Serving Up #2
The newsletter of Brighton's Best Restaurants
Welcome to the second edition of Serving Up. As ever, we’ve got a multi-course tasting menu of food and drink inspiration from the lovely people of the Brighton and Hove restaurant scene.
As I’m sure you’re aware by now, after 50 years, the city finally has a Michelin-starred restaurant, Maré by Rafael Cagali, to boast about. The last star to be awarded to a Brighton restaurant was Yves Battaso’s Le Francais at 1 Paston Place in Kemptown in 1975, a year after the Michelin guide’s UK launch. Apparently, stars of the stage and screen, including Shirley Bassey and Michael Caine, dined at the restaurant.
By the time I moved to Brighton in 1990, 1 Paston Place had become an outpost of London restaurant Langan’s and was co-owned by Caine. Later that decade, it became One Paston Place, run by the late chef Mark Emmerson and his wife, Nicole. I did a one-day trial in the kitchen, as, at the time I was considering a career change. I didn’t get the job, but I learned a thing or two and got to work alongside a young chef named Ben McKellar, now better known as The Gingerman. Small world, huh?
To celebrate Maré’s historic win, I spoke to General Manager Jake Garstang about the drinks he’s particularly excited about right now, and he’s come up with a couple of very interesting choices, one at Maré and one at everyone’s favourite place, Bincho Yakitori. I hope to be able to bring you an interview with Maré’s 24-year-old head chef Ewan Waller very soon, too.
This week also heralds the first contribution from Hot Dinners, the essential guide to London restaurants. They’ve recommended a new Italian in Soho that sounds just the ticket for the next time you’re visiting the big smoke.
I do hope you are enjoying Serving Up as much as I am writing it. Do let me know if there’s something you’d love to see in the newsletter that we haven’t covered already, but rest assured, there will be lots of new faces and places coming up in future editions. Work is continuing on preparations for the relaunch of Brighton’s Best Restaurants website, awards and OctoberBest festival, and we will bring you news on all three as soon as we can. I can say now that the awards, usually held in the spring, will be delayed but will return soon.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy this edition, and please, if you can, subscribe below. It would really help us out,
Andy Lynes
Editor and co-director of Brighton’s Best Restaurants.
The Lowdown: Chef Bookie Mitchell of Namo
What is your earliest food memory?
When I was growing up in Lampang in Northern Thailand, there was a hawker stall next to my school. We called the owner ‘Uncle Kaew’. He would barbecue pork over a charcoal grill, and also he would make egg fried rice. He served it in a plastic bag and you just ate it like that with hot sriracha sauce. I’m thinking of putting it on my menu at Namo.
What is your favourite comfort food?
I like things that people don’t really eat - strange stuff like pickled plums. They’re salty and sweet. Sometimes I like sour green cooking apples with a dip made with shrimp paste, sugar, fish sauce and chilli powder.
Are you a coffee or tea person?
Matcha latte with oat milk is the new trend for me.
If you weren’t a chef, what would you be?
I wanted to be a florist, an interior designer or a photographer. I seem to have a random interest in lots of things. After I graduated from university, I applied to be a flight attendant but it wasn’t for me. Being a chef is where my passion and my creativity lie.
What is the worst thing about being a chef and restaurateur?
The long hours. Being the owner, it’s just kind of around the clock. Even though you finish your work, you are still thinking about it. But I enjoy it.
Who do you most admire in the restaurant industry?
My friend Kanthi Thamma of The Spice Kitchen. He’s just so talented. He would be the one to call me on a decision because he’s has so much experience, he’s been in the business for a long time. Sometimes he will say things that you don’t want to hear, but it’s a fact, and he wants to help you. He’s very creative; every time that we come up with pop-up ideas, we just click. We can do the menu 24 hours before the pop-up and we can just nail it because of him. He’s just so talented with lots of things. He can dance, he can do everything. He’s just amazing.
What do you eat for breakfast?
I rarely eat breakfast, but if I have to, I’m probably going to have a boiled egg, some avocado and brown toast. I’d start with tea and then follow with coffee. And then some fruit - berries and stuff.
