FOOD AND DRINK Bless your beautiful Hyde

RAW HYDE

If there’s one thing Bristol does well, it’s food and drink; and doing it better than most is that holy trinity of local hospitality, Nathan Lee, Jason Mead and Kevin Stokes, aka Hyde & Co. As the guys celebrate 10 years in the biz, we get the lowdown on how the idea of opening a speakeasy-style bar grew into a flourishing group of six food and drink businesses across the city

“I always remember a bouncer saying to me,“if you can make it in Bristol, you can make it anywhere”

THE STORY SO FAR… Hyde & Co (opened 2010) Bristol’s original speakeasy bar: all grown-up low lights and cool cocktails, in a secretive location on The Triangle.

Milk Thistle (opened 2011) Hyde & Co’s ‘fl irty younger sister’ spreads seductively over a whole town house in Old City. The lounge bar, with its jewelcoloured leather upholstery, moody walls and taxidermy, has to be among the most instagrammable in the city.

The Ox (opened 2013) Hyde & Co’s fi rst restaurant brought all the glamour of the bars to a transformed bank vault on Corn Street. Cocktails were still important, but the big attraction was the food, with some of the best steaks in town.

Pata Negra (opened 2014) The second Old City venture was an authentic Spanish tapas bar, with music bar Noche Negra upstairs bringing the late-nite party.

Bambalan (opened 2016) The guys swapped lowlit glamour for a huge room fi lled with sunshine colours, with Middle Eastern food on the menu. The huge outdoor terrace soon became the city centre spot for al-frescoing.

Seven Lucky Gods (opened 2019) Hyde’s fi rst Cargo gaff offers laidback all-day Japanese style food and drink, with top-quality Japanese tapas and sushi, icecold Asahi beer, and cocktails, named after the eponymous seven lucky gods.

OPPOSITE PAGE, LEFT TO RIGHT: Kevin, Nathan and Jason; BELOW, LEFT TO RIGHT: Seven Lucky Gods, inspired by the izakaya bars of Tokyo; sunshine on a rainy day at Bambalan; the crazily instagrammable lounge at Milk Thistle

What makes the three of us work so well as business partners is our diverse backgrounds,” begins Jason Mead. “Nathan had 15 years of hospitality experience under his belt when we started, Kevin was the sales director for a global clothing brand, and I had owned my own bar in Ibiza, but had been a property developer prior to that, which really helped on the builds every time we refurbed a new premises....ie cost, budget, and design.”

Rewind to when it all began… When I came back from Ibiza in 2010, I was approached by Nathan and Kev about a small premises on the Triangle that was trading as a Caribbean restaurant. Nathan had been to NYC and had visited some cool speakeasy style bars, and he thought something similar would work in Bristol.

After two bars, why did you decide to branch out into restaurants? Because Bristol City Council wouldn’t give us a drinks-only licence for what is now The Ox. Good old BCC! It was a blessing really, as Nathan’s background had been in restaurants, and it was the obvious jump.

How much does the site and location infl uence the style of each restaurant? That’s a really good question. It used to be that the building 100 per cent dictated to us what our concept would be; the diff erence now is that the concept comes fi rst. <his is because of the way the high street has changed over the last 10 years; everything is more challenging nowadays, with higher rents, rise in the minimum wage and business rates, and the cost of food and drink.

Why did you decide to make your four restaurants so different? 1 don¼t think there was any defi nite decision

to be so diff erent; it all evolved Yuite organically.

In hindsight, it would have been easier for us to knock out a chain of bars in Hyde & Co or Milk Thistle vein, but I think we would have become bored with that. I suppose that it’s a desire to be creative that’s at the core of what we do, that’s made us very diverse in an industry Æ ooded with chains, and it’s our diversity that has helped us survive in pretty tough times in our sector.

While other restaurants are closing, a handful of local groups – you, the Loco boys, Eat Drink, Season +Taste – appear to be going from strength to strength. What’s your secret? I think I’m right in saying that all of the aforementioned are all born and bred in Bristol; this has undoubtedly been one of the key things that has helped us. Being local means we have always had the support of our friends, family and local suppliers. Another key thing is that all of the companies mentioned have diverse brands within their companies which gives their customers more choice.

I always remember a bouncer saying to me “if you can make it in Bristol you can make it anywhereº. *ristol is very fi ckle, and many have come and gone over the years. What I hope we have brought to the city is a varied collection of restaurants and bars that complement each other, all based on the highest quality of service, atmosphere and product.

What advice would you give to anyone starting up in hospitality? Get yourself a mentor, maybe someone you admire. Don’t be frightened to ask questions; most people are only too happy to share info for free. Start small, with a brand you’re passionate about, be clever about where you spend your money, and grow organically. If your product is strong, people will come!

For more: www.hydeand.co