Street corner to bricks and mortar

New street food businesses appear in Bristol almost every month but as Martin Booth discovers, many people use street food as a stepping stone to opening permanent premises

Jake Black of Chomp ran a business in London fitting kitchens and bathrooms. Graham Faragher of Bertha’s Pizza worked as an engineer for the McLaren F1 team before a stint in the City.

Jake now sells burgers from a converted Citroen H van and Graham sourdough pizzas which he makes in an oven built into the back of a canary yellow Land Rover Defender.

Two distinctive stories but two stories which are typical of Bristol’s diverse street food businesses.

Jake and Graham also share something else in common: using street food as a stepping stone to opening a permanent restaurant. For Chomp, that dream will soon become a reality on St Nicholas Street, while Bertha’s Pizza are currently looking for a suitable site.

It’s a route that Katie & Kim’s Kitchen have already taken, going from an award-winning street food business out of a converted horse box on Stokes Croft to a permanent cafe which opened earlier this year on Picton Street in Montpelier.

“We figured that a food truck would be a great way of getting started and learning some valuable lessons but have always been keen to get a roof over our heads,” says Jake, who was almost put out of business earlier this year when his trading license on Cathedral Walk in the Harbourside development was recommended for refusal, with one complainant deciding that the van was “out of character” for an area whose principal food offerings are Costa and Pizza Express.

Chomp were one of the finest purveyors of street food and have forged close working relationships with other food and drink businesses in Bristol such as Wiper & True brewery in St Werburgh’s.

Newer kids on the block Bertha’s are also keen to collaborate, with Graham swapping coffee for pizza at Extract, also in St Werburgh’s (who began in a cart on College Green before opening their roaster); and swapping sourdough tips with Laura at Hart’s Bakery.

Near to Hart’s is the Temple Quay market every other Thursday where some of Bristol’s best street food businesses can be found gathered in one place. There is food here from Thailand, India, Mexico, the USA, Spain, Greece and Japan. There is even the ‘cronut’ beef donut from the Feastie Boys.

It’s a popular regular market but mainly caters for local office workers and doesn’t have the buzz of other events across the UK.

“It feels like we’re on the cusp of something big but Bristol’s playing catch-up when it comes to street food,” says Graham. “London, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and Leeds all host regular, thriving street food markets often with live music running into the night.

“Each is a genuine destination with affordable food, a party atmosphere, a chance to sample the next wave of restaurateurs before they sign a lease. Let’s hope something comes of the recent discussions with the council on bringing life back to derelict city centre sites.”

The corner of Castle Park in front of the old Bank of England building is not somewhere anyone is prone to loiter for long. But it’s where former Casamia sous chef Mike Humphreys of street food traders Hickory Pig has earmarked as a site for Bristol’s version of Street Feast in London or Brandon Street Night Market in Leeds.

Thanks to a scarcity of pitches, Hickory Pig can currently be found amid what is still mostly a building site at the end of Bath Street off Victoria Street. A successful street food business needs good footfall – and there is none here.

“Bristol has some really great street food traders, scratch making their wares at the highest levels,” says Mike. “There are, however, very few places for hawkers to serve up their food, particularly at night. Local traders often turn to other cities for somewhere to trade.

“We’re hoping to build a thriving street food party that, if warranted, will eventually be hosted weekly. We’d like to offer two guest pitches at each event, one of which will be a free pitch for new, upcoming traders. We’d also like to invite traders from other cities to fill the guest spots. If all goes well, it will well and truly put Bristol on the map of British street food.”