Features / Pottery
Pottering around the restaurants of Bristol
Many of us don’t really give a second thought about what our food is served on when we visit a restaurant, but when it is lovingly handcrafted we might need to start paying a bit more attention. Many restaurants in Bristol are now using bespoke and handmade crockery to add something different to their dining experience.
Nailsea based potter Carmel Eskell is the visionary behind the crockery at some of Bristol’s best eateries. It was while studying art at Bath Spa and UWE that she started to become interested in pottery. “I started to play around with the wheels. Hearing that schools were starting to get rid of their kilns made me more interested but I couldn’t see myself making a living from it.”
A chance sighting of an advert for a production potter at The Village Pottery in Clifton led to her making pottery a career and the rest is history. “I’ve been there for three years so this is a lovely way to mark that anniversary.”
is needed now More than ever
No Man’s Grace
When it comes to creating crockery for restaurants she is clearly very popular in the Bristol area as she is a supplier to The Brigstow Bar and Kitchen, The Cauldron and The Pump House among others.
“In July 2014 I did my first restaurant commission for No Man’s Grace who I still supply today. Then I started making The Pony and Trap’s crockery for the Village Pottery. Things just picked up from there which is great.”
She has also supplied new Wapping Wharf restaurant Box-E. Tessa Lidstone, one half of Box-E’s founding duo, explains why they decided on using handmade crockery: “Carmel’s work is beautiful. We asked her to make some bread plates and large and small coffee cups. We felt that it was particularly important that we had something unique and really beautiful for guests at the very beginning and end of their meal.”
Tessa called the design process with Carmel a “collaborative project.” Unlike other commissions making crockery for the restaurant industry is different as you often have to think about the meal that is being presented in it.
For Carmel, that’s one of the best bits: “If they are a tapas restaurant then it’s little dishes and other times the chef might have a particular dish in mind for a particular menu. Then you work with them to find the best shape and design that works for them- this is my favourite part, designing/tweaking and making it your own.”
The Pump House
Main photo by Lloyd Ellington
Read more: Box E – restaurant review
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