Latest news with #KeithFloyd
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Dongnae, Bristol: ‘A handpicked flurry of Korean loveliness' – restaurant review
Bristol's very cool Chandos Road area isn't by any means a new food-lovers' hotspot. No, the stoves in this part of town have been bubbling away for decades – once upon a time, Keith Floyd, the original firestarter of the kitchen bad boys, held court on this very road. If you're a young thing and blissfully unaware of our man Floyd, please avail yourself of the hundreds of YouTube clips out there and count the many moments when his wit, snark and, in many cases, boggle-eyed drunkenness would not be deemed fit in these modern-day puritan times. Floyd may be long gone, but the 21st-century Chandos Road is home to, among others, the well-loved Little Hollows Pasta Co and the much-lauded farm-to-fork Wilsons, and last autumn they were joined by Korean restuarant Dongnae, from husband-and-wife team Duncan Robertson and Kyu Jeong Jeon. The pair met at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Paris, moved on to run the now defunct L'Envie in Brive-La-Gaillarde, south-west France, before spending the best part of a decade in Jeon's native Korea. In 2019, they settled in Bristol to open the very popular Bokman, where dumplings, kimchi fried rice and cherry-flavoured soft-serve Jersey ice-cream are the order of the day. Their latest venture is a little more earnest, authentic and pared back, though. It's billed as a traditional neighbourhood Korean barbecue restaurant, but it's actually a little stranger and more homespun than that. While London restaurant investors might splurge tens of thousands of pounds on imported chandeliers, Dongnae uses Ikea-alike student bedsit paper lanterns in its two-store shopfront space, and has spent very little indeed on furniture, wallpaper and counters. Rather fittingly, in fact, it feels a bit as if you are in a student bedsit, only with Robertson doing the communal cooking every night. In keeping with this general aura, the menu itself is delicate, bespoke and thoughtful, too. Expect octopus and lamb fat kkochi (skewers), assorted punchy kimchis, hand-dived scallops, cockle and mussel bibimbap, and Korean beef tartare. Expect cold, bracing Korean soups and peculiar but unforgettable pond-green puddings – but more of that later. At lunch, there is an à la carte and a £24 set menu and, at dinner, the option of a hanjeongsik, an omakase-style seven-course menu that changes daily, and offers a handpicked flurry of Korean loveliness. Dongnae is odd, unique and absolutely a roaring hit with Bristol's diners. It may not be to everyone's taste, especially if your only knowledge of Korean cooking is generous portions of Brit-pleasing scallion pancakes, bulgogi and, of course, bubbling sweetcorn in cheese sauce, all washed down with peach soju. Instead, here there are ginger old fashioneds, a low-intervention wine list, delicate servings of grilled monkfish with octopus alongside tiny bowls of seasoned seaweed or mustard leaf kimchi, and a very good raw sea bass mulhwe soup made with fresh sugar tomatoes. And if you get a bit lost trying to make head or tail of the menu, Dongnae's staff will expertly guide you through it and explain the difference between your naengchae and your naengguk. Yes, yukhoe is like beef tartare, and here it comes with a mound of leaves, cucumber and radish, all designed to be rolled up in sheets of nori. Bowls of soft, glossy yellow tofu come festooned with whiffy grated bottarga, though the front of house couldn't, of course, help me transfer it to my mouth when it evaded my attempts to capture it with the dainty chopsticks. We ate a hunk of hot grilled mackerel and cubes of wagyu that arrived on a cute little grill with generous ssam and sauces on the side. Dongnae is an ornate feast of sweet, sour, sharp, puzzling and powerful. It is little wonder that Bristol's food scene is fighting for a table and feeling slightly irked that those tables now come with a limited time span. I didn't really expect much from dessert, because on the face of it these people seem so very serious, but how foolish I was, because Jeon's mugwort cake is one of the greatest things I've ever tasted. Yes, it looks like it ought to be dished up at a Harry Potter-themed tea party, and yes, it's blue in places and algae-green in others, but the novelty ends the moment you bite into its complex, soft, creamy, buttery richness. Mugwort cake, it turns out, is the sponge cake it has taken me until my vintage years to discover, and now I pine for it daily. This higgledy-piggledy restaurant is causing a stir on Chandos Road, just as Floyd once did, but for very different reasons. Grab a seat if you can. Buckle up. Enjoy the ride. Dongnae 5-7 Chandos Road, Redland, Bristol BS6, 0117 302 1034. Open Tues-Sat, lunch noon-3pm, dinner 5-11pm. From about £50 a head à la carte; set lunch £24; seven-course hanjeongsik tasting menu £65, all plus drinks and service The next episode of Grace's Comfort Eating podcast is out on Tuesday 19 August – listen to it here.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Somernites May show will collect donations for tornado victims, first responders
