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... the final frontier. Join me on my quest to rid the Earth (well... Brighton) of all mediocre eateries in an effort to bring decent cuisine to everyone everywhere (okay… just Brighton really).

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Sussex and the City - “Excuse me…but are you LOCAL?”

June 20, 2006


12c Meeting House Lane, Old Lanes

(While uploading this picture, the thought occurred to me that the owners of Sussex and the City mightn’t appreciate linking their lovely new local shop with that of Tubbs and Edward Tattsyrup of Royston Vasey. It’s hard to say no to such an obvious and cheap gag though. Besides, someone once told me that the “are you local?” phenomenon began in our neighbouring sleepy village of Rottingdean.)

The Lanes Deli & Pasta Shop has given way to a posh new oyster bar (while moving its good self around the corner to Brighton Square next to Ben & Jerry’s) and now what was once an herbal remedy etc type store has now become Sussex and the City, a great new shop that’s hot on the heels of the “eat local” food craze that has all Brightonian foodnerds (myself included) forming a devout following. All of the goodies at SATC are either made, grown or produced within 5o miles of Brighton. Nice.

I love nothing more then to go to a market/foodshop/etc on a Saturday and just peruse all the goodies. My husband is more of a “listman”. He doesn’t understand my need to see, know and hopefully taste all the new treats that align the shelves of my local markets. That’s why we don’t go grocery shopping together too often and when we do it’s:

“I need 2 avocados and some tomatoes (make sure they’re vine-ripened) in the last aisle, and then look at the endcap on the next aisle and get a bbq marinade but not a cheapy one, then I need you to get some toilet roll (make sure it’s recycled) and some rinse aid (the Ecover kind). When you’re done, report back to me.”

This ensures me at least 10 minutes of alone time to peruse and labelread to my heart’s content. Needless to say, even though SATC is a darling wee place, I went with my friend Delphine to ensure primo browsing time without having to hear “can’t we just get what’s on the list??”. Men don’t get that the list is purely a guideline. Besides, food shops are seldom entered into with a list. It’s purely what I like to call “goodie shopping”.

I was happy to see some brands that I already recognized being sold in SATC. One has become very near and dear to my heart, and that’s Chilli Pepper Pete. His chipotle crush has become a permanent fixture in our condiment nook and I’ve been known to smuggle it along in my bag if I know we’re going out for pizza. He does just about every sort of chilli crush and dried chilli you could want, along with authentic Mexican oregano (say it with me: oh-REH-ga-no) and lovely relishes and chutneys. I also spotted a local microbrewery on their shelves (funny how so much of the local fare is alcoholic. Go Brittania! Heh.) that I recognized, Fallen Angel. While attending the opening of last year’s Food Festival (the Fiery Food Fest), I tried their Fire in the Hole chilli beer:

“Wow..this isn’t too ho……MY GOD!!”

No wonder it’s only to be drank only when extremely chilled and in shots. They simply have the coolest beer labels EVER:

Sassy. I don’t believe they carry the full range of Fallen Angel but hey, space is limited and my GOD I had no idea how many local beers/ciders/perrys/wines, etc there are! The picture below is just a sampling, believe me. I wanted to take so many of them home with me but I knew how heavy it would be and I didn’t have The Husband in tow. Another time then!

One of my favourite local indulgences has to be Montezuma’s chocolates on Duke Street. Oh-the Montezuma truffle with tequila, chocolate and chilli, how I sing your praises! I stuffed my husband’s Christmas FULL of bars from Montezuma’s last year, which of course was partially for me. I have a frequent buyer’s card that isn’t even half full yet but that’s only because I (amazingly) exercise restraint. Anyways, Montezuma’s is very much present at SATC, as well as The Chocolate Alchemist. I have yet to try them but rest assured, I pick up and caress their chocolate whenever I see it, especially the White Chocolate with Cinnamon bar, so I’m sure a purchase will be made soon enough. As soon as summer comes to an end you can bet yer britches I’ll be all over their Dark Drinking Chocolate with Chilli.

