Crowd-pleasing comfort food

What’s on the Menu?

Inspired by childhood road trips of days gone by, Brightside will offer a freshly cooked menu full of classic, comforting dishes. To find out more, we caught up with Brightside’s Head of Food, Jono Jenkins…

What are your memories of road trips when you were a kid and what do you remember about eating on the move?

I was born in 1980, so I’m very much a child of the era of roadside dining. Although the nostalgic roadside dining brands weren’t always the best, looking back, I quite liked them… mainly because one of them had play equipment outside, which was always appealing!

I remember the really good fry-ups. I’ve always liked eating egg, bacon, fried bread and things like that from an early age, so that certainly would have been my meal of choice. And getting a lollipop at the end of the meal is something that sticks in my memory.

I do remember roadside dining really fondly, and, talking to others, it sounds like most people do. I have three kids now (aged six, eight and 11), and I just don’t think they’ll remember service stations in quite the same way. We were lucky growing up in the 80s in that respect, and, whether it was actually good or not, it was good at the time, and that’s what we’re trying to recreate at Brightside, albeit in a more modern, forward-thinking way.

Tell us more about the food offering at Brightside…

It’s going to be simple; we’re not trying to be too clever. There will be a focus on quality of produce and fresh cooking, much like we have in our other two businesses, Lounge Café Bars and Cosy Club. We’ll take a lead from them on how we approach the food from a back-of-house perspective, how we operate our kitchens, and how we how we put the dishes together.

We’re definitely not trying to replicate what’s gone in the past. Certainly, from a food perspective, it’s going to be very different. Food wasn’t always that great back in the 70s and 80s, although we still got lots of pleasure from eating then and have great memories. So, when we talk about nostalgia, these memories are what we’ll be tapping into and capturing while bringing the food into a modern-day setting, exciting customers, and giving them a really special experience all round.

Any dishes you’re particularly excited about customers trying?

Our customers can look forward to a really great breakfast but with a few surprises like potato croquettes and slow-roasted cherry tomatoes – simple and really delicious.

We’ve worked on some amazing mains where we’ve elevated classic dishes – expect incredible burgers and pizzas, and wow-factor sundaes made with soft-serve ice cream.