Tell us about a hidden gem in Brighton
I like the bar at No. 124 Guest House. Usually, I will pop in for coffee because it’s quiet and it’s nice in there, but one cocktail I really love is Gimme Mûre. It’s made with Brighton Gin, pineapple, and blackberry. It’s one of those drinks that’s really easy to enjoy but still feels a bit special.
What is the best food destination in the world and why?
Thailand. I’m Thai, so I’m probably just a bit biased. I love the food so much. It’s fresh, healthy, vibrant and full of favour. The way we serve food is totally different from the north to the south and to central, so when you go to Thailand, you can try different things. Chiang Mai in the north offers something a bit different; there’s influences from being next to Burma. Kao Soi, which we serve at Namo Eats at The Eagle, is so popular; people just love it so much, and that is from the north.
What’s the next restaurant that you are dying to visit?
Interlude in Leonardslee Gardens. I have seen some things on Instagram, and I really want to go there. Where it is is so beautiful, so that could be my present for this year.
What’s the best thing you’ve eaten in a restaurant recently?
There’s a dish I still think about from time to time. It’s Laphet Thohk, the tea leaf salad from Laphet, a Burmese restaurant in London. The main ingredient is fermented, pickled tea leaves, which might sound unusual, but the flavour is incredible. It’s savoury, slightly bitter, deeply umami, and full of texture. One of those dishes that really stays with you.
The details
Namo
24 Ship St, Brighton and Hove, Brighton BN1 1AD
01273 911881; namobrighton.co.uk
What’s in Jake Garstang’s glass?
At Maré, I’m currently loving the combination of Barbadillo Obispo Gascon 15yr Palo Cortado sherry paired with our toasted brioche, liver parfait, winter truffle and preserved cherries. The nutty notes from the sherry complement the wonderful richness of the parfait and truffle, whilst retaining enough acidity to harmonise with the cherries. As a sommelier, I’ve found that sherry is woefully misunderstood, so we’ve got a wonderful selection by the glass to help introduce guests to the wide variety of styles.
If I’m out and about, one of my favourite combinations is Bincho Yakitori’s Junmai Gingo sake, poured in the traditional Masu boxes, paired with any of their delicious skewers. I’m partial to their chicken heart skewers with plenty of fresh lemon, and also their karaage. The crispy chicken skin and juicy meat contrast beautifully with the searing freshness of the sake, which cleanses your palate and sets you up ready for each next mouthful.
Jake Garstang is the Restaurant Manager and Sommelier at Maré by Rafael Cagali in Hove, which has just been awarded a Michelin star, the first in the city for 50 years. Before moving to Brighton, Jake worked in some of the country’s most highly regarded restaurants, including Ynyshir, Restaurant Story, Casamia and Wilson’s and has been named one of Taylor’s Port Top 100 UK Sommeliers.
The details
Maré by Rafael Cagali
60 Church Rd, Brighton and Hove, BN3 2FP
01273 055900; marehove.com
Brighton’s Best Dish #2: Beef belly laksa at Noodles Street
Bring your appetite to this hole in the wall canteen or you’ll struggle to finish the generously proportioned bowls of Chinese, Thai, Korean and Singaporean soup noodles, all available with a choice of udon, ramen, flat rice, rice and egg noodles. The must-order beef belly laksa featured chunks of tender short rib, tofu puffs, bean sprouts, spring onions and fresh chillies in a deeply flavoured spicy coconut milk broth.
The details
Noodles Street, 14 London Rd, Brighton BN1 4JA.
01273 888898
Noodles Soup, 37 West St, Brighton BN1 2RE.
01273 327888
Brighton’s Best Cocktail Club:
Tepache Margarita from Stem restaurant
Order at the bar or make at home
This cheeky twist on a margarita uses tepache (fermented pineapple juice, click here for a recipe) to add a slight fermented funk instead of a traditional triple sec, which then gets adjusted for sweetness with gomme (buy ready-made or make at home by dissolving 2 parts sugar to 1 part water) and fresh pineapple juice for a nice, rounded, fresh taste.
