Soulshine on South Street has been a popular café in Bridport for nearly 10 years.

It was sold by its owner Lisa Loader to friends and former River Cottage colleagues, Joel Gostling and Andy Tyrell in the spring of 2021.

The duo offers a locally sourced breakfast, lunch and dinner menu, their own roasted coffee (Goose & Badger), a retail shop, takeaway counter, and supper clubs. We caught up with Soulshine chef Andy to tell us more.

Have you always wanted to be a chef?

"Yes! I developed a real love of simple seasonal cooking, influenced heavily by working in London’s gastro pubs in the late 1990s.

"Borough Market was just taking off and all these small producers broke onto London’s food scene.

"We would get deliveries of whole lambs and goats from cheesemakers, amazing organic veg, fish landed that morning and driven straight up to London.

"It was a genuinely exciting time for British food. River Cottage (RC) was where I expanded that farm to fork knowledge, eventually becoming their head chef running events and cookery schools.

"The Lyme Bay Café & Bar on Bridge Street followed. I loved what the owners were doing there, and it was this that shaped how Soulshine came together.

How have you expanded Soulshine?

"We wanted to bring a more foodie element to it.

"We still offer great coffee, we roast our own beans, but we also have a retail space that is not only a larder for our kitchen, but also where customers can buy the ingredients they’ve just eaten in their meal.

"I love being surrounded with delicious things, it fires up ideas for myself and others, and that is quite special.

What are some of your favourite ingredients

"Olive oil is a big part of our cooking. We use Honest Toil Extra Virgin Olive Oil in 20 litre drums that we send back to be refilled.

"As we buy direct, we can find out about the olive harvest too. British grown seeds, pulses and grains are another staple, sourced from Hodmedods who support British farmers to grow yellow peas, chickpeas, lentils, chia seeds and so on.

"Yellow split pea hummus is always on the menu as well as toasted English seeds on our salads, and pasta made from British grown stoneground ancient grains.

"Springtail Farm (Wooton Fitzpaine) and Tamarisk Farm (West Bexington) supply salad mixes all year, but it's the arrival of their tomatoes, greens, herbs, courgettes, potatoes, cucumbers and peppers that gets me excited.

"Joel’s family planted 1000 crowns of asparagus eight years ago on their East Devon farm, so we have Dalwood asparagus in season, as well as still and sparkling wine from Dalwood Vineyard.

Tell me about your supper clubs

"This is our celebration of the season; a testing ground for new ideas and ingredients that we want to bring to our everyday menu.

"We’ve also collaborated with other chefs and foodies including Sam Lomas of Glebe House, Harriet Mansell, Bruce Watson, Matteo Zielonka, Luke Vandoor Mackay from High Grange, and Will from Selected Grapes.

"There are more in the pipeline for the autumn including storytelling and mushroom nights with fungi expert Nick Phillips of Grown-Up Mushrooms (Chideock).

"Bringing other chefs’ energy into our kitchen keeps me on my toes.

What inspires your menus

"One thing that I learnt from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall at River Cottage was delving into sourcing produce and being excited for something that's grown or made with love.

"For Soulshine this means that everything we use on our menus or that is on our shelves has a story. Someone has taken the time to raise, grow or make it - I truly believe there's a good feeling, vibe or energy that shines through, one that you can taste.

More details at wearesoulshine.co.uk