Since it was a hot day and since they were offering samples of Coy’s Ice Cream for only £1 a tub, we decided to partake! Coy’s Ice Cream is very posh, a bit pricey but so worth it. I’ve tried the White Chocolate and Chilli before so this time I tried the 3 Citrus and Mint while Delphine (faithful sidekick that she is!) had the Champagne flavoured. We were both very impressed. Mine tasted like a frozen caipirinha while hers tasted like, well, champagne!

I certainly hope this cute wee shop does well for itself. I dont’ see any reason why it shouldn’t, afterall it’s in a great location. They’ve also got fresh food like fish, sausages, cheese, milk, butter, etc. and of course all of your standard local foodstuffs like chutneys, jams and relishes. They’ve even got lovely homemade takeaway sarnies and who can resist the smug disposition you’ll rightfully possess by knowing that your sarnie is 100% locally sourced? I thought not!

The Real Eating Company - quite possibly the Holy Grail of Brightonian foodies

86-87 Western Road, Hove

Many apologies to my readers for taking so long to post. Something about Blogger and Internet Explorer isn’t quite mixing these days. Also, I’ve been putting off this particular post for quite some time as I wanted to make several visits in order to give it the justice it deserves. After all, it won an Observer’s Food Award for one of the best retailers in the Southeast and I believe it is a very successful foodie enterprise owned by a woman. Oh yeah. Sisters are doin’ it for themselves indeed! I even attended one of their Cheese & Wine Evenings (do you see the sacrifices I make?) in addition to having lunch on at least three occasions. It’s only a hop, skip & jump from the building where I work. I know. Lucky, lucky chica.

The Real Eating Company functions as both a gourmet food shop/deli and a restaurant. Some foodie faves are on display here as well as homemade goodies:
(Tyrrell’s asparagus and black pepper crisps I can highly recommend although they are VERY pepper-y. I haven’t tried the Smoked Salmon and Horseradish flavour because unfortunately I don’t like salmon. I have to get my omega-3’s from flaxseed oil like the veg-heads.)

Onto the Cheese & Wine Evening. The cheese. Oh, the cheese. We were all given an info sheet and I noticed that the evening began with the most mild, a type of goat’s cheese, and ended with the almighty Stilton paired with a shot of brandy. We also had glasses of sparkling English wines, both white and rose, and some chardonnay and sauvignon blanc. I felt slightly intimidated as I’m only really beginning to embrace my inner cheesegeek but the info sheets were helpful as were the women conducting it.

Passing by on another occasion, my now slightly-more-confident inner cheesegeek got the best of me and I felt myself in a sort of trance, being led upstairs to their wonderful deli. The lady behind the counter was very kind and let me taste several cheeses, all of which are either British or Irish. (Sidenote: there are more types of cheese produced in Britain than in France.) She even managed to find me an English cheese that was quite similar to my cheese o’ the mo, manchego. It’s called Berkswell and it only lasted one day in my fridge. I also made purchase of some lovely soft cheese from Co Tipperary called Cooleeney (which I was very happy to find again this past weekend at St George’s market in Belfast) and of course, some of the REC’s own chutney. I even managed a small sliver (at £2.40) of the newly (thanks to a certain animated dog-owning cheese lover) famous Stinking Bishop. The verdict? VERY stinky. Also very lovely, if you like your cheese strong.

Along with all this lovely cheese, their deli contains several food and drink goodies, both local and imported. I nearly squealed (yes. squealed.) with ex-pat delight when I saw that they carry the uber-cool and award winning Pain is Good American hot sauces. Just look at those labels! Even if they weren’t fantastic (which they are) I’d love to have them just for the design. I wonder if PIG take submissions from the public. If they do, I’d love to submit my husband’s face upon biting into last night’s fajitas. They could call it “Great British Wuss” or something to that effect. I wonder if their supplier carries PIG’s line of bbq and pasta sauces. YUM. I think their Bloody Mary mixes would sell a storm as well!

