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From soil to plate and everything in between. Peas in a Podcast digs into our local food system, hearing from the people who grow, bake, keep, and share it, and exploring what we can all do to make good food healthy, sustainable, and accessible for everyone.
Peas in a Podcast brings together the farmers, bakers, beekeepers, and food makers at the heart of our local food community to talk honestly about what's working, what's hard, and what we can all do to make good food healthy, sustainable, and accessible for everyone.
Okay. Hi, everyone. I'm Tilda. I'm here with Peas in a Podcast and Joel from Soulshine, Goose and Badger. Today, we're interviewing local food producers, suppliers, and experts about difficulties they have, how we can help them, and what they love most about what they do.
Tilda:So like I said, this is Joel. Joel, how how are we today?
Joel:Not too bad, Tilda. How are doing?
Tilda:I'm I'm so good. That's great. Can you tell us a little bit about what Soulshine and Goose and Badger is and how you got into your field?
Joel:Absolutely. First of all, hello, everybody. Thanks for coming out. It's great to be here. It's great to promote Soulshine and Goose and Badger, And I'm really looking forward today.
Joel:So thank you, Lisa Loda, as well for getting me down here. It kind of all started with River Cottage. Front man is Hugh Fernie Whittingstall. He's an amazing human being in my opinion, done amazing things for food. And I got the opportunity to work at Park Farm in Musbury fifteen years ago.
Joel:I went in there just as front house member. After about eight months, I got promoted to the assistant restaurant manager. I was very green, didn't really know what I was doing. I was really well mentored by a gentleman called Ryan Hansen, who is still a good friend of mine, still in contact. He was an amazing, sort of part of my early days.
Joel:And sadly, Ryan moved on after me being assistant manager for around about six to eight months. And I got promoted to the front of house manager at River College at 25, which I definitely wasn't qualified enough, but I think I was cheap for a start. But that really sort of was where the journey began and where it opened my eyes to this amazing sort of food culture, understanding where food came from and all the amazing people that I got to work with as well. From the Gil Mellors to the Steve Lambs, Hugh himself, it's where I met Andy, my business partner now. That was really the start.
Joel:I was there for two years. I then did a short, stint in Denmark. As I said, River Cottage is the connection. So Casper Gull was the head chef. He came over and did a series called three good things.
Joel:Again, really close friends, still in contact. From there, I then moved to Notting Hill. I worked at a restaurant called The Shed, working with Oliver Gladwin. I'm from the Gladwin brothers. They also now own Rabbit, Nutbourne, Sussex.
Joel:They recently just bought a pub called the Black Horse and their parents successfully run a vineyard called Nutbourne Vineyard as well. So London was a massive part of my journey as well. It kind of really opened up my eyes to what running a busy restaurant was all about. Since then, I've never felt under pressure sort of, I mean, have felt under pressure, but that environment of starting at 12:00, serving dinner till 11:00, doing 160 covers in a 40 seat restaurant, turning tables three or four times really sort of set me up. And a lot of that I've taken for the Soulshine model when we first started.
Joel:I got a job in London Bridge, which I'm not actually gonna mention that restaurant because it's the only place I've ever walked out of. So I mentioned it. But one amazing thing did happen on the train on the way back from that job I did with my beautiful wife who's just over there of five years. Our anniversary was yesterday, so that was an amazing thing. And as you can see, we now have two children, so one good thing came out that job, all stars aligned.
Joel:And then I got a job in the Number 1 Broad Street in Sussex. That was the first job that I worked at that had no River Cottage connection, but the only reason why I got the job was because I had River Cottage on my CV, So from there, I quit hospitality forever. I moved to Jordan to help my wife run her scuba diving company down in Akerberg on the Red Sea. Unfortunately, we were only there for around about three weeks and then COVID happened. So we had to get rescued by the Swiss embassy, and then we flew out of Oman.
Joel:We were the one of the only planes in this desolate airport. There was no one there. It was quite eerie. And ended up back in Dalwood, which is where my parents live. And that's kind of where the Goose and Badger story begins because after we eventually were allowed back out, I got a phone call from Andy Tyrrell who asked me if I wanted to do a pop up in Lyme Regis.
Joel:So we did a pop up in Lyme Regis, kind of similar style with the set menu, like our supper clubs. Anyone that's been to a supper club will kind of know with the sort of four course meal, set amount, you don't know what you're having, but if you let us know your dietary requirements, we did that. It was real successful. One of the things that we didn't have just before we started was the name. So my surname is Gostling.
Joel:So I've always been the goose. And apparently, Andy's nickname at school was Badger, which we're not a 100% sure about, but we don't ever wanna get let the truth get in the way of a good story or name. So Goose and Badger pop up was how we started. We then were approached by the wonderful Lisa Loder over here to do a pop up in her amazing Soulshine. I think we managed one before we went back into lockdown, Lisa.
