Absolute Brighton - Mo Shine
Take a steep walk up left of the station and in fifteen minutes or so you arrive at the bustling Seven Dials, where all roads meet! Wth appetite sharpened the first place you come to is old Lloyds Bank, now the stylish Sevendials Restaurant serving award-winning European food.
Walking through the large wooden doors, any reminders that this was a place of financial dealings disappear and I walked into an elegant and cool restaurant, with luscious plants on every window sill and stylish and tasteful decoration.
My lunch partner is Mike Rogers, who owns and runs a successful business with three premises in Sussex. For eight years, Design Interiors traded in Hanningtons, and in the five years since the store shut (yes, five years!), Mike found the perfect spot on Western Road in Hove for his first shop. Since then he has opened in Haywards Heath and last spring, the third shop opened in Horsham. The company offers a huge range of fitted furniture for kitchens and bathrooms, working with the customer and covering all tastes from rich traditional styles to the latest contemporary sleek options.
Mike has already dined at Sevendials Restaurant. He prefers an unpretentious menu and takes great pleasure in excellent surroundings, so feels at home in this lovely relaxed atmosphere. We chose from the day’s lunch menu, and I started with tomato and lentil soup. I often wonder when having soup if it’s going to be a wet and watery experience, but not in this case! Just the right texture and flavour. Mike chose roasted figs wrapped in Parma ham and filled with Mascarpone, toasted sunflower seeds and wild rocket salad! He wasn’t surprised that it lived up to expectations.
Sam Metcalfe, chef and owner of Sevendials Restaurant, lives with his new wife in a flat above the restaurant. He and his family bought the premises in 2001 from a burger chain, and transformed the place into what it is today, a far cry from its fast food days. A gallery of lovely black and white photos of the Metcalfe family adorn the walls.
Recently opened is the Summer Terrace, where food and drinks are served all day, weather permitting. A snack menu is available in the afternoon The heated garden is sheltered from the world outside and is like an oasis at the roundabout. A thriving herb garden provides fresh herbs for all the dishes served.
Mike and I then had the pleasure of an extra course of fois gras. Not having tried this delicacy before, I was unaware that it was duck liver, a far more delicate taste than expected. My main course of wild mushroom risotto was topped with white truffle oil. I love olive oil and this was even better. Mike chose char grilled salmon salad with roasted peppers and tartar sauce – he wasn’t too keen on having the peppers, Sam was happy to oblige with some alternative ingredients, not something that happens easily in all establishments. The meal is complimented by lovely home baked bread, freshly made every morning.
I asked Mike about how the fluctuations in the housing market affect business. In actually fact, the movements seems to balance out – when the market is buoyant, those buying are often unhappy with the interiors that come with their new home and want a change. Conversely, when the market is stagnant, and buying slows down, many consider a change in their current home instead of a move. A percentage of work comes from developers, who invite Design Interiors to do the fittings to a specification for a group of dwellings. This work is different in that there is no contact with those who will be living in and using the dwellings. Furniture is sourced from such varied places as Germany and Italy, which indicates the range of styling, and when working with a customer on an individual kitchen, hand drawn designs are drawn up and, working together, the ideal environment can be created. This of course goes for bedrooms as well, and also studies, another area that Design Interiors specialize in.
Time for dessert, and I chose the wonderful chocolate mousse with a praline cream, red wine and vanilla sauce, from the a la carte menu. More an experience than a dessert! Don’t miss it! Trouble is, all the desserts look too good to miss. The a la carte menu is changed every six weeks to ensure that the season’s best produce is used, and the latest dishes can be found on the excellent website, updated daily. Some of the tempting course on the a la carte menu currently are Pyranees pot-roasted milk-fed lamb stew, roasted guinea fowl breast and monkfish. Of course vegetarian customers are catered for. The daily changing lunch menu is an amazing £10 per head. (£15 for three courses), and the a la carte is £21.50 (£25.50 for three courses). One of the things I particularly appreciate when dining out (apart from excellent food, of course) is good service. The staff at Sevendials are friendly and helpful and the service was impeccable. This was not just for us – I could see the other diners were getting the same smiling and efficient attention.
Mike and I felt really relaxed, and as we both usually take a snatched lunch, it was lovely to spend some time in the day at such a charming place. Mike goes skiing every year with his wife and two children, to get away from the relentless pressure of work. A break can work wonders, even a couple of hours in a fine restaurant. Try it – taking a few hours out of a busy week can relieve the pressure.
One of the many special features of Sevendials is the Vault, now free of banknotes and available to hire for small functions of about 20 guests. Mike has attended one such function here, and was impressed with the quality of the food served, not reduced in quality because of catering for a large group of people. Both the restaurant and the Vault have been granted licenses to hold marriages, commitment and naming ceremonies.
A very unusual and brilliant service offered by Sam is an Open Kitchen. For #50 (including lunch) you can spend the day in the kitchen, preparing and cooking and sampling the life of a chef. Sam showed me a letter from someone who had spent a day in his kitchen, and he described the experience as memorable. He was impressed with Sam’s dedication and high standards, suggesting that Sam would make a first class TV chef!. So stop wondering, and try it! You might find you have missed your vocation!
Sam has had over 20 years experience and has spent much of that in great restaurants in London including the Groucho Club, 192 Kensington and The Belvedere in Holland Park (where he was head chef at the age of 21). When he returned to his home soil on the south coast, he wanted to fulfil his ambition to create exquisite food with fresh produce served by attentive staff in stylish welcoming surroundings. I would say he has more that succeeded in that ambition.