MasterChef contestant opens gluten-free restaurant

A MasterChef quarter-finalist is set to open a new gluten-free restaurant in Bristol.

Bristolian Adam Ball is launching Frankies on North Street, Bedminster, on 30 January.

Mr Ball, who competed on MasterChef in 2023, wanted to create a venue that could cater for his wife, after she was diagnosed with coeliac disease in 2019.

"No one's doing 100% gluten-free fried chicken and waffles like me," he said.

MasterChef contestant Adam Ball is launching a restaurant in Bedminster

The chef, who was once a bricklayer in the city, told BBC Radio Bristol's Joe Lemer that featuring on the BBC programme had given him "a leg up" in the world of food.

"For the last six or seven years it's been a dream of mine," he said. "I used to cook a lot and people would eat my food and say, yeah you can cook.

"So I thought, 'why not charge them money for it?'," he laughed.

The quarter-finalist's wife, Leslie Ball, said she found it particularly hard to eat out when she was diagnosed with coeliac disease six years ago.

She said: "Back then, especially, the accessibility of food when you were out – it was the same food that I was eating, it wasn't that imaginative or creative."

The pair told the BBC how Ms Ball was once served a "bizarre" burger between two slices of gluten-free bread, inspiring the chef to start experimenting with food at home.

"I love the food that I can eat now," Ms Ball said. "It's the food that naturally doesn't contain gluten that the restaurants tend to steer towards, whereas Adam's made it food that can be switched out."

Mr Ball will serve 100% gluten-free recipes to customers

'Safe environment'

Mr Ball said restaurants were getting "a lot better" with gluten-free options, especially in Bristol.

He said: "I think back in the day it was a grey area when people thought, 'if I do it wrong I'm going to get slandered', but now I think so many people know better."

However cross-contamination is still a worry for restaurants, Ms Ball said.

"You can never guarantee, choosing an option, that it is going to be really safe for a coeliac," she said.

She said to her husband: "Whereas what you've done is committed to not using anything with gluten in it and making a safe environment."

Along with a commitment to having a gluten-free kitchen, the chef said the restaurant would be open intermittently - two weeks on, followed by two weeks off - to maintain a work-life balance.

He said: "A lot of chefs will go in and have to work 60 hours a week and be in that kitchen.

"It's about having balance," he added. "Especially having young children - that only happens once."

Frankies will be working with Kitchens by Kask in Bedminster to open the restaurant, with the team hosting a launch night on 30 January.