People / My Bristol Favourites
My Bristol Favourites: Elly Curshen
Elly Curshen is the owner of The Pear Cafe in St Paul’s. Her debut cookbook Fast Days and Feast Days was published earlier this month by Harper Collins. For more information, visit www.ellypear.com.
Here’s Elly boiling an egg:
is needed now More than ever
And here are Elly’s top-five Bristol favourites:
Gloucester Road food shops
“We shot lots of my new book Fast Days and Feast Days along Gloucester Road. I feel so so lucky to have that road nearby and to be able to shop for food in the way that I love. Oriental Market, Istanbul Mini Market, Scoopaway and Gloucester Road Fruits (above) are my most-visited spots.”
Montpelier, Stokes Croft and St Paul’s
“I’ve lived all over the city in the 17 years that I’ve lived in Bristol but Montpelier and Stokes Croft are really where I call home. My cafe The Pear Cafe is on Upper York Street in St Paul’s (above), the road that links Stokes Croft to Cabot Circus (via Brunswick Square) and we’ve been open for just over 10 years. There’s never a dull moment round here, however clichéd that sounds.”
Bristol’s food culture
“I’m so proud to be a part of this brilliant city’s food culture. What we’ve got going on is exciting, adventurous, thoughtful and dynamic. We have so much to be proud of and I feel so happy to be able to spread the word about what we have got growing/brewing/baking/cooking down here!”
Incredible Edible Bristol
“When I heard there was a new project that was planting beds all over the city, in public areas, full of vegetables, herbs and edible flowers, that members of the public could help themselves to, I thought ‘oh that’s so cool’, swiftly followed by ‘they’ll get trashed’. Well, I’m pleased to say my cynicism was unfounded and the Incredible Edible Bristol project seems to be a great success. I picked and ate a jalapeno chilli pepper once that had grown on College Green. How cool is that?”
The view from Kingsdown
“The view from Kingsdown across the city is one of my favourites. Stokes Croft and the huge Sweet Toof mural in the foreground, stretching out to rolling green countryside in the distance. It epitomises Bristol’s urban/rural feel for me and whatever the weather, I could stand and stare at that view for ages. A brill spot on fireworks night too.”
Read more: Video: Elly Pear’s food tour of Bristol