FOOD FESTIVAL BRINGS DELICIOUS TREATS, FREE WORKSHOPS AND TOP CHEFS TO QUAKERS FRIARS

Quakers Friars is set to become a foodie paradise this August as a weekend-long celebration of Bristol’s culinary diversity comes to the historic piazza.

Taking place throughout Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th August, the free festival will feature contributions from restaurants, cafés and delis throughout Quakers Friars, Cabot Circus and the wider city.

This will include demonstrations from renowned Michelin-starred chef Raymond Blanc, who will share some of the secrets behind the French cuisine served in his Brasserie Blanc restaurant, which has been cooking up a storm with its innovative menu and relaxed atmosphere since opening in Quakers Friars’ restored priory building in 2008.

Raymond will also host a live Q&A session with the public, during which he will chat about the influence of his upbringing in rural France and his passion for seasonal ingredients. In addition, he will share tales from his popular BBC series The Restaurant, which was partly filmed in Bristol and which invited budding restaurateurs to compete for the chance to open their own establishment.

Raymond said: “I’m delighted to be appearing at the Quakers Friars food festival. Bristol has a growing reputation for food and drink, with brilliant local ingredients, a great range of restaurants and some fantastic chefs, and I’m looking forward to demonstrating what the city has to offer. They say that New York was so great that they had to name it twice; well, there are 34 Bristol’s in the world and I think that speaks for itself!”

Also participating in the festival is Louise McCrimmon, Head Chef at Harvey Nichols Second Floor Restaurant & Bar, which has recently been awarded two AA rosettes. Louise will be sharing her skills with the crowd and showing how to recreate some of the mouth-watering dishes from the restaurant’s summer menu, which features a host of locally-sourced produce.

The weekend will also feature free hands-on cookery workshops from The Cookery School at award-winning Bristol Harbourside eatery Bordeaux Quay, which was the first UK restaurant to achieve a gold rating under the Soil Association’s Sustainable Catering Scheme. The workshops will show budding cooks of all ages how to make their own pasta and whip up delicious delights such as crumbles, scones and hand-rolled pasta, which they can then take away and enjoy at home.

What’s more, Bordeaux Quay’s founder Barny Haughton, who has developed a reputation for innovative, modern cuisine using organic and environmentally friendly ingredients, will be adding to the line-up of demonstrations by showing visitors how to create modern European dishes with a focus on sustainable produce.

The free event will take place from 11:30am – 6:00pm on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th August, with the first cookery workshop beginning at 11:30am each day. Louise McCrimmon from Harvey Nichols will appear on the Saturday, with Raymond Blanc headlining the event on Sunday.

Producers from across the region will also showcase the best of local produce during a three-day farmers market, beginning on Friday 13th August.

Cabot Circus features a mix of fine dining, family restaurants and cafés which are clustered around two main areas – Quakers Friars and a restaurant terrace overlooking the central space. These include Italian operators Carluccio’s and Piccolino and a wide range of national names such as Zizzi, Café Rouge, La Tasca, Giraffe, Tampopo and Yo Sushi!.

For more information on the food festival please visit www.cabotcircus.com. Shops throughout Cabot Circus and Quakers Friars are open from 10am to 8pm, with restaurants open until late.

A full demonstration schedule can be found on the Cabot Circus website. Headline demonstration slots are as follows:

·         Louise McCrimmon: Saturday at 2pm & 4pm

·         Raymond Blanc: Sunday at 1pm

Cabot Circus’ opening hours:

§  Monday to Saturday: 10am – 8pm
§  Sundays and Bank Holidays: 11am – 5pm
§  Restaurants, cafes and Jungle Rumble adventure golf offer extended opening hours, while Cinema de Lux is open from 10am to 1am from Sunday to Thursday and 10am until 3am on Friday and Saturday.

Cabot Circus opened on 25th September 2008 and features:

§  One million ft2 (92,900 m2) of shopping and leisure
§  Two department stores:
o    House of Fraser 170,000 ft2 (15,800 m2)
o    Harvey Nichols   37,000 ft2 (3,450 m2)
§  100,000 ft2 (9,290 m2) 13-screen Showcase Cinema de Lux
§  120 new shops
§  15 major flagship stores
§  20 new restaurants and cafés
§  2,550 car parking spaces in a safe and secure environment
§  New cycle routes, bus and coach stops
§  New public spaces
§  An open square in Quakers Friars
§  A spectacular covered space in The Circus
§  Three new pedestrian streets
§  250 apartments
§  161,500 ft2 (15,000 m2) of office space
§  150-bed Future Inns hotel totalling 90,000 ft2 (8,361 m2)
§  280-bed student accommodation totalling 103,000 ft2 (9,570 m2)