I might own one of Bristol’s smallest cafes but I’m incredibly proud of what we achieve in that tiny space. I opened The Pear Cafe in 2006 at the age of 26. Before that, I’d worked in catering since I was 17 when I started working at a restaurant in Cambridge. I moved to Bristol for uni in 1999, fell in love with the city and never left. I worked my way up through the front of house ranks until I was a general manager at the age of 25 and a year later, I opened the cafe. As well as my day job, I also ran The Basement supperclub with Dan Vaux-Nobes for over two years.
I’ve never trained formally in the kitchen but have watched and learnt from others, read, listened, ate out (a lot) and taught myself how to cook.
I’m inspired by the local shops – what’s in season at the greengrocers mainly – and plan my dishes around vegetables most of the time. At the cafe we make everything from scratch, use local suppliers and believe that everyone should eat well at lunchtime – it should be the highlight of your work day. We are open every weekday from 8am til 3pm and make sandwiches and salads to order a well as soup, frittata and cakes (including our famous brownies).
When Nick asked me if I fancied doing a collaboration with him, I was quick to say yes. We created a menu for that first event that felt like it was truly a mixture of our styles and approaches. I guess because we both find the same things important. Simple, delicious food. We Salonified the Pear stuff and Pearified the Salon bits. Yes, those are real words. I can’t wait to do it again.
#salonxellypear 