Let’s get to the food already shall we? I’ve never been disappointed when going to the REC for lunch. I’ve yet to go for dinner, most likely due to sheer laziness. Go to Hove? For dinner? You mean get on a bus? Yeah, yeah. I’m workin’ on it already, sheesh. Below are some snapshots of a lunch I had with my friend Phil; I had the fish and chips (you know it better be good for a tenner) and he had the hare stew:

Small things like a homemade basket of bread totally win me over. I need to point out that this lunch is from at least 6 weeks ago as it’s not really summer fare. Phil was kind enough to let me sample his hare and lentil stew (first time I’ve had hare) and it was delicious. There were even bits of shot in it, similar to when he ordered the pheasant stew back in winter. Some would be squeamish but hey-you know it’s fresh and not intensively farm-reared. (They do their best to get it all out but sometimes it’s hard to find it all. Phil didn’t seem to mind and I don’t think most people would as long as you gave them a head’s up first.) Look at that order of fish and chips. The chips, cut perfectly and covered in flakes of sea salt. I should’ve taken a picture of my plate after I was finished eating. You would see that there wasn’t a bit of anything left, not even the homemade tartar sauce. It was very scrummy and very filling. So I ordered my lemon tart (the best I’ve ever had, surpassing Carluccio’s by a long shot) to go.

I feel a bit like I’m bowing at the altar here so I will add one slight criticism. I want you to know that it pains me to do so, mostly because I’m hoping that those in charge at the REC will see how much love I have for them and offer me a job. Alas, I must be true to my readers. They serve the lovely Luscombe range of drinks and I couldn’t help but notice that the takeaway price is less than half of the eat-in price. I’m well aware that restaurants bring in the majority of their profits through drinks, alcoholic and non alike, but that much of a mark-up would turn some people away. I point this out because it pains me to think that there is a demographic of people out there that won’t experience the REC simply on this merit but I’m telling you, I know that they’re out there. I’m married to one of them.

Bill’s Produce Store - Toddlers! Parents! Prams! Oh my!

April 3, 2006


North Road, North Laine

Picture it. Sicily. 1922.

Nah, not really. Actually picture a young woman returning home from her monthly book club meeting at the Jubilee Library. She ascends the cement back stairs behind the complex, as Jubilee Street is still under construction. When she gets to the top, what wonderous sight awaits her but this gorgeous new shop, lights all aglow with a shimmery new sign: “Bill’s”. In front of this shop (as she takes a proper nose around) are beautiful fruits and veggies. Brown or purple bell peppers and striped aubergines! A more serious peek reveals all sorts of wonderful food stuff , imported, local or Bill’s own label, aligning the very tall shelves which occupy the whole back of the place. Unfortunately, they’re not open. Not yet. But she’ll be back. Oh-will she ever.

Bill’s is quickly usurping the Basketmaker’s Pub as the worst-kept secret in the North Laine. It’s simple but eclectic and everchanging menu keeps people coming back again and again and again. My grandmother was here for 6 weeks and even though she couldn’t eat the majority of what was on the menu (being gluten intolerant) she still insisted on going every week for breakfast or lunch. Or dessert (you can’t eat both, trust me). It’s just a really lovely place. There is a bit of cafeteria-style seating with long wooden tables and there are also some 4-tops. They’ve become so popular that they’ve actually added a few tables upstairs (which I believe was formerly for employees only) and have opted to halve their produce section and add tables up there as well.

This childless woman also loves the sign that recommends parents to fold up their prams as there isn’t enough room. Can’t we just change it to “please fold up your children as there is very little room” instead? No? Fine. (When I have children I can pretty much guarantee that I won’t be bringing them along to Bill’s and forking out £5 for a fish finger (American: fish stick)sandwich which they A. most likely won’t eat and B. will make a huge ketchup-y mess of which will C. cause me to lecture them about wasting food even though they are only 2 and only care about Thomas the Tank Engine and CBeebies.)