Joel:Is that right? That's then when we approached Lisa about doing the burgers. Anyone remembers Goose and Badger Burgers? So I did say it was gonna be long winded, by the way, Tilda. Sorry.
Joel:That was about when Lisa came to us and approached us and said, would you take on Soulshine? To which we replied, absolutely not. I I don't want a restaurant. But we had a nice back and forward, didn't we? Andy and I realized what an opportunity it would be to run Soulshine and here we are.
Joel:Two years into Soulshine or three years in, we then had the opportunity to open Goose and Badger. It seemed right to sort of expand on the coffee and maybe just create a slightly different environment. I think Soulshine is very much food driven. I don't like the phrase, but someone did write about us. Soulshine is a cafe restaurant hybrid and Goose and Badger is a cafe bar hybrid.
Joel:And that's kind of the style that we're going for. And here I am.
Tilda:It's really interesting how you sort of start at these high brow, more sort of busier places in London, and then sort of almost back then it seems. And because of COVID and lockdown, you've ended up in Dorset. Did you find there to be a lot of sort of like differences or ways that you had to maybe adjust how you run things?
Joel:There is. I think this is the West Country. This is not London. I don't know. We have a different persona, different attitude.
Joel:I think a little bit towards life in general. It's a little bit slower. Everyone's a little bit more laid back. I mean, I always remember my friend and it's it's really stuck with me, but there's sometimes common courtesy is for the week in London. And I think that can be a bit of a sad thing.
Joel:Whereas down here, very much community friendly. And I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with that, but people are just they're busier. They're faster, probably a bit more impatient just because of the the way that London is. So, I loved it. It was an amazing part of my life, but I was very much done with it.
Joel:I am from here. I was brought up in Devon, just over the border in Dalwood. I do prefer local and more community and friendly. So Mhmm. Yes, I had to rein it in as well, my kind of style of service, but I don't know.
Joel:Anyone that's been to Soulshine, I hope it does still shine through that we do take all aspects of the experience seriously.
Tilda:What's really important to Bridport Food Matters and the purpose of this podcast is the community and Bridport's food community. And I know that Soulshine's menu is built off of local farms and vendors and produce. Can you tell us a bit more about that?
Joel:Yeah. It's a massive. It's massive part of what we do. We are so honored to have these amazing suppliers. I mean, Al, who was on before, is supplying our eggs.
Joel:That's such a part of it. And to be in that chain and be there to be able to support people and then support us as well because let's not forget that when you've got amazing produce, you don't have to do all that much. I'm not discrediting my kitchen team, they do an amazing job. But if you start with the amazing produce, then the end result, I mean you have to do quite a bit wrong to mess it up. So we are so fortunate.
Joel:Look, hospitality is not in a good place and it is a real struggle. But if you take away the financial side, the rest of it is a joy and I I love it, and I love being part of it. I always say with Soulshine, I want us to be an institution. Now that might just be my, I don't know, ego, but that's that's where I'd like to. I'd love to be here for another twenty years doing great things for Soulshine, for Bridport, for the local suppliers.
Joel:If that doesn't happen, then so be. I could walk away today, and I still feel like we've been successful, but that's kind of that's the dream. And then maybe hand it on to someone else. Not you. Like, you this isn't get you can get a real job serving.
Tilda:If I'm not mistaken, Andy, the other half of Goose and Badger, is currently in the cookery tent Yeah. Showing people how it's sort of done at Soulshine. And I've eaten a lot of Soulshine food because I did actually work there, so I'm a little bit biased. But it is really delicious. And then Goose and Badger roasts your own coffee, of course, locally in Broad Windsor?
Tilda:Broad Oak?
Joel:Broad Oak.
Tilda:Broad Oak. Yeah. Did we get it right? Do local produce and things like that come into that? Because obviously coffee beans aren't
Joel:The gonna be from around business is a little bit well, it's very different, actually. The way it works as a business as well, it's taken a bit of time for us to sort of get on top of it. Also, I tend to leave Andy to the coffee business more. So he's a lot more involved in that side of it. But again, obviously, we're raising coffee just over there in Broad Oak.
Joel:We are keeping down the carbon footprint. And obviously, we've got staff and things up there as well. The importers we use have all got, obviously, good ethos. Sorry. A little savvy crawling on me.
Joel:And we're very selective about what we choose. We also will follow the seasons as well. But, yeah, that's more of an Andy one. That one's there. We'll move on.
Tilda:And Soulshine, obviously, as you touched on a little bit, a range of delicious events such as the supper clubs. How do those sort of play into the Bridport community? And, like, can you tell us more about what those look like?
Joel:Yeah. You know what? I'd love to talk about the supper clubs because the supper clubs is where it all started. As I said, the pop up that we did, it's a very similar model that we knew sort of worked and we copied and repeated and done for a long time. This year is probably the first time we've slightly moved away from it.
