Restaurants / Review
Casa, Redcliffe: ‘A triumphant return for a Bristol favourite’ – restaurant review
Casa has big shoes to fill.
Promising a “contemporary, accessible, yet refined” take on traditional Italian dining, the 62-cover restaurant on Lower Guinea Street is bringing high-end Italian cuisine back to basics.
The news may come as a welcome relief to diners, but for illustrious chef, Peter Sanchez-Iglesias and executive chef Joel Breakwell (previously head chef at Paco Tapas), the pressure is on.
is needed now More than ever
The pair have opened this relaxed, yet ambitious Italian restaurant within the site that was previously home to Peter’s family-owned Michelin-starred restaurant Casamia, an eatery renowned for taking fine dining to dizzying heights.
There are subtle hints of the restaurant’s predecessor across the space, such as the revival of two regal Italian paintings from the original restaurant and signed tasting menus from the original Casamia in the bathrooms.
Other than this, Casa opts for neutrality and minimalism, with the subtle thump of electronic music emanating from concealed amps and task lighting on each table that transports diners to the upper echelons of New York’s restaurant scene.
We began with cocktails – an Amalfita (Malfa Lemon Gin, Aperol, citrus) and a Che Figo (Don Q Cristal Rum, fig, Frangelico), coming in at £12 each – modestly-sized cocktails that soon took on lives of their own, their flavour and character offering a teaser of things to come.
The apéretif’s long-lost sweeter cousin
With ravenous stomachs, we turned to the menu, which contained a selection of lighter dishes such as antipasti, cured meats and formaggio and their richer counterparts of pasta, pesce and carne.
Old Casamia favourites such as the potato ravioli and the caponata were married with highly seasonal offerings, represented by their handwritten appearance on the menu.
We chose a broad selection, taking care to avoid the meats, despite the tremendous temptation.
While the menu promises individual small plates, they are brought to the table in thoughtfully curated groupings. For example, the burrata (£10), caponata (£6) and focaccia (£5.5) arrived in unison, with the oily focaccia offering a plentiful base onto which to dollop the thick burrata (made and produced in London) and the deliciously fresh caponata.
All good things come in threes
Styled in the shape of a steak tartare, the caponata felt surprisingly luxurious, cementing the age old adage that presentation truly is everything.
The real pièce de résistance had to be the double agnolotti (£12.50), a delicate deux-filled pasta bathing in a warm caramel sauce and topped with shavings of crystallised walnuts.
One side contained ricotta and gorgonzola and the other pumpkin. Eaten together, the flavours were exquisite, simultaneously sumptuous and rich and light and elegant. It’s dishes like these that elevate simple cooking to a thing of luxury.
It’s difficult to do justice to these morsels of heaven
Despite its uninspiring presentation on arrival, the confit trout (£14) quickly revealed its true colours, no doubt smugly aware that what it lost in presentation it undeniably made up for in its tender and succulent taste.
As my (very British) partner proudly stated, the standard of an Italian restaurant is determined by how good a tiramisu is, so inevitably we had to finish with the classic dessert. The sounds of rapturous approval from our table carried across the restaurant.
It takes real gusto to serve fish as simply as this
As we paused to take in our surroundings, we spotted a diner that had managed to acquire the leftover bone from her pork chop, wrapped in cling film and ready to take home.
She could have been taking it home for her pet dog, but I’d like to think she was going to finish off the last meat scrapings on the bone herself as a midnight snack, such is the phenomenal quality and standard that Casa has achieved.
Peter and his team have successfully revived traditional dishes in a truly modern setting, marking the group’s triumphant return to the Bristol restaurant scene.
Casa marks Peter’s triumphant return to the Bristol restaurant scene
The General, Lower Guinea Street, Bristol, BS1 6FU
All photos: Mia Vines Booth
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