Back to the food. The food is fantastic, it’s so different from the majority of cafes who pretty much all offer the exact same fare (chicken tikka, egg mayo and the like). There is a constant breakfast/lunch menu atop all of the tables but the real magic is in the sky, my friends. If you look up you will see all the blackboard menus that change daily; quiches, tarts, pizzas (all which are served with your choice of 2 salads of the day; I recommend the yellow tomato salad and the red-cabbage slaw), specials, smoothies, juices, paninis, ciabattas AND desserts. Oh. The desserts. As I’ve mentioned, you can not finish one of these unless you make it your entire meal. I once ate about 2/3 of my banoffee tiramisu after eating a quiche platter and that was really forcing it. Still, I was only mildly regretful when I was in severe discomfort for the rest of the day.

What really stands out about Bill’s is that they are really big on presentation (as you can see by my lovely pinenut, pesto and courgette pizza with all the trimms) and incorporating as many fresh ingredients as humanly possible onto one dish. This may put some people off. Personally, I love it. I especially love that no matter what my husband orders he says “What’s this??” at least twice while routing around on his place. (Don’t panic, dear, it’s only a purple potato.) I feel a bit sad that they no longer seem to be offering their tapas plate. I loved the teeny pots of homemade (of course) guacamole, roasted cumin & red pepper hummus and baba ganoush. Then they would toss on a variety of olives, cheese, veggies and of course–loads of yummy toasted flat bread! I should ask them about it. They already know us by name anyways.

I feel the need to mention one semi-critical thing about Bill’s because I feel like I’m foodgeeking way too hard here. I do not believe that their coffee and tea is FairTrade. In fact, this past FairTrade fortnight taught me that there are only TWO certified cafes in the entire North Laine, Infinity Cafe and Offbeat Coffee Bar. It’s really inexcusable but I will pry myself down before I get all the way up on my pedestal and alienate my blooming demographic. The thing is that Bill’s totally caters to this PC Yummy Mummy-type of crowd so why no love for the coffee farmers? They have nothing to lose by switching over. I could be wrong but do I really want to ask? Do I really want to become one of those “Does this have gluten/dairy/soy/wheat?” people or one of the “Is this free range/organic/FairTrade/biodynamic/pretentious enough for Gwyneth, Chris and Apple?” crowd. I don’t but I will ask nonetheless. For the farmers, man. For the farmers.

Bona Foodie - (am I the only one tiring of the term “Foodie”….?)

March 17, 2006

Palmeira Square, Hove / St James St, Kemptown

I know it’s silly to even post about Bona Foodie, so beloved by Brightonians and Hov..ians? Hovites? But since it’s very near to where I work, I get to treat myself by having a bit of takeaway action from there every so often. It’s just a great little deli. They have loads of sandwiches to order, as well as quiches, soups and salad boxes and all the other obligatory fancy-pants deli type items. We went there before to get some cheese for our post-Xmas Luncheon cheeseboard and it was all so scrummy. We got some sort of red chilli-cheese, some parmesan (the real deal) and a lovely soft gorgonzola.

Today I went over because I knew that I needed to stock up on some Green & Black’s chocolate to take home with me. For those of you who aren’t American, or who haven’t sampled American chocolate, let me fill you in: it’s crap. (Except for these.) I was never a true chocolate lover until I moved abroad. Then I went on an Aero-a-day diet for about 2 months. So whenever I go home, I always bring loads of chocolate with me (it’s demanded of me, quite frankly). ANYways, I picked up a lovely baguette with smoked ham, melted brie and onion chutney. And some of these crisps. And one of these drinks. And did I mention the Argentinian coconut tart I got as well (to share)?

So I just wanted to give Bona Foodie a bit o’ warm lovin’ on this brisk (cold as f*ck) St Patrick’s Day. Slainte!