Its owner believes Bristol is “no longer considered a hotspot for fine dining”
Michelin-starred restaurant Bulrush head chef George Livesey(Image: Paul Gillis/Reach PLC)
The chef-owner of Bristol’s Michelin-starred restaurant Bulrush has admitted that he’s ‘a little surprised’ to still be trading given the current climate for the hospitality industry. George Livesey will soon be celebrating the restaurant’s 10th birthday and recently spoke candidly in an interview with Restaurant Online.
Speaking to Restaurant reporter Joe Lutrario, George said: “I love Bulrush, but it doesn’t make any money. I was naïve when I set this place up. I didn’t really think about generating a profit. I just wanted to cook. To be honest, I’m a little surprised I’m still here.”
Bulrush was given its Michelin Star back in its third year of operation and, at the time, there were more than the two Michelin-starred establishments Bristol now boasts (Wilsons on Chandos Road having received its Michelin Star in February). In his interview with Restaurant, George called it a “tough market” and described how chefs at a similar level to him had been doing “okay” up until the Covid-19 pandemic, when many either decided to close their doors or take on a new way of doing things.
Restaurant Online reports that Bulrush enjoyed an influx of custom when it reopened, but profits only lasted a year or so. In comparison, just last year, the restaurant was down 35 per cent on the previous year.
George, who started his career in the culinary world at the age of 16, said: “The fact that Bristol is no longer considered a hotspot for fine dining doesn’t help (at one point the city had five Michelin-starred restaurants). We used to get a lot of visitors to the city who were also going to Casamia, Wilks, Paco Tapas and Birch (all now closed).
“The locals like having top restaurants but they often don’t want to spend much. This has seen a rise in a lot of small plates places. They often make tasty food and I enjoy going to them on my days off, but it’s frustrating because we are using far better ingredients, doing more sophisticated things with them and are, actually, only charging a little bit more.”
Currently, Bulrush offers a nine-course tasting menu for £90, as well as a shorter early evening menu for £65 and a lunch menu for £48.
Michelin Star restaurant Bulrush on Cotham Road (Image: Paul Gillis/Reach Plc)
Back in March 2024, BristolLive visited the restaurant, which was at the time Bristol’s only Michelin-starred restaurant, and spent some time with George and his team, as they set to work on a new menu for the season. George, now 38, told us at the time: “Obviously I’m happy that we’ve managed to keep the standard for another year because it is hard, it’s a daily struggle.
“It takes a lot of motivation, especially because we’ve been here eight years now – that’s a long time. There are some amazing restaurants in Bristol.
“We are one of the cheapest Michelin restaurants in the UK. I think everyone [in Bristol] could do with putting their prices up to be honest. The quality of the ingredients that we are using is the exact same quality of ingredients some of the London restaurants are using, but they’re charging around three times the amount, and that does get a little bit frustrating.”
Back then, George had already been approached by publishers to create his own cookery book, but was still trying to find ways to get his Michelin-starred restaurant into a ‘financially profitable’ place.
He said: “Bulrush has been amazing but I definitely want to push further while I’m still young enough to do it. I’ve seen how much it physically takes out of you. I think as long as we’re happy cooking (which we are) and as long as the business is viable, I think we’ll just carry on trying to improve.”
In his recent interview with Restaurant, George admitted that having a freehold site removed some of the financial pressure that many venues face in this current climate. He went on to say: “If I was renting, I don’t think we’d be here any more. We’re still paying a mortgage but it is a bit cheaper than if we had leased it.
“Running a restaurant is a bit like gambling. Sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down. The question is when do you call it a day? If I ever have to borrow money to run Bulrush, I’ll close it.”
When asked what his plans were for the future now, George described how he had been looking at launching a second site for some years now. “I’d like to launch something more casual that would do one thing really well, such as rotisserie chicken… But it’s a tough one because I would not want to compromise what we do here. I’d rather close than let things slide.”
The full interview is on Restaurant Online here.