The team behind ‘more veg, less meat’ West Country restaurant Root will next week open its third and largest branch, taking over a former Jamie’s Italian in the centre of Bath.
Owners Josh and Holly Eggleton (left in photo), the brother-and-sister duo behind the Pony in Chew Valley, launched the original Root eight years ago in a series of old shipping containers at Wapping Wharf in Bristol, alongside chef Rob Howell and his wife Meg Oakley (right). They opened a second branch near the cathedral in Rob’s home town of Wells in 2022.
Rob said he was confident the team could scale up the original concept – “vegetable led, with meat and fish playing a supporting role” – to cope with the increased space in the new branch, and the higher London-style rent in Bath.
“I remember coming to Jamie’s Italian when I was about 14 with my dad and being blown away by it. For it now to be our restaurant is a real pinch-yourself moment for Meg and me. We’ve come a long way.“
Josh said: “Bath has always been tricky: it’s such a tourist destination, and it’s been hard to find the right site. We want this to be somewhere locals will use too.” He added that if Bath proves successful, the team may look at expanding to Exeter, Oxford or perhaps even London.
In other West Country moves, a new Italian restaurant called Limone has opened in The General, the Bristol harbourisde premises formerly occupied by Casamia, the Sanchez-Iglesias brothers’ high-flying restaurant which closed down in 2022 – just three years after being declared No 1 on the annual Harden’s 100 list of the UK’s best restaurants. Its more casual follow-up Casa and sibling next door Paco Tapas have also closed down. Limone is a very different operation, offering pasta or pizza from £10.50.
