Bristol's street food scene has grown to become as rich as the city's restaurant industry in the last decade. Traders serving from trucks all over the city are proving that you don't have to have a traditional brick-and-mortar site to serve up culinary excellence showcasing from around the globe.
One couple based in Easton has been a key contributor to the street food in the city since first opening in 2021. Big Nath's BBQ serves up Texan-style barbecue including smokey meat and luxurious sides, often finding itself selling out before the end of the market day.
Founder Nathan Richie, 39, is a completely self-taught chef. After he was made redundant from his construction job during lockdown, he spent his spare time preparing three-course meals for his partner, Kinsey Pelletier, 33, while she worked as a mental health nurse.
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During that time, he mastered the barbecue sauce that Big Nath's BBQ is known for today, available to purchase for £5 per bottle on the market stall, on their website and in a handful of local stores. When a kitchen unit became available in St Judes, Nathan and Kinsey decided to take the plunge in opening up their own takeaway business in 2021.
Nathan said: "I love barbecuing because there's something special about it, cooking with wood and getting different flavours out of it. I like the long process of it, it's the typical thing of good things come to those who wait."
Nath and Kins will prepare their meat the day before from their kitchen site in Backwell sourced from high welfare farms, smoked on the day using a mix of hickory, maple and cherrywood. The street food avenue of the business arrived shortly after and the couple now have multiple regular market spots all over Bristol.
He said: "To start with, as neither of us had any experience in it, street food is the lower-risk end of the industry and with a restaurant, you have lots of overheads. With street food, there is still quite a lot of overheads but more flexibility and we're lucky enough to have a prep kitchen just outside of Bristol so the rent is a lot cheaper."
Big Nath's BBQ quickly attained a reputation for its brisket and ribs as well as its indulgent dirty fries and mac and cheese that tend to draw in those passing by. Nathan said the current economic climate in 2023 has meant they have had to change the entire menu, focusing mostly on pork and brisket as the meat showstoppers.
"We've stopped doing ribs at the moment because the cost of them is astronomical. The cost of them has almost tripled since the beginning of the year.
"We used to offer a selection of meats and sides and people could choose what they wanted. With the costs of that, we wouldn't be able to sustain our business and make it affordable so we've adapted to doing barbecue buns to keep it affordable but so we're able to carry on our business."
Big Nath's BBQ regularly pitches up at the food markets by the harbourside, Finzels Reach, Tobacco Factory and Windmill Hill City Farm. A calendar showing their locations can be found on its website. The couple posts a full list of locations at the beginning of each week on their Instagram page.
Nathan and Kinsey have also experimented with pop-ups including their regular Thanks Giving meal. Their slot at Kitchen by Kask on North Street sold out in half an hour and are looking for larger restaurants to collaborate with for the autumn as well as hosting a series of barbecue workshops in the summer.
"The only problem with bricks and mortar is the overheads at the moment. There are so many places closing at the moment and it's quite a scary time so I think we're in a relatively fortunate position at the moment."
On the rare occasion they don't sell out for the day, Big Nath's will donate any leftovers they have to the homeless community or even firefighters at Temple Station.
Find Big Nath's BBQ at market stalls all over Bristol. Follow them on Instagram for updates or visit their website for more information
