Andrew Kay on Fratelli, the latest offering from D Productions
The Addis dynasty is proof that family businesses can work. Masterminded by the delightful Sue Addis and all her children in different roles, their fleet of eateries is a shining example.
Why then did they take on a new site in a notorious restaurant accident spot in Brighton Square? For years, people have struggled to make it work and failed. The last time it had any kind of success it was a Tex-Mex geared to a very young audience. It was so long ago, I qualified. Now, D Productions have taken it on and re-opened it as Fratelli. I went along with a friend on a Monday night, notoriously quiet in the restaurant business.
The look is clean and modern – not cutting edge, thank heavens – and spacious too. I went with a friend, Mr H, who liked the fact that no-one was close enough to listen in to our conversation, not that we were saying anything salacious, but we might have been.
Mikele Addis popped in to say hello so I took the opportunity of asking him what to have. “Mozzarella and tomato salad and the roast fillet of beef.” There was no hesitation. When the menus arrived – pretty little things like CD covers – I sought the dishes out and ordered them. Mr H is a fish-eating vegetarian, so Italian menus are pretty easy as there are usually lots of great dishes which, while the Italians have not created them for vegetarians, simply do not contain meat.
I chose a bottle of Orvieto Secco – a little more expensive than the house wine but worth every penny – and we ordered. Pretty soon, I had a plate covered in fine slices of really good deep red tomato with a whole buffalo mozzarella simply split in two at the centre. How I love good mozzarella – and how I hate bad. You know the bad stuff – it’s hard and stringy and chewy and bland. If the British made a cheese that tasted as bad as poor mozzarella we would be ridiculed for it. I have to say, the same can apply to so many continental cheeses – bland, bland and bland.
This, however, was a ball of joyously soft and full-flavoured cheese. It was simply delicious and I savoured every tasty morsel. Mr H unfortunately chose a dish that he could not eat. Having spotted mushroom risotto he read no further. I reckon it’s an understandable mistake and so did the waiter. For veggies, spotting a dish that starts with a vegetable ingredient usually indicates that it will be meat-free. This risotto was mushroom with Italian sausage, the sausage coming at the end of the description. Sadly it went back even though I was trying to reach across for a quick taste as it was gracefully taken away.
At this point, I can mention that – as ever – the quality of service is of the standard that over the years I have come to expect from an Addis restaurant. While they never even get close to being expensive, the service is always enthusiastic, friendly and polite. Fratelli is the same and despite it being our mistake, they happily returned with a dish of four cheese ravioli. Now, I have tasted these before and know that they are hand-made by a cousin of the family. Mr H was more than happy and ate them slowly as if savouring each bite. The pasta parcels were also very lightly sauced and not swimming in gloop – rather restrained.
I moved on to the beef. This is the concept here – the family is half- English, half-Italian so they came up with the idea of a sort of Iti-Brit fusion. I was having the roast.
It came with roast potatoes too, but I was not hungry enough for carbs so I cheekily asked for sautéed spinach instead. What arrived was a plate on which lay a fan of thick slices of perfect rare fillet steak, and a pool of rich sauce. The spinach came separately. Simplicity, when pulled off like this, is great. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire plate of food. It wasn’t trying to show off or to dazzle with tricks and fol-de-rols, this was simply roast beef fillet and a fine sauce. If I gave marks it would be a ten-out-of-ten dish, but I don’t. Oh damn, I did. Well, don’t expect that kind of thing often.
Mr H went for a king prawn skewer with lime and chilli on a bed of rocket. It looked very pretty, again because it was not messed with. He delicately removed their tails and ate them one by one. It was a good portion too, and I noticed that the prawns had been fully cleaned and the intestinal tract removed. I know it sounds vile but there are still places that don’t bother to do this to prawns.
Mr H also decided that he would need some carbs so we put in a late request for some chips and these arrived pretty damned quick. I was really too full for pudding, but then I spotted that they did pancakes with lemon and sugar. Well, there is one thing I can never resist and that’s plain and simple Shrove Tuesday-style pancakes. I like them in other ways too, but gritty sugar, sharp fresh lemon and velvety pancakes – well it doesn’t come much better. And they were perfect, lacy affairs, it was all I could do to not go and check if my mum was out in the kitchen tossing for them.
Mr H had a chocolate truffle torte served with orange sorbet, which he insists that I made him choose. Not true, I did agree that it sounded like a good idea, and it was – absolutely delicious – but like the chips, I did not make him eat them. I did help with the chips, but just the one. I think he was surprised that for someone so chubby I can be so restrained.
Coffees ordered, I nipped off to check out the facilities. As I get older the state of the lavs becomes far more important to me. Again, top marks, in fact the whole place is absolutely spotless.
Coffee, espresso served with bitter amaretti biscuits, was top notch. But at what price – is the Donatello offspring that really does have the tone of fine dining an expensive option? Well no, it’s hardly any different from the mothership and in some cases I think even cheaper.
By the time we left, it was still attracting custom. Hardly surprising as the place looks so good, costs so little and has what I can only describe as a thoroughbred pedigree.
Fratelli, 20 Brighton Square, Brighton 01273 730355
