Over 6,000 people visited Grillstock for the two-day festival of food, fire, music and meat in Bristol’s Harbourside.  More than 240 kilos of quality British meat was smoked, basted, grilled and sampled by the public and two-tonnes of charcoal and wood was burnt by the ten barbecue teams and exhibitors.  The appreciative audience consumed a total of 12,000 pints of English ale and cider while 23 fearless competitors downed a total of 652 chillies in the Fiery Foods chilli-eating contest!

Cowshed were worthy winners beating off weighty competition from the UK’s top pro and semi-pre BBQ teams including: UK champ Andy Annat aka Blazing Barbecues; Dr Sweetsmoke, who hails from California and now lives in Swindon; and Bodean’s – the top London BBQ restaurant.  The team won a place in the BBQ World Championships in Memphis next May to represent the UK where the top prize is $100,000 and the all expenses trip for the whole team.

Adam Denton, owner was delighted:  “We are absolutely thrilled to win – it came as a big surprise but just proves that by sticking to The Cowshed way – sourcing everything locally from the West Country, keeping it simple and being guided by taste – is a winning formula.  We do all of these dishes in our restaurant (except the kangaroo – which was in the Mystery Round box) and the team know how to deliver great results every time.

Grillstock founder, John Finch said:  “It was a fantastic weekend and proved a big hit with all our visitors.  There was something for everyone but the real spectacle was the Grill Pit where the teams competed all weekend long cooking up some absolutely superb dishes, which were tasted and scrutinised by our professional team of judges headed by Ray Lampe aka Dr BBQ, the State’s top BBQ chef and TV personality.

“It was very close but The Cowshed Bar and Grill took the crown. Adam and his team delivered consistently great dishes in every round – they really demonstrated creativity, quality and flavour from the BBQ wowing our judges and visitors who enjoyed the chance to sample all of the teams dishes and vote for themselves.”

Sponsors and exhibitors were already booking up for next year so Bristol can expect an even bigger Grillstock festival next year.  Check the website www.grillstock.co.uk for a taste of Grillstock and view hundreds of pictures from the weekend – you can almost smell the smoke.

Ends.

The Cowshed, Grillstock Winner 2010

Photo from left to right: Ian Wheatley, MD of Napoleon Grills congratulating the BBQ team from The Cowshed Bar and Grill – Catherine Andersson, General Manager Mikael Georgelin, Head Chef Jethro Lawrence and owner Adam Denton.  The team won a place in the BBQ World Championships in Memphis next May to represent the UK where the top prize is $100,000 and the all expenses trip for the whole team.

Owned by Adam Denton, The Cowshed is an immediately inviting place with flagstone floors, exposed stone walls and chunky wooden tables, some of which have been fashioned into butchers’ blocks. It feels like a Cotswold pub that has been transported brick by brick to Clifton. The concept here is bring the English countryside to the city so it’s all about the provenance of the meat and fish being served up.

Staff are well versed in telling customers exactly where the steaks come from, how long they have been aged and how many GCSEs the cow has. Short of bringing the cow’s ear tag and medical notes to the table, a plate of steaks and different cuts are shown to diners at the table and it’s a nice bit of theatre.

In the evening, there are three different steaks on offer – all free-range and dry-aged for 28 days – starting with the 8oz rib-eye tail steak (£13.50), moving up to the 8oz sirloin at £15.50 and the 6oz fillet steak (£16.70). Sauces and side dishes are extra.

And then there’s the pot-roast Cotswold White Chicken (£7.10), the lamb cushion leg steak (£11) and the fish of the day, which changes depending on the market.

We popped in for lunch which has a different menu to the evening but one that is excellent value at £10 for three courses.

There are lots of places offering lunch for similar prices but not using ingredients of this quality, and it was no surprise the place was doing a roaring trade on Tuesday lunchtime when most restaurateurs were watching tumbleweed blowing past their windows.

Starters at the Cowshed come in the shape of tapas-sized “small plates” which are all the rage in fashionable London eateries at the moment. This meant we had a parade of bite-size nibbles to munch on before our main courses arrived and they were all enjoyable.

There was a light and fresh pile of potted crab (without the butter lid), a bouncy and well-dressed salad of rocket, smoked almonds and grilled artichokes, a deliciously piggy echine of porc (charcuterie made by curing part of a pig’s neck), rosy red smoked duck with blue cheese and plum relish and thick slices of rare roast rib of beef with gherkins. All simple stuff, skilfully executed.

And then came the main courses, nearly all of them served in the sort of blue-rimmed white enamel dishes you last saw when you went camping with your parents.

There was a juicy steak and thyme-infused gravy pie topped with a faultless shortcrust pastry lid, and a separate bowl of creamed Savoy cabbage liberally seasoned with salt and white pepper.

And then there was a mixed grill featuring a plump pork sausage, a ridiculously tender lamb chop, a thick slice of bacon and a piece of steak, served with a bowl of stiff, buttery mash. A small rump steak was medium rare as requested and served with piping hot, salty chips. The meat had bags of flavour.

Yet despite all of this excellent meat, one of the star turns was the caramelised onion, cheese and potato pie (also available in the evening) which was one of those comforting, farmhouse kitchen dishes that costs pence to make but which had all four of us fighting over. Beautifully presented in a dinky enamel dish with layers of crisp, golden potato like a lamb hot pot, the filling was a mixture of sweet onions, tangy Gruyere cheese and potato.

We finished with an unctuous chocolate marquise served with slices of orange and a light caramel sauce and hot, straight-from-the-oven madeleines which had been flavoured with honey and spice and served with lemon curd. They were the best madeleines I’ve had since Richard Corrigan’s Lindsay House in London and better than those I had at St John .

With a few glasses of wine from a decent list, our bill for four hungry people barely dented the £60 mark which seemed remarkable value.

Owner Adam’s first restaurant feels like it has been open for years thanks to the chef’s  wealth of experience in London s best kitchens. It’s a formidable partnership and one that deserves to quickly establish itself as one of Bristol’s must-visit new openings. I genuinely can’t wait to go back… as soon as my waistband allows me.
MARK TAYLOR
Crackerjack
Bristol Evening Post