Somernites Cruise Executive Director Keith Floyd will be the first to tell you it's the community that makes the classic and custom car show the success that is. This weekend is an opportunity for the Cruise to give back to the community. The Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief Team is working with the Cruise at Saturday's show to help raise money to help those who have been impacted by last Friday's tornado that destroyed homes and businesses here in Somerset and resulted in one death in this county, with more in neighboring Laurel County. Floyd said that people attending the May Cruise can stop by the Disaster Relief tent to give monetary donations as they're able. In addition to helping those affected by the storms, the money will also go to feed and take care of the first responders who have been working around the clock to help the community get back on its feet. "We humbly ask that those who attend come prepared to give," read a post from Monday on the Cruise's Facebook page. "The Somernites Cruise Management Team will be making a donation as well to help this great organization who has helped so many. We also ask that you keep those impacted and those helping in your prayers." Floyd praised the efforts of the first responders and volunteers, and everyone else who has pitched in to help the tornado victims recover in the event's aftermath. "It's always tragic when something like this happens, but it always makes you proud when you see the community come together the way this community has," he said. "... It makes us proud to be Pulaski Countians, and that's one of the reasons we do what we do, to support the (community.)" The cars may take a back seat in spirit to the fundraising efforts at this month's cruise, but they're still the highlight, and this May, Floyd said they're switching things up: Instead of the "Mopar Mania" showcase Cruise fans might expect, May will feature the "Camaro/Chevelle/Nova" showcase that was held in June last year. "The Camaro of course is Chevrolet's answer to the (Ford) Mustang — that's truly what started the Pony Car wars," said Floyd. "... That rivalry between Ford and Chevrolet has been ... woven into the classic car culture, and we felt like they deserved their time to shine. We've incorporated the Chevlles and the Novas because they're all Chevrolet vehicles, and they all have their versions of the muscle cars and classic cars." There will also be a special display this month of Pace cars — which are used to lead the pack during a car race to control speeds — most of which are replicas from the Indianapolis 500, said Floyd. "They're always just a neat, unique collectible vehicle, and we've never highlighted them before," said Floyd. "We thought it would be a good time to do that." One special display that's much more familiar to Cruisegoers will be the eighth-annual "Circle the Wagons" showcase of vintage station wagons as part of Saturday's show in downtown Somerset. "That's always a crowd favorite," said Floyd. "... They just reek of nostalgia. Some of us grew up in the back of a station wagon." The Cruise was originally scheduled to host for the second time the National Eastern Meet for the "First Generation Monte Club" but they cancelled this week because of lodging concerns following the tornado, noted Floyd. "We hate that but we understand their decision and respect that," he said. If conditions permit, given its proximity to the area where the tornado hit and the lack of electricity in the vicinity, the Friday Night Thunder Block Party may still be held at the Somerset Mall from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, said Floyd; Cruise fans are advised to keep an eye out for updates on Somernites Cruise's social media pages. More certain to be held is the Burnside Meet & Greet on Friday morning, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Cole Park. The usual "Rattlesnake Run" on Ky. 192 won't take place this month because of road conditions following the tornado, but they may try a "Fun Run" from Cole Park at 2 p.m. Friday to Cumberland Falls. The regular Saturday "Fun Run" will not take place this month. Again, fans are advised to follow the Somernites Cruise Facebook page for updates. The actual Somernites Cruise main showcase takes place Saturday in downtown Somerset from noon until 6 p.m. Drivers will then go to U.S. 27 to "cruise the strip" as far as possible, since part of the highway around where the tornado hit has been limited to traffic since Friday night. Despite the challenging conditions, Somernites Cruise carries on. Floyd said he received a large number of calls, text messages and emails following the tornado wanting to know if the Cruise would still be going on this month and what they could do to help. "They've all told me, almost to the person, how much they love Somerset and the community, and they want to help because they've had such a good time here, and people in Somerset have always made them feel welcome, and they want to give back," said Floyd. "That (says a lot) about our community, that people want to come do that for us."