Ingredients
50ml Cazcabel tequila
30ml tepache (fermented pineapple drink)
20ml lime juice
15ml pineapple juice
15ml 2:1 gomme syrup
1 pipette of pineapple and star anise bitters.
Method
Add all the ingredients to a Boston shaker. Shake, then double-strain into a rocks glass and garnish with a pineapple leaf.
The details
Stem
41 Church Road, Hove, BN3 2BE.
01273 435582; stemhove.co.uk
Don’t miss: Michelin-starred chef Simon Hulstone at etch
On Tuesday, 24 March, don’t miss out on your chance to sample the technically brilliant and always delicious cooking of chef Simon Hulstone of the Michelin-starred restaurant The Elephant in Torquay. For one night only, Simon will be cooking at etch in Hove, alongside chef and owner Steven Edwards, where they will create a six-course £85 collaborative tasting menu celebrating the very best of seasonal British produce.
You may have seen Simon on one of his many appearances on Saturday Kitchen Live or Saturday Morning with James Martin. He also represented the South West on Great British Menu in 2012. He has run his harbourside restaurant The Elephant with his wife Katy since 2006. It was the first restaurant in Torquay to be awarded a Michelin star and the only one to retain it. The regularly changing seasonal menu incorporates local ingredients, including some from the restaurant’s own farm in Brixham, in dishes such as Brixham crab with melon, radish and smoked crème fraîche.
Simon is one of the UK’s most decorated chefs; he is a Roux Scholar and winner of the Craft Guild of Chefs National Chef of the Year award. He has twice represented the UK in the prestigious Bocuse d’Or culinary competition in France and was captain of the British team in the Culinary Olympics.
The details
To book for Simon Hulstone X Steven Edwards at etch on 24 March, click here. etch host regular guest chef nights. Check the restaurant’s website for more details of future events.
etch. by Steven Edwards
214-216 Church Road, Brighton, BN3 2DJ
01273 227485; etchfood.co.uk
Furna chef Dave Mothersill’s storecupboard standbys
‘There’s a few things that I need to have in all the time. Good quality pre-cooked white beans, be it a butter bean, a flageolet bean or a cannellini bean. I’m a huge fan of Ottoleghi’s Green Harissa; it’s absolutely fantastic on salmon or chicken. Any of the Belazu Mediterranean ingredients, I think the quality’s great - things like capers and preserved lemon, and they do a fantastic tapenade as well. Mutti chopped tomatoes are bloody fantastic. They’re all versatile ingredients. The preserved lemon goes with the butter beans, or if you’re making a roast chicken, throw the butter beans in with the resting juices and the tapenade. It’s all so versatile and absolutely delicious.’
Dave Mothersill is the chef and owner of Furna restaurant
The Details
Furna
6 New Road, Brighton BN1 1UF
01273 031594; furnarestaurant.co.uk
Out of Town with Hot Dinners in London: Osteria Vibrato
London has seen a brace of new Italian openings recently (including the excellent Tiella) and this latest comes from Charlie Mellor, the man behind The Laughing Heart. Like his former Hackney restaurant, this Soho venture has a big focus on its wine list (Charlie’s teamed up with former Luca sommelier Cameron Dewar). The place has quickly become a proper scene, partly helped by the piano in the middle of the restaurant that has seen musicians from nearby Ronnie Scott’s on it, as well as their own extremely talented pianist/waiter
The menu has been created by an ex-Burro e Salvia chef (another much-missed Italian), and it takes a classic approach, with the tagliatelle with white courtyard ragu a must-have. Pricing may be punchy, but there’s real talent in the kitchen. It’s also a place to linger, mainly because you’ll want to have the baked-to-order amaretti biscuits, delivered hot to your table.
The Details:
Osteria Vibrato
6 Greek St, London W1D 4DE
osteriavibrato.co.uk
Recommended by hot-dinners.com, London’s biggest independent dining-out publication with all the insider knowledge on what’s happening on the London food scene. Hot Dinners is headed up by the brother and sister team of Catherine and Gavin Hanly.