Bristol's original veggie/vegan cafe owner has now left the building

After more than 30 years service, Chris Skelton, owner of Bristol's original veggie/vegan cafe Royce Rolls, has sold up and moved on. With a string of accolades including several ‘Observer Food Awards’ plus a selection of rolls that are hand made and familiar to many across Bristol , and of course a prime location in the middle of the thriving St Nick's Market in the centre of Bristol, Royce Rolls has helped pioneer the growth of all things veggie for more than qurter of a century. Chris is notable throughout Bristol for not only his superb veggie/vegan rolls and other delectable food from the cafe, but also an impeccable selection in musical taste and a fairly appaling choice of shirts. His taste in shirts and also football team (an unfortunate alliegance of Man U) are in fact both dreadful and Man u were ridiculously lucky to get all 3 points off the Toffess at xmas, but Chris himself is a fantastic fella and deserves enormous respect for holding it down and keeping it veggie for so many years. He will indeed be missed meanwhile the show goes on with new owner Lucie open from Jan 2nd 2008 – so do pop down and say hello. Royce Rolls is dead – long live Royce Rolls – and we wish the new owner all the best – as well as wishing the self procalimed ‘mad as a Fish’ Bristol veggie vegan maetro Chris all the best in his retirement.

Here's a review of Royce Rolls ..... Royce Rolls Vegetarian Café must be one of Bristol’s unique attractions (in a market that still contains some of its idiosyncratic character, despite some obvious attempts by the Market management to inflict corporate uniformity on it.)

This rare Vegetarian café has quietly existed for over 25 years at the rear of the (Grade 1 listed) Corn Exchange building selling a wide range of food and drink and providing a quiet place to rest from Bristol’s ever-more-uniform urban environment. Low key doesn’t begin to describe the place; yet somehow the ambience of the place draws you in and brings you back again. Is it the food?

Yes.
The filled rolls are made to a unique whole-wheat recipe (hence the name). In a post- Lionel Poilane era,( the baker-with-panache), it’s good to find another individual bread. It really does taste delicious, filled with freshly made (each day) ingredients or locally sourced cheeses, etc. The Falafel rolls are especially delicious and filling, with a choice of relishes and lovely fresh salad. The Samosas are wonderful and the choice of homemade cakes and flapjacks must delight the regular lunchtime customers! Wash it down with their own-blend coffee or a vast choice of tea and herbal infusions. (My partner was reminded of the ‘damn fine coffee’ line here!)
20 years ago this must have seemed so bizarre when such cuisine was almost unknown! Here is one of the originators, quietly giving great service and value. The food is uniformly excellent, with full details available on both ingredients and even the sources.

There we find another facet of the allure of the place. The owner and his co-workers are at ease with it all, and with you. Never do you get the feeling that you’re in a ‘Costa-Bucks’ establishment, (as the owner calls them!). Everyone seems to be gently greeted. Customers dawdling over a coffee are left in peace. While I was there (dawdling too) several local businessmen were using the café for a meeting and a pair of young mothers were nurturing their children (a rare breast feeding friendly place!). Lawyers bustled in, clutching armfuls of briefs. A pair of visiting Spanish tourists were addressed (in Spanish!) and guided afterwards to nearby attractions with good humour. No wonder a German friend once asked me if I’d heard of the ‘Rolls kaffe’ in Bristol? This kind of attention is rare and appreciated. Ambience. What makes it? We all recognise it, but could we make it? Sit here and experience it. Yes, there is music. But even here you find it’s special. In my three visits there, I heard Caetano Veloso, Andreas Vollenweider, Milton Nascimento, Gerardo Nunez flamenco, Wes Montgomery and 60s soul (and yes, I had to ask!) No radio blah. No intrusive beats. (And good sound from real hi-fi speakers! The owner is a music and hi-fi ‘buff’). All it needs is to be warmer in winter! Don’t we often feel we’ve found somewhere that we feel is ‘ours’ somehow, when on holiday? Here’s somewhere like that -on our doorstep! So, if you’re in Bristol, make sure you make tracks to the market, to Royce Rolls. But hurry. It seems plans are afoot by the market management to make (enforced) changes. As they say, if it works why change it? Royce Rolls is a great attraction in the centre of the city. Let’s hope some insensitive messing doesn’t ruin it!

Royce Rolls is in St Nicholas Market, Corn Street, Bristol (Centre) open 6 days, all day.

Info. 078 075 18356 -- or 0117 9824228 +ans, or roycerolls@madasafish.com