Episode 18: JUSTIN SHARP, Proprietor and Chef of Pea Porridge Bistro in Bury St Edmunds. Justin is one of Suffolk’s top chefs, a champion of quality local food and wine production, and an advocate of the ‘nose to tail’ dining experience.

The Suffolk Pod Show

Episode 18: JUSTIN SHARP, Founder and Chef of Pea Porridge Bistro in Bury St Edmunds. Justin is one of Suffolk’s top chefs, a champion of quality local food and wine production, and an advocate of the ‘nose to tail’ dining experience.
Pea Porridge in Bury St Edmunds opened in 2008 and is owned and run by Justin and his wife, Jurga. Justin starts this episode talking about their journey to arriving in Bury St Edmunds and finding the perfect premises to house their bistro.

Justin talks about the history of their beautiful building in Cannon St, and how it blends so perfectly with the ethos and experience of Pea Porridge. Three beautiful dining rooms, with a working fireplace and an ancient bread oven make up part of the idyllic ambience of this very special eatery.

Justin describes Suffolk as the ‘Bounty County’ of the UK with its abundance of local produce – in his opinion the best, with a plethora of expert traditional farmers as well as a thriving fishing coastline.

Justin talks about his style of cooking and his menu; including his robust, unfussy and exciting dishes. As he says, they serve modern traditional dishes of meat, fish and vegetarian fare, but also, they are well known for their stand-out cooking of the more unusual cuts which he says, if cooked properly, are stunning to eat. Justin and Jurga source their food and wine from small independent producers, most of whom are local to Suffolk.

Justin introduces us to his super-oven ‘Bertha’; a versatile charcoal mega oven which is similar to an enclosed barbecue. Justin cooks a great deal of the restaurant dishes in Bertha as she flavours food with a delicious smoky essence, one of the restaurant’s trademarks. Justin also talks about Grizzley – a second, and much smaller charcoal oven, that also plays an important part in his kitchen.

When the pandemic hit Justin and Jurga had to close, alongside every restaurant across Great Britain, but it gave them time to reflect, reset and pour more energy into Pea Porridge when they reopened. To keep themselves busy during lockdown Justin launched a local online ‘Ready, Steady, Cook’ – which was hugely popular and gained a large following on social media. Justin also found time to write a poem – ‘Ode to a thriving bistro’ – listen to Justin reading it live.

‘Get My Goat’, another brainchild from Justin, was his second lockdown campaign. Justin talks about the story behind his clever delivery box with four types of Moorish-style prepared goat. Justin has sold over 500 delivery boxes over the past month – the campaign was a complete success.

Wine is an important part of the whole eating-experience for Justin, and he talks about how careful he and Jurga are at selecting the purest wines from fastidious suppliers who source wines from traditionally owned vineyards locally, and across Europe.

To book a table, please call Justin and Jurga on: 01284 700200

For more information about Pea Porridge visit: www.peaporridge.co.uk
#thesuffolkpodshow #podcast #podcasting #interview #toppodcast #suffolk #suffolklife #suffolkpodcast #peaporridge #restaurant #bistro #chef #rusticdining #justinsharp #entertainment #restaurantlife #burystedmunds #getmygoat #jameswhetlor #lovefood