Ep 32: Hospitalian Phil Bracey

Food Tribe

My guest today is Mr. Phil Bracy, co-owner of Bright in London Fields and part of the four-man gang behind London’s game-changing wine shop come restaurant P Franco in Clapton.

Following the success of P Franco, Phil and the team wanted to take their same comfortable, fun, effortless approach to hospitality that made P Franco such a hit and open a bigger restaurant. And so, came Bright.

Chefs Will Gleave (one of P Franco’s first resident chefs and co-founder of Bright) and Peppe Belvedere (formerly head chef of Brawn) head up the kitchen. They focus on seasonality and work directly with artisan producers and farmers which informs their regularly changing menu. Bright is the kind of place you can pop into for a glass of wine at the bar, have a snack, or settle in for a long-haul, special occasion meal.

The food is top-notch, the wine list, as you can imagine, is one of the best in the city, they play great music, there’s nothing conceptual or overthought or stuffy about it - it’s a fun, welcoming place to go and hang out and enjoy great food and wine. For me, it’s everything I want in a restaurant.

I wanted to hear the Bright story and how this group of four guys came to build their niche wine/food east London empire… So, I headed over to Bright to have a chat with Phil and we cover the whole timeline - from the early days at P Franco, the opening of Bright and earlier this year, their third restaurant Peg. Phil shares his story of how he came to be - I guess you could say - an accidental restaurateur. Not coming from a hospitality background, Phil worked in wine retail in Sydney up until only a few years ago, and now he’s a full-time restaurant man. And London is all the better for it!

Bright is in the final shortlist for London’s Priceless Cities Best New Bistro award, along with Mao Chow and Tayer + Elementary - you can hear more about this new international food award in last week’s episode with Christine Doublet so check that out if you haven’t had a listen yet. Winners are being announced this coming Monday 25th November across London, NYC, Paris and Mexico City.

Okay now onto the episode with Phil... He’s a super cool guy, and I hope you enjoy this chat as much as I did.