Our rasion d’être…

When I considered  what kind of food I wanted to create in my restaurant, I thought about my values and my ethics.  As a Veterinary Surgeon, animal welfare is at the forefront of my mind; be that for pets, horses or farm animals. The UK welfare standards are amongst the highest in the world and I want our customers to appreciate this in our choice of producers. Not only this but I want to support Sussex farmers, as my family are, through all they do and in particular, having to diversify due to the tough restrictions that have been placed on us that are ruining the British farming industry.

In the past, we all used UK produce and this would obviously be seasonal, based on what our climate could provide.  We have amazing produce in this country but we have to appreciate it is not always available all year round.   I want to bring this concept back!

The buzz word in food at the moment is seasonal and locally sourced, but I question whether it actually is on most menus that use avocado!  Sourcing local ingredients means that you can buy it in Sussex but it is produced around the world. We genuinely use food in our menus produced in Sussex, not just sourced.  This means not only a reduction in food miles but also benefits the whole community as we support all our local producers.

In my restaurant, we celebrate the true seasons of Sussex and all that it brings every month, which believe me, is volumes of amazing food, especially when the menu is designed by Mark Raffan!

Nunc est bibendum!!