We visit the new Bristol restaurant from TV chef Freddy Bird and it’s one of the best openings of 2023

Steamy windows are often a very good sign that you’re about to enter a neighbourhood restaurant in full flight and 1 York Place was certainly firing on all cylinders when we arrived.

This corner site in Clifton is the new incarnation of what for much of the past decade was Italian restaurant Rosemarino, but those of us with longer memories will fondly recall it as the York Cafe - a legendary Bristol greasy spoon of the 1980s and 1990s.

The new restaurant is the third opening from chef Freddy Bird and his wife, Nessa, who also run Little French in Westbury Park and the Littleshop and Pantry bakery cafe in Henleaze.

Bird - a familiar face on TV including regular appearances on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen - has a loyal following and in the first few days of opening, local foodies and influencers have made a pre-Christmas pilgrimage to check out 1 York Place.

On the evening we visited, the place was fully booked with locals and plenty of ‘faces’ - I spotted assorted journalists, BBC staff and actors.

The Birds have done a good job in bringing some much needed life to the tired old Rosemarino. A light Scandi-style makeover and warmer, softer lighting has made the restaurant far more inviting than before, particularly the basement dining room which always used to be a little echoey and soulless.

The food is broadly European, with an emphasis on Italy and Spain, and there is a wide choice of wines by the glass and bottle, with the top-end bottles priced in their hundreds in case your pockets are especially deep.

From a short bar snacks choice, pale pink whipped cod’s roe (£6.50) came with slices of crunchy fennel for dipping - although we soon ran out of fennel so ordered the excellent sourdough and salted butter (£4.50).

Slices of full-flavoured Sicilian tomatoes arrived topped with razor-thin slices of smoked pork belly (£6.50), the sweet fat virtually dissolving on the tongue.

Lamb sweetbreads (£12.50) were deep-fried, their crisp batter revealing soft, creamy meat, with anchovy, crisp sage and a mint-heavy salsa verde packing a proper punch.

Crab spaghettini (£12.50) was fresh and light with a generous amount of crab meat lifted and plenty of zip from the snipped spring onions, lemon zest and chilli.

Slow-cooked ox cheek (£24) fell apart into the dark, varnish-like Pedro Ximenez sauce flecked with fleshy slices of King Oyster mushroom. A silky potato puree was as much good quality butter as it was mashed spuds.

We also shared the baked pigs trotter bomba rice (£25) - a rich and sticky combination of plump rice laced with pieces of gelatinous pork and served with slices of grilled Iberico Secreto pork and pieces of squid brought together with a thick and glossy dollop of garlicky alioli. It was a substantial, belt-pinging dish and possibly not what the doctor ordered.

Had we been joined by more friends or family, we could have feasted on sharing dishes such as the hot roast shellfish (£100) or the dry-aged cote du boeuf with red wine and bone marrow jus (£84).

To finish, Amalfi lemon set cream (£8.50) was essentially a classic posset with a strong Italian accent and swagger and there’s nothing wrong with that.

A tall and proud rice pudding and prune souffle (£8.50) provided additional theatre, the delicious prune and Armagnac ice cream and cold bay custard placed into the centre by waiting staff with a flourish.

Along with Pazzo on Whiteladies Road and The Clifton in Clifton Village (which this week entered the Michelin guide), 1 York Place is one of the most exciting new openings of 2023 and this was one of the best meals and fun-packed evenings I’ve had all year.

Informal but classy, proper gutsy cooking, fantastic wines and charming staff - it’s the neighbourhood bistro we all dream of having on the doorstep.

1 York Place, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1AH. 1yorkplace.co.uk