Bristol’s most exciting new restaurant opening of 2021

For Josh Eggleton, the opening of the Pony North Street is the end of one era and the start of a new one.

The acclaimed chef and restaurateur is transporting the essence of the Pony & Trap in Chew Magna to this new space in Ashton, tucked behind the Bristol Beer Factory brewery and tap room.

Within what used to be a courtyard, the Pony North Street (with its entrance actually on St Francis Road) promises modern British bistro classics, “full of all the charm, passion and deliciousness of the original Pony & Trap, but this time in Bristol”.

Eggleton and his family have owned the Pony & Trap for almost 15 years and the restaurant has held a Michelin star for a decade, with a pop-up version proving a success as part of Breaking Bread on the Downs in 2020.

But the opening of the Pony North Street will see the end of the original Pony & Trap in its current form, with its pub ethos continuing in the Queen’s Arms in Chew Magna.

Eggleton is adding the Silver Street watering hole to his long list of business interests that also includes Salt & Malt, Root and the Kensington Arms.

Speaking to Bristol24/7 towards the end of last year as building work continued on the new restaurant, Eggleton said that for him, the Pony North Street will be “a really simple bistro”.

Created with the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic in mind, one section of the dining area overlooking St Francis Road will be under canvas like at Breaking Bread.

“It’s about harnessing what we have learned over all the years, celebrating that produce and putting it on the plate really simply.”

There will be roast lunch on Sundays when the restaurant will open at 11am for brunch, with the likes of Chew Valley hot-smoked trout with scrambled eggs, or a full English breakfast also using produce from the Chew Valley.

Eggleton wants to take the bistro elements of the menu from the Pony & Trap “and really representing that here on North Street”.

Joshg Eggleton inside what will become the Pony North Street – photo: Martin Booth

When the Pony & Trap closes in its current iteration, it will lose its Michelin star; with Michelin-starred Wilks in Redland also not reopening.

(In a sign of the times, the pavement outside Wilks on Chandos Road is currently fenced off after a piece of masonry fell from the building the restaurant used to occupy.)

Despite the loss of the most prestigious culinary award in the world, Eggleton said that it has “never been about accolades” for him.

“If you do what you love and do what you believe in, and do it from the heart, the accolades will follow. It’s about making yourself happy, making your staff happy, and thereby making your customers happy. You need to feel right with what you’re doing.”

Inside the Pony & Trap in Chew Magna – photo: Pony & Trap

Eggleton, who recently became a father for the first time, said that the coronavirus pandemic “has accelerated the path that we were already on”, with early plans already in place to turn the Pony & Trap into a cookery school and have his other businesses more rooted in the community.

“A lot of what happened at Breaking Bread will be transported here, but it will have more character that represents the Pony & Trap and what we’ve done in Chew Valley.”

It may be the end of era in the Chew Valley, but the Pony North Street is without a doubt one of the most exciting new restaurants to open in Bristol in 2021 – whenever they will be allowed to open.

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read more: 21 things to look forward to in Bristol in 2021