My Bristol Favourites: Claire Ladkin

Claire Ladkin is the founder of the online platform, All About The Cooks, enabling talented home-cooks to sell their food to the people of Bristol.

Claire is also heavily involved in our city’s food and culture scene, with roles on the board for Bristol Food Connections and the Bristol Zoological Society.

These are Claire’s top-five Bristol favourites:

Origin Workspace’s roof terrace

There are panoramic views across Bristol from Origin Workspace, which is located next to Brandon Hill – photo: Origin Workspace

“As the founder of a start-up, I spend quite a lot of time ‘at the office’. Fortunately, All About The Cooks’ offices are at Origin Workspace on Berkeley Square, which benefits from a stunning roof terrace. It’s great space to take five minutes away from my desk or even to host meetings with new cooks, when it’s warm enough! It must be one of the very best views in Bristol. I particularly like being eye-to-eye with the Wills Memorial Building, and Bristol Grammar School, which I attended for sixth form. I was in the first intake of girls to the school and I believe I was the first girl to ever have a detention at Bristol Grammar School, aged 17. I’m quite proud of that now but wasn’t at the time.”

Wild Place

Guests young and old can be a keeper for the day at Wild Place – photo: Martin Booth

“I am very proud to have been a board trustee of Bristol Zoological Society for seven years, during which time the Society has opened its second site, Wild Place, near Cribbs Causeway. It has been thrilling to see that evolve from an idea, to plans and spreadsheets, to the inspiring place we see there today. In particular, the most recent project,  Bear Wood, sets the standard for future conservation efforts, by focussing on the landscape of ancient British woodland and its natural inhabitants – wolves, lynx, wolverine, as well as the bears, of course. I still wander round it now and feel proud to have been part of that.”

Tree Promenade and Ladies Mile

The Promenade in Clifton is colloquially known as Tree Promenade – photo: Martin Booth

“During the first lockdown, like many others, I took on the Couch to 5k challenge and started running. I do exercise regularly but I’m not a natural runner, so it was hard work. We had two of our three daughters home for lockdown and I came to relish my 45 minutes of solitude in the glorious weather we had. It was a great reminder of how lucky we are to have the Downs.”

St Nicholas Market

“A visit to St Nick’s Market, and the various markets outside it, is one of my favourite ways to spend a Saturday morning. I love the eclectic ramble through the alleyways and nearby streets and, even more, I love buying food there. We all feel differently about buying food from people in independent shops or markets than from supermarkets. Their stories bring us closer to our food and place greater value on it. This is very much the essence of what I’ve tried to recreate in a home-setting with All About The Cooks. It’s the people that make the difference.”

Square Food Foundation

Caroline Parsons

“Bristol food has been a big part of my life, especially as chair of Bristol Food Connections, and there are so many amazing organisations in Bristol doing great work in this area. However, Square Food Foundation in Knowle West has a special place for me as they were part of the All About The Cooks story. I had been there for a meeting a couple of years ago and bought a jar of homemade lemon curd. Every time I went to the fridge I saw this jar of homemade lemon curd and just felt differently about it than if I’d bought it in supermarket. That’s when I started thinking, ‘what if it was easier to buy homemade food from people local to you?’ Square Food Foundation is an amazing organisation which connects people through food and cooking, but also gives people the cooking skills they need to eat real food, even when money is very tight. Anyone looking for a great organisation to support, or looking for cooking tips and tutorials, visit their website.”

Main photo: Mireya Gonzalez

Read more: Home cooks can now sell their food via new website