Little Hollows: ‘An Italian haven in the heart of Redland’ – restaurant review

Having started on Bristol’s thriving street food market scene, pasta fans will be delighted to hear that a familiar name has now got their first bricks and mortar premises.

Little Hollows has taken on the former Rubicon cafe on Chandos Road and transformed it into a day-to-night Italian haven in the heart of Redland.

Open from 8am Tuesday to Saturday, Little Hollows has partnered with Hart’s Bakery to provide coffee and croissants all day.

The trend of championing other local businesses runs prominently through the whole menu here, with Lost & Grounded and Left Handed Giant both featuring on the drinks menu and Westcombe ricotta from just the other side of the Mendips.

With the huge window at the front and skylights at the back letting in a wealth of light, a few hours whiled away here is the perfect antidote to winter blues.

Quiet music, good coffee and some of Bristol’s best pastries paired with friendly service makes it the ideal place for a catch-up or a spot of work or study.

The Clifton Coffee and Hart’s Bakery pastries make for a serious daytime offering.

Between 3pm and 5pm, food is temporarily off the menu to allow the preparation of the evening menu to commence. However, you’ll still be able to enjoy a Clifton Coffee and peruse the deli items.

In the evening, Little Hollows is transformed. Lit by candles with soft jazz gently floating through the air it makes for a romantic scene. The clientele seems to reflect the cross section of BS6 there are families, couples and students enjoying their new local.

This Chandos Road restaurant may be new, but Little Hollows owner Chris has been supplying the good people of Bristol with top tier pasta for years.

After a stint as a chef in France and a tour of northern Italy, Chris brought his love of pasta back with him and started making cavatelli (translating as little caves, or hollows) from his bedroom in Bedminster.

Word got out about this restaurant-grade pasta and from there he went on to supply restaurants such as Root and Wallfish Bistro, as well as direct to customers from the shelves of Hugo’s greengrocers and 25A Old Market.

The pasta is an extraordinary colour, achieved by using the yolks of the only specially-produced pasta eggs in the UK.

As the sun begins to set, the restaurant comes alive with chatter and happy murmurs of people enjoying their pasta.

To start, nocerella olives (£3.80) and Hart’s sourdough with ricotta and cashew and walnut pesto (£5.50). The olives were dressed with lemon which was a welcome addition, and the ricotta and pesto starter was a well-balanced delight.

Soft and subtle ricotta with the punch of fresh herbs and the occasional crunch of walnut, spread atop the slight sourness of the bread.

The Westcombe ricotto and walnut and cashew pesto was the perfect pairing with Hart’s tangy sourdough

For mains, we tried Agnalotti with roasted cherry tomato, roast garlic, marscapone, mozzarella and fresh thyme (£11.50).

This dish can only be described as a triumph. It’s beautiful to look at, and it tastes just as good. The pasta, perfectly al dente, was chewy and delicious. The filling was a journey – sweet, fruity tomato to start, followed by creamy earthiness of the cheeses and all dressed in beautifully thyme-infused butter.

The agnolotti and 6-hour beef shin ragu.

The six-hour beef shin and red wine ragu (£16) had pasta with a delightful texture, but the ragu itself has yet to be perfected. It had a little too much tomato for me, and needs further refining to deliver the meaty umami hits that one would expect from such a dish.

For dessert, we tried both the lemon tart (£6) and the tiramisu (£6). The lemon tart was a vibrant hue of yellow, due to using the same eggs that they use for the pasta.

A well-made tart with a significant citrus hit, and although though tasty with a hint of ginger I’m not sure the pastry would pass the Mary Berry test quite yet. The tiramisu was tasty and holds promise, but the chocolate topping was a little overpowering and detracted slightly from the creaminess.

The desserts were rustic looking but tasty nonetheless.

Negronis (£9) and espresso martinis (£7.50) were both very good and the perfect ending to a delicious day, with the well-made cocktails a good barometer of the attention to detail here.

Having only been open for a week when we visited, Little Hollows has delivered an exceptionally strong start to its time on Chandos Road.

We’ll soon also be able to buy their beautiful stuffed pasta to take away and cook at home. Pasta for breakfast, anyone?

Little Hollows, Chandos Road, Redland, Bristol, BS6 6PF
www.littlehollowspasta.co.uk

All photos: Meg Houghton-Gilmour

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