The farm-to-table ethos of Wilson’s on Chandos Road has been revolutionary. While many restaurants in Bristol can offer high-quality ingredients. Few are doing it quite like the low-key, neighbourhood restaurant in Redland. Its unique practices saw it retain its Michelin Green Star earlier this year, and now it has been featured on the National Restaurant Awards’ Top 100 list.
Coming in at 55 on the National Restaurant Awards top 100, Wilson’s was the only Bristol restaurant to feature. Quite the shock and achievement seeing as neither of the city’s Michelin-star restaurants made the cut. (It also featured higher than Restaurant Gordon Ramsay (59), so there’s that too!)
Wilson’s is its own sole supplier of vegetables, fruits and herbs (all grown at its nearby ‘no-dig’ farm). While co-founders Jan Ostle and Mary Wilson only work with local producers and traders that use ethical and low-impact methods. Anything leftover at the end of the week finds its way into bread and bakery items at Wilson’s Bread Shop every Saturday.
Described as “an innovative South West spot that majors on home-grown produce,” the 24-cover restaurant has a lot to be proud of. Wilsons’ hyper-seasonal, weekly-changing six-course set menu (designed each week based on what has been harvested) will set you back £60 per head. But if you’re looking for something of even better value, the lunchtime ‘menu du jour’ is only £25 and includes a glass of wine.
One nearby restaurant to feature was Osip (24), the “idyllic farm-to-table restaurant has put the Somerset town of Bruton on the culinary map.” But the big winner of the National Restaurants Awards 2023, however, was Ynyshir in mid-Wales – over three hours away from Bristol – and was crowned Restaurant of the Year. It was described as: “The antithesis of a boring country house hotel, offering a tasting menu of in-your-face, Asian-influenced food and a rambunctious atmosphere.”
To see the complete National Restaurants awards list head here.