BRISTOLWORKS
atmosphere that we created at Cargo Cantina and wanted to develop it and try new things. The team at Cantina does an amazing job but there are limitations to what you can do in three shipping containers with basically no kitchen. Masa + Mezcal has allowed us to elaborate more and try new things. I can enjoy a guilty pleasure with Tex-Mex but what we’re doing is chalk and cheese by comparison. At the moment, we’re feeling good. Although there’s a lot of doom and gloom about the UK high street, plenty of Bristol-born restaurants – us, the Hyde boys, the Loco boys, Eat Drink – seem to be bucking the trend at the moment. I wouldn’t say we’re a chain
or that we have all the answers, it’s an extremely challenging industry. Enjoy it and bring enjoyment to others. The people that matter are your team and your customers, if you can satisfy them the rest will take care of itself in time.
Season + Taste
Day-to-day duties depend on which site or team member needs support. I’m prepared to do anything
aka Imogen and Kieran Waite: sprinkling a little magic on five of Bristol’s best-loved restaurants We run Season + Taste hospitality group which operates five independent Bristol based restaurants; Bravas, Bakers & Co,
CARGO Cantina, Gambas and Masa + Mezcal. Like most family-run businesses, we do anything and everything that is required. Our job is to create a positive atmosphere for our team and give them the opportunity to grow and develop.
We both grew up in family businesses and always wanted to do our own thing. I (Kieran)
have always wanted to open a tapas bar since childhood and used to play around with an idea – Real Tapas Bar – which would combine a love of football and food. Imogen originally trained as a chef before becoming a restauranteur. We probably first connected on the idea of opening a place together about 10 years ago. We worked up to it, though. Imo worked in as many kitchens as possible and I gained hospitality experience in addition to my full-time job. We also travelled the length and breadth of Spain to learn all we could about the food and culture.
Thinking about why we went for a tapas bar as our first launch (Bravas). I think it was because we
that needs doing and equally happy to fade into the background and let other people own it. Our focus is to create a positive culture and one that is always improving.
And then there was Cargo, of course. The shipping containers
never wanted to roll Bravas out, we saw having a new site as a new opportunity for creative output.
were a new, fun and low-cost way to set up a new site. We retained all of our best employees and needed new opportunities, so Cargo was a way to provide that and give people new roles and responsibilities. It’s a low-cost, lower-risk way to set up a restaurant which allowed us to grow without taking investment, and most importantly stay independent. If you want to take your team to Spain and Mexico every year, you can’t have investors demanding a return. We took the second site on because it became available and it’s the best location at Cargo – corner site, sun trap, amazing views. The timing was terrible but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity!
How much does the site and location influence the style and scope of each restaurant?
Masa + Mezcal brought yet more new flavours to the party, at our first Stokes Croft restaurant.
loved the food and the sharing style of eating; there was a gap in the market for the kind of tapas that we enjoyed in Spain. Back then there weren’t any places in Bristol offering tapas in the way we had experienced it. The concept worked because the people of Bristol not only embraced it, but helped to create the wonderful atmosphere you find in Bravas every night.
With Bakers & Co, our second venture, we wanted to create something very different. We
It 100% influences the style and scope. When we were looking at the Bakers & Co site, we originally toyed with the idea of a Spanish Asador with wood fire cooking, but restaurants are about context and the site felt like a brunch café.
When we look to the future, we have tons of ideas and I really hope we do none of them for at least two years! I don’t see us opening
anything outside of Bristol. I’d like our next involvement to be supporting one of our team to open their own place. That could be outside of Bristol and even outside of the UK. We work with people from some really exotic places and I’d love an excuse to visit! For more: www.seasonandtaste.co.uk
Mexican food is definitely having a bit of a resurgence, but the new openings are very different from the ubiquitous 1980s Tex-Mex offerings of chimichangas and Dos Equis with a wedge of lime in the neck. We love the food, drinks and
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