The stall make-up of the market has been chopping and changing and may continue to, but at present there is Herbert’s Bread, a good ‘real’ sausage company that does good sausages, chorizo bacon, etc, and a specialty fishmonger who does good arbroath smokies as well as lovely apple juice.

While some might consider live music every night of the week a bit of a drawback, this gives the Canteen an extra buzz and it is usually packed. A cozy corner with book shelves and sofas adds a nice touch to the surprisingly child-friendly space, with young families in the crowd as well as young people. There is a real community feel to the ambiance but there is no doubt the place is professionally staffed and managed.

The Canteen spills out onto Stokes Croft with outdoor seating that has totally transformed the former street front and along with its sister initiative, Co-exist, which occupies the upper floors of Hamilton House, is helping to revitalise the entire area.

Opening hours:
Mon-Thu 10:00-00:00
Fri-Sat 10:00-01:00
Sun 12:00-00:00

There is more: Pukka teas (based in Bristol), Chocolate No 1 made in Portishead, Brian Wogan coffee, Porter’s flapjacks (too tempting) and Mr Gill’s bahjees. They also make their own quiches and salads, their fresh pasta comes from a company in South Wales and their beautiful gluten-free cakes are made for them by Paradise cakes. I have also heard that they have just got the contract to supply the café in the Central Library.

So, if you are veggie or vegan, suffer from food intolerance or just love to eat good organic food that has not travelled miles to reach you, Stoneground is for you.

On their daily visits to market they source as much as possible from local organic farmers, like the farmer from Failand who provides all their organic carrots and parsnips, leeks, cabbages, kale and purple sprouting or Farmer John, based near Clevedon, who supplies their organic potatoes (and their Christmas trees!). Thom will also make up veg boxes to your own specification, or just tell him how much you want to spend, and he will even deliver, if you live locally.

The Hagons pride themselves on being able to provide items that are hard to find elsewhere, and, would you believe, they even have their own local forager.

It is the sole retail outlet for Bristol Honey produced by hives in Redland Road and little jars of apple and geranium or apple and lavender jelly, home made by Diggy Tennant from the flowers and fruit in her garden, a few hundred yards from the shop. You cannot get more local than that.

The quality of the food always comes first, but after that it is local and organic whenever possible. For example, there are hand made unpasteurised goats cheese from Crediton in Devon, the famous Montgomery Cheddar, Bill’s pork pies, Bill being the owner and chef in a local pub, and Tom’s pies, e.g. pork and pickled walnut, made in Dorset. Cheddar ales and Sheppy’s cider will soon be joined by English wines. Arch House Deli is also the sole retail outlet for Clifton Cakes, who supply handmade cakes from organic and locally sourced ingredients.

Needless to say, all the food for the deli and its café are made in house. As if that wasn’t enough all their packaging is biodegradable, even down to the plastic tubs for the take away food, which are made from maize and will dissolve in hot water. So, there you have it. Gourmandise with a clear conscience. Perfect.

The January–February issue of Bristol’s Local Food Update is now available for download.

This issue has plenty of news from people working and volunteering in local food projects, events and course listings for late winter/very early spring, plus plenty of further reading suggestions while it’s still too dark or frozen to do much growing.

To subscribe to future issues of the newsletter, please send an email to bristollocalfood-at-googlemail.com with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line (replace -at- with @).

Bristol’s Local Food Update Jan-Feb 2010