They support Channel 4's Fish Fight, so they aim to sell what's in season from sustainable stock and the scallops are diver caught. They also do fish filleting courses here.
When I called, earlier this year, they had some black headed gull’s eggs:
- from a licensed collector. The shop talks to lots of foragers, fishermen, game dealers, farmers and others, so you can get seasonal food that you won't find in the supermarkets.
There's also a selection of fresh vegetables:
and a good selection of charcuterie, cheeses and pastries (which are made by themselves). Their Gloucester Old Spot pork pies have a good reputation, as do their salted caramel brownies
I'd love to go back to this shop - it's just a pity that I'm so far from Bristol...
Source Food Hall & Café
1-3 Exchange Avenue
St Nicholas Market
Bristol
BS1 1JW
Tel: 0117 927 2998
Web: www.source-food.co.uk
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