Joel:I think in an attempt to be more organized, to be more prepared for the year, especially Andy and I, our positions have slightly changed in the business. We've both taken a bit of a step back. I have Georgina Heffernan running Soulshine for me. I've got Maisie in Goose and Badger, who's also running the food festival dinner, both doing an amazing job. We then got Libby, who's now head chef running the kitchen.
Joel:So this year is the first year we've kind of taken a little bit step back. The supper clubs were very much our thing, whereas now we just wanted to offer something that's really affordable but still enjoyable and sort of showpieces all the amazing produce that we do. We're doing a Wednesday supper. It's £35 per head, and then we are doing sort of four guest chef events each quarter. So and I think I think it was time for us to sort of make that decision.
Joel:Not because we don't want to, but I just I don't know. Everything sort of takes its course, and it doesn't mean that we won't ever do one, but I think the the Wednesday supper has a way more potential, but it gives the team a chance to sort of express their creativity. It's a nice evolution owning a restaurant for five years. I mean, there's always a choice that you have to make. You just do it, you and your partner, whoever that is, just you.
Joel:You work hard, you do it for twenty years, make your money, sell it on, move on, and all the way that Ambient vibe chosen where we have tried to go for some expansion, whether or not that's the right choice, it's kind of to each person, but there was always a moment where I think we knew we had to step back and let other people do it for us using our sort of model that we created. So that's kind of where we're at this year and it's it's actually going really well. There's can't actually say it, but there isn't a really great achievement. It's gonna be announced in a month or so for Soulshine Restaurant that we're like super proud of. I think the funny thing is just that we've achieved it when we've actually stepped away, not when we're in there.
Joel:Anyway, we'll find about that.
Tilda:And really, that is a testament to the people who are working there and the people of the community and what they are doing for Soulshine and for the rest of Bridport. We only have a couple more minutes if anyone has any questions for Joel.
Joel:When I we first started it was we had a full on shop out the front sadly we kind of realized for financial reasons that we probably needed to maximize seating so we did lose some of that shop but there are we do champion a lot of produce out there as well. We use different coffee suppliers as well. We also do a lot of wholesale on our coffee, so a lot of people will use our coffee as well. In Bridport, we're not like you can't have it, so Brassica have it. Mark at his record shop as well just up the road in town, he's also got a coffee as well, so yeah, in a few places in line.
Tilda:And that's amazing. It's a very sort of like symbiotic relationship between Soulshine and the rest of the community.
Joel:Yeah. Sure. And I think also if people are gonna be supplying coffee, then they're gonna supply coffee whatever. So they might as well be doing using good coffee. That's my opinion.
Tilda:Yeah. Of course. And final question, you know, because it sounds like there was actually a lot of things which happened and maybe didn't go the way they planned. If something really dramatic happened and you had to leave Soulshine today, would you feel like you were proud of everything you've achieved, or would you feel like there was still so much more left to do?
Joel:I mean, it's an interesting question because I'd like to think if I walked away tomorrow, I could hold my head up and be proud. But I think there would also be this part of me that felt like that wasn't where the journey was meant to finish. I've got lots of ambitions to look where I wanna take us as a business and a company. It's weird. I mean, just I'm gonna make this point.
Joel:I'm a restaurant manager. That's why I started out. And then you become a restaurant owner. And then you open somewhere else and you have two or three businesses. And then you become a business owner.
Joel:And you almost get taken away from what you started as and you evolve into this something else and trying to understand that. And this year has been something I've really tried to get a grasp of what being a business owner is. I don't know if I'm there yet. So we'll see. But there is there's there's definitely more that I'd like to do.
Joel:As I mentioned earlier, hospitality is not in a good way. And if things carry on, I'd be very surprised if there won't be well, there are gonna be more closures. I don't know if Soulshine we survive. We don't thrive. So Mhmm.
Joel:Unless something dramatically changes, we might not be here either.
Tilda:Well, we can only hope for it to It'll
Joel:be alright.
Tilda:Hopefully carry on. That's all the time we have. Thank you so much, Joel. And I hope that everybody goes to Soulshine, goes to one of these amazing supper clubs, and goes and eats the lovely local food.
Joel:Amazing. Thank you, Tilda. Also, just quickly, sorry, can I just say a big thank you to Tilda? Tilda does actually is an employee of Goose and Badger and Soulshine. So I wasn't sure how hard she was gonna go with the questions or not, but I thought she did a great job.
Joel:So thank you, Tilda. Pleasure.
Joey:Peas in a Podcast is brought to you by Bridport Food Matters and Jurassic Coast Media. This limited eight part series was recorded live at the twenty twenty six Bridport Food Festival. If you're interested in helping us fund future conversations, check out the show details for how you can get involved. Thanks for listening.