Consider this the only time you’ll see Marmo empty
C OM F ORT ING R ES TA U R A N TS
MARMO
If there’s anything that can numb the figurative pain of wet socks and a broken umbrella this winter, it’s to be found in places like these, reckons Jessica Carter
T
Marmo, 31 Baldwin Street, Bristol BS1 1RG; 0117 316 4987; marmo.restaurant
here are some dishes on restaurant menus that will always be a little risky to order. Risotto, for instance, not often arrives in the moreish, loose and silky form that we hope for when we order it. Similarly, gnocchi dishes rarely hit the spot in the way that I imagine them to when reading the descriptions, the little potatoey pillows having a tendency to be a touch too dry and stodgy. The gnocchi at Marmo, though, is bang on the money. Super delicate and plentiful in supply, the small dumplings that fill the plate are ideal for
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scooping up the juicy venison ragu with, while having a smooth, light texture that sees them almost collapse on your tongue. Nope, not a whiff of chewiness. This is the perfect comfort food to counter the effects of the grey, drizzly day outside (not to mention the brain fog inside, instilled by one too many glasses of red the night before). Behind the recently opened Marmo and its knockout gnochhi are Lily and Cosmo Sterck. The pair studied in Bristol before heading off to London, chef Cosmo jumping straight into the kitchen upon being permanently released from lectures. He worked at the likes of St. John (where he met Sam Leech, co-founder of Birch and now local cider maker, farmer and veg supplier to Marmo), as well as respected restaurants in Paris. Lily, meanwhile, became a lawyer before ditching offices for restaurant floors to hone her front of house knowledge. And Marmo was the end to which they worked. It opened in August in the former Bar Buvette, and the famously foggy windows have been steaming up again with the heat of a full dining room ever since. Wine is a big focus here – there’s a page of regularly rotating by-the-glass varieties and an extensive list