Shops / Reviews
Ahh Toots
A Korean restaurant on Park Row has a bizarre selection of food in its window. Someone has taken the time to make the dishes served in Surakhan out of plastic. Fried eggs looking like they’ve been taken from a toy box in no way makes you tempted to venture inside.
Contrast this with Ahh Toots in St Nicks Market where almost every cake on display looks too good to eat.
They are the creations of Tamarind Galliford, a fine art graduate who was formally head baker at Papadeli and spent time working in the acclaimed Franze & Evans restaurant in London’s trendy Shoreditch.
is needed now More than ever
Resting decoratively on cook books and wooden crates, the cakes and other sweet treats are also all balanced on a rickety metal wheeled contraption.
A few of Tam’s creations which caught my eye over the weekend were salted caramel chocolate brownies, courgette cake and croissant cake.
Meringues, with colourful swirls so vivid they look like they have danced along a rainbow, are as soft as candyfloss and so light you half expect them to float away.
It’s not all sweet stuff, however, and I can also vouch for Tam’s sausage roll with rosemary and sesame, on a par with the best in Bristol from Hart’s Bakery.
“Door-stop sandwiches” are made with bread from Hobb’s House, there is a quiche of the day, and rolls of mozzarella and Marmite – a particular favourite ingredient of the self-styled “biscuitier” which can also be found as a drawing in the snug.
Tam’s partner in crime at Ahh Toots is Natalie, former head of restaurant and events at The Rummer just around the corner.
The two make some team, with a major part of the new business making bespoke cakes to order, although no shoes or handbags.
“At Ahh Toots our mission is to make cake exciting, new and always delicious,” Tam says.
Amen to that. And not a plastic fried egg in sight.
Ahh Toots, 4-8 Glass Arcade, St Nicholas Market, Bristol, BS1 1LJ
07788 